Genesis and Technology - May 31st, 2026

A fighter-bomber that can level a city gets repurposed to deliver a human heart and save a life. That picture sets the frame. Technology sits as a gift, but fallen hearts twist gifts toward self. Genesis 11 tells the truth about that twist. The text shows a people with a perfect tool, a shared language, where what is said is what is meant and what is heard. Language becomes the first technology in the story, and it works. Then the next verse hits. Humanity migrates, finds a plain, and settles, even though God said, fill the earth. Bricks arrive, tar arrives, skill arrives, and the chorus rises, let us make, let us build, let us make a name for ourselves. The problem is not the tech. The problem is a united people, using God’s gifts for self glory and for dodging God’s mission.

Image bearing sits at the core. God made living statues to fill the earth so every place would say, this is the King’s realm. Babel flips the script. Humanity wants to enter God’s space, be like God, and secure control. Genesis 11 scales Genesis 3 from a couple to a culture. The desire is omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, the incommunicable attributes that belong to God alone. Devices now whisper the same lie. Power in the pocket feels like control. Screens make someone mentally elsewhere while physically here. Feeds offer the most interesting thing somewhere else and train a heart to trade what is important for what is interesting.

God answers Babel as he always does. God comes down. God confuses speech. God scatters. God is not threatened by altitude, God is moved by mercy. Unified rebellion gets restrained so that self destruction gets checked, and the mandate to fill the earth moves forward. Paul’s word still stands. All things may be permissible, but nothing must master a person. Dominion over creation is the assignment, not being ruled by it.

Pentecost then flips the lights on. Where Babel climbed, the Spirit descends. Where languages divided, languages now clarify. Where the nations scattered in judgment, the nations gather in understanding. Unity reforms around the name of Jesus, not the names people try to make for themselves. Technology can serve that kind of unity. The question lands here. Are these tools training disciples to love God fully, love others faithfully, proclaim and embody good news, or are they tricking image bearers into playing God?

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Technology is gift and temptation God hands out creativity, skill, and tools as part of image bearing. Sin bends them inward, turning tools for service into platforms for self. Wisdom learns to spot the bend, to repent when gifts become idols, and to receive God’s merciful interventions. The point is not anti tech, it is pro obedience. [19:21]
• 2. Language builds unity or vanity Shared speech can serve clarity, peacemaking, and mission, or it can mobilize a crowd to dodge God’s call. “Let us make” can become a beautiful liturgy or a proud script. The heart that loves God will use words to bless and scatter for his purposes, not to huddle for fame. [29:30]
• 3. Do not exchange important for interesting The most interesting thing is almost never the thing right in front of a person. Attention is love, and love requires presence. Choosing the person nearby over the feed elsewhere is a daily act of spiritual war, the way a heart refuses the lie of omnipresence. [43:30]
• 4. God restrains unified rebellion in mercy Confused speech is not pettiness, it is protection. God refuses to let pride run unopposed, and that refusal is grace. Scattering hurts, but it saves, and it nudges humanity back toward the calling to fill the earth under God’s rule. [56:29]
• 5. Pentecost gathers for Jesus’ name Babel said, make a name for ourselves, Pentecost says, proclaim the name of Jesus. The Spirit creates understanding, draws the nations, and forms real unity around Christ, not platforms or politics. Tools can serve this mission when hearts are set on his kingdom first. [59:16]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [17:24] - Fighter-bomber repurposed for life
• [19:21] - Technology’s paradox named
• [23:03] - Prayer for open hearts
• [26:47] - Creation mandate to fill the earth
• [28:28] - Reading Genesis 11
• [29:30] - Language as first technology
• [32:32] - Let us make a name
• [34:21] - Image-bearers as living statues
• [38:23] - Tempted to be like God
• [43:30] - Important vs interesting
• [49:22] - Stop swiping, start serving
• [54:49] - Dominion, not digital slavery
• [55:24] - God intervenes at Babel
• [59:16] - Pentecost undoes Babel in Christ

Bible Reading
Genesis 11:1-9 (ESV)
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth.

Acts 2:1-12 (ESV)
(Passage describing Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit enables diverse languages to unite people around Christ.)

1 Corinthians 10:23 (ESV)
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

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Observation Questions

1. In Genesis 11:4, the people say, “Let us make a name for ourselves.” What specific actions did they take to achieve this goal, and how did it conflict with God’s command in Genesis 1:28?
2. The sermon contrasts Babel’s “let us make a name” with Pentecost’s focus on proclaiming Jesus’ name. What key differences in purpose and outcome are highlighted between these two events?
3. According to the sermon, how does technology tempt us to pursue “incommunicable attributes” of God (like omnipresence or omniscience)? [38:23]

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Interpretation Questions

1. Why did God confuse the languages at Babel instead of directly destroying the tower or city? What does this reveal about His mercy and His commitment to humanity’s original mission?
2. The sermon argues that “the problem is not the tech” but how we use it. How does Genesis 11 illustrate this principle, and why is this distinction critical for Christians today? [32:53]
3. In 1 Corinthians 10:23, Paul says not all lawful things are helpful. How might this apply to modern technologies that are morally neutral but can still hinder spiritual growth or mission?

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Application Questions

1. The sermon warns against exchanging “what’s important for what’s interesting.” What practical step could you take this week to prioritize presence with people over digital distractions (e.g., meals, conversations)? [43:30]
2. Reflect on a technology you use daily (phone, social media, etc.). How might it subtly tempt you to seek control (“omnipotence”) or mental escape (“omnipresence”)? What boundary could help redirect its use toward love or service?
3. Babel’s unity was rooted in self-glory, while Pentecost’s unity centered on Christ. Where have you seen communities (even churches) prioritize human platforms or politics over Jesus’ name? How could you gently redirect conversations or actions toward gospel-centered unity?
4. The sermon challenges believers to ask: “Are these tools helping me love God and others, or tricking me into playing God?” What one habit or accountability could help you regularly evaluate your tech use through this lens? [59:16]
5. Genesis 11 shows humanity resisting God’s call to “fill the earth.” What fear or comfort might keep you from engaging missionally in your current relationships, workplace, or neighborhood? How could technology actually aid this calling instead of avoiding it?