The answer to Babel has therefore never been self-expression. The answer is repentance. The answer is not the creation of a new self but submission to the One who made us. The answer is not constructing an identity from our desires but receiving an identity from our Creator.

One of the greatest mistakes modern Christians make when evaluating the LGBTQ movement is assuming that it is primarily about sexuality. Certainly sexuality is involved, and certainly sexual ethics are among the most visible battlegrounds in the conflict. Yet to focus exclusively upon sexuality is to mistake the symptom for the disease. The deeper issue is not what modern man does with his body. The deeper issue is what modern man believes about God.

At its core, Pride is not a sexual revolution. It is a theological revolution.

The modern movement asks a question that is far older than rainbow flags, activist organizations, social media campaigns, and political movements. In fact, it asks a question as old as civilization itself: Who gets to define reality? Does God possess the authority to declare what is true, good, beautiful, and normative for human life, or may man seize that authority for himself? That question did not originate in our generation. It first appeared in Eden, it resurfaced in Babel, and it continues to animate every rebellion against God to this very day.

For that reason, if we wish to understand Pride rightly, we must travel back to the plains of Shinar.

The story of Babel in Genesis 11 is often reduced to a children’s lesson about different languages. While the confusion of tongues is certainly part of the narrative, it is not the heart of the story. The judgment is not the sin. The judgment came because of the sin.

The people gathered together and said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name” (Genesis 11:4).

Notice carefully what they desired. Their ambition was not merely architectural. They were not condemned because they were skilled builders, innovative engineers, or ambitious city planners. Their sin lay in the repeated phrase, “for ourselves.”

They would build for themselves.

They would establish themselves.

They would glorify themselves.

They would make a name for themselves.

The tower was merely the outward expression of an inward rebellion. Humanity no longer desired to receive its identity from God. Humanity desired to manufacture its own identity apart from God.

That is why Babel stands as one of the defining moments in biblical history. It was mankind’s first great collective attempt at self-creation. God had already defined reality. He had already defined humanity. He had already established the boundaries of creation. Yet mankind gathered together to announce that God’s definitions would no longer suffice. They would create their own.

In this respect, Babel never truly ended.

The bricks have changed. The tower has changed. The slogans have changed. The rebellion remains remarkably familiar.

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