Last week we started our new series, “Babel 2.0” and talked about how in Genesis, humanity was being disobedient and working against God, and comparing that to some current events, asking God to give us eyes to see and ears to hear Him. Today, we’re continuing the series with deeper observations on the similarities between then and now, specifically in people’s motivations.

In the middle of the Babel Tower story in Genesis 11, there’s a verse that sticks out: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves.” (Genesis 11:4)

What’s the big deal with people making a name for themselves?

Well, first off, it can end pretty badly. Look at the story of King David’s son, Absalom. To put it kindly, he didn’t entirely agree with everything his dad was doing. So he would sit outside the city and talk to people as they came and left, stirring up trash talk and ill will. He ended up leading a revolt against his father, the king… and it did not go well. All because he wanted to make a name for himself instead of joining in the story God was weaving.

We forget that we are guests on this planet.

The Earth belongs to its Creator, who sustains it and entrusts it to us for use.

How do you act as a guest in someone else’s house? Normally, the host expects that you consider your own actions while there. It’s a gracious extension of their will to allow you to use their space, their rooms, their dishes… because it’s not yours.

The same thing happens here — we are simultaneously stewards and guests. Family, but not the owners. Caretakers, not creators. We have responsibilities here, not rights.

The Earth is His. Our lives are His. That’s the only correct and acceptable starting point.

Self-centeredness doesn’t work in relationship to God, and even if we gave up on the relationship with God and just focused on success, it’s not as rewarding as we think. Most ‘successful’ people seem unhappy: professional athletes squandering all of their money, Hollywood actors and actresses on their 4th marriage and still unhappy… Fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

There’s a name for this problem:

“Oh but that’s not a big deal, I’m just taking care of me so I can take care of others, I’ve got to put myself first, right?"

James 4:6b: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

So yes, it’s a problem. “Not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others.”

It’s even in our churches and our worship: the prosperity gospel teaches that God wants you to be healthy and wealthy. Many modern ‘worship’ songs focus on “my testimony” and “my blessing.” Yuck.

And there’s still another form of self-centeredness to be careful of today:

Hedonism

Defined as “an obsession for pleasure,” hedonism is found in today’s unhealthy avoidance of pain and equally unhealthy addiction to pleasure. Why do we have an opioid epidemic? Because it does both: it increases pleasure, and it decreases pain.

• This is why we supersize meals: it’s more for me.
• This is why we flavor vapes: the nicotine or pot isn’t enough pleasure, we have to make it taste great.
• This is why we build amazing resorts in what are already amazing paradise locations: the experience isn’t enough, we have to be more comfortable.
• Adult novelty stores
• Cosmetic surgery
• Restaurants where the meal costs more than most people in the world make in a month
• Purses that cost more than most people in the world make in a year

Compare that to these:

1 John 2:15-16: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-comes not from the Father but from the world.” 

Luke 12:33-34: “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Are we living for this world or the next?

In the end, focusing on yourself will fail you. Happiness cannot be found in our looks, our weight, our job, our circumstances… they’ll all change, and we’ll spend forever just trying to get back to ‘the good old days’ again.

You want the secret to happiness? It’s holiness. 

The secret to a filled and fulfilled life is to keep your eyes on the finish line:

• 1 Corinthians 9:24 - “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
• Phillipians 3:14 - “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
• 2 Timothy 4:7 - “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

As long as you’re looking at others and comparing yourself, as long as you’re seeing the best for yourself, here, now… you’ll reach the next life with incredible disappointment. The only thing that matters here is the finish line.

37 million people are on anti-depressants in America because we are obsessed with ourselves and chasing after the pleasures of this life.

Learn from the Tower of Babel: stop trying to make a name for yourself, realize that the God of creation knew you by name before the creation of the world, and accept that Jesus Christ has made a new name for you and written it in the Book of Life. Make Him famous.

May God give us ears to hear and eyes to see the Truth today. Amen.