Critiquing the world by loving it

The Presence of the Kingdom by Jacques Ellul
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is hard to qualify. It's a work of social criticism, but from a theological angle. The premise is that the Church has lost her savor because she has adopted the elements and ideologies of the world, or been lured into joining them. The answer is to develop an alternate way of life based on the Incarnation and eschaton that both critiques and embraces the world through loving our neighbors (via our daily work, service, prayer etc.) in the power of the Holy Spirit.

It has some of the best insights to the modern situation I've ever read, although it was written over 70 years ago. It is the introductory work of Jacques Ellul and I was left wanting to read more, although it is quite dense. If you read this, do not fail to read the conclusion; it brings together many of the strands that were left dangling in earlier chapters.

Living In A Technocratic Economy

The study of economics includes a discussion of what are known as economic systems: the way a society chooses to make economic choices. Every society does this in one way or another. When teaching economic systems, I normally teach about command economies (government run), free market economies (individual and business run), and traditional/household economies (run by patriarchs). This year I added a fourth type, the one I believe we are living in currently: the technocratic economy. 

A technocratic economy is one managed by a combination of the civil government, big businesses, and media/technology companies, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It is hard for some to imagine how media/tech companies work with businesses to manage the economy, but that's exactly what happens. 

As we've recently seen, when your opinion contradicts the big tech powers that be, you can simply be de-platformed (stripped of your online presence). As the biggest businesses grow in technological presence, luring people into more and tech reliance, the will to resist shrinks. As one former pastor recently said, "What will we do when everyone is has self-driving cars and the operating system no longer allows the vehicle to take us to unacceptable places, i.e. churches?" How will people respond when big business and big tech give us something like China's social credit system?  

As I was teaching this concept, I saw it in action. Many of my students had just been looking at their phones before class started; some continued to discreetly after class started (at least discreet in their minds). Until I start class, I don't often hear from many of my students because they are glued to their phones. I reminded them of this, and the response was, "You're just saying we need to all get rid of our phones." Consider how much of reality is mediated through screens: purchases, relationships, grades, jobs, they are all mediated. If, as Augustine says, freedom is having one's loves rightly ordered, and having self-control, I witness little to no freedom in technocratic society. 

What then is the alternative? To begin (my student's fears to the contrary), we can't all get rid of our phones and become Amish. That is neither possible or sustainable for most. But we can pursue wisdom in how we use technology. For example:

• Vary your technological presence among more than one or two forms. Don't just rely on Youtube or Facebook. Spread it out a bit.
• Be wise in what you post. There are many situations that are simply not our business and nothing will change if we say something or say nothing, so say nothing (Prov. 26:17). Don't put yourself at useless risk. 
• Pursue business platforms that appreciate your convictions. You should already know the major social media platforms and banks hate your convictions; while this may not matter as long as you don't rely on them too much for income, the bigger you get, the more it will hurt if they come after you. Therefore begin with someone who can meet your needs but won't throw you under the bus because of what you believe. 

Once you understand that we are not living in the economic system of your parents or grandparents, you are ahead of the game. The sooner we take steps to prepare ourselves for the ride, the better off we will be. 

The Lord of Armies

"The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge." Psalm 46:7

It is common in Scripture to see the name "Lord of hosts," ascribed to God. It means "Lord of armies," as in, the armies of heaven and earth (Daniel 4:35). God's people were always a small nation when compared to the others surrounding them. Though they had an army in the time of the kings (Saul, David, etc.), they had to rely on God for deliverance. It was only by relying on Him that they were able to win in battle. You regularly see them victorious when they humbly seek God in prayer first, and usually defeated when they rely on the arm of man alone. It was always the Lord of armies who gave them victory in battle.

It became even more important to trust in Yahweh's protection after they returned from exile in Babylon, and that is exactly when you see this name for God come into much more common use. When God's people returned to their homeland, they had no standing army. They were under the dominion of Persia, sort of a colony. If they faced attack from outside, they had no earthly king who would lead them into battle. They had to rely on the Lord of armies to defeat their enemies. This didn't mean they would not fight (see the story of Esther), but there was no main leader to whom they could trust. It was either God or no one. 

I thought about this recently after the events of this past week: Republicans lost in Georgia, giving the Presidency, the U.S. House, and Senate all to a political party who seeks to increasingly restrict the voice of orthodox Christians from all spheres of life. This is in addition to the decades-long push by the largest businesses in the U.S. to pull down all opposition to the ongoing techno-sexual revolution. The icing on the cake this week was the mob invading the U.S. Capitol building, and the association of those clowns with anyone who opposes the incoming President and his party. 

Before the special Georgia election, some (including me) said that surely at least one Republican would be elected and at least the Senate would be able to block the garbage from the House. But no, there is now no block. Even then, aside from judges, how much good have the so-called "good guys" done when they controlled the Presidency, House, and Senate? Might our hopes have been put in the wrong thing?

God's people in the United States need to learn what our brethren in Nigeria, China, and Iran have known for a long time: our only help comes from the Lord of hosts. Certainly we should pursue the election of godly leaders, men and women who will lead in justice, mercy, and humility, who will speak out against technocracy, sexual perversion, and stand/fight for truth. But never forget that our deliverance, our protection, and our victory belongs to the Lord of hosts.

When we're tempted to become cynical, to despair, and put our heads down, remember He who fights for us is greater than the forces who oppose us. Men have and will fail at times - therefore we don't put our ultimate hope in men. We might not see all our allies, but in God's cosmic commonwealth, the opposition is at His mercy. In the meantime we continue working, praying, standing upright, and pursuing the ground before us. All the while remembering that no matter what happens, the Lord of armies is our defense. 

Augustine and Politics (2)

 "Augustine’s two ways of speaking of the city of God and the earthly city make

sense in light of the distinction among his readers. Carnal readers dominated

by the lust for domination will more likely have to be told that the city of God

is the Church because that holds out the best hope for taming their prideful

ambitions. They will hear that happiness consists not in politics but only

through submission to Christ and community in the Church. More virtuous

readers will learn that the two cities actually refer to the dominant loves and

that the two cities intermingle in the Church and the political city. The latter

group constitutes a greater hope that the political city might be more justly

governed." - John von Heyking, Augustine and Politics as Longing in the World

Augustine and Politics (1)

 John von Heyking, in his introduction to Augustine and the Politics of Longing, begins with an interesting thesis. "Instead of arguing that politics is based on sin, [Augustine] actually considered political life a substantive good that fulfills human beings’ longings for a kind of wholeness...Instead of basing his politics on a natural law ethic or on one whereby authority is conferred by direct revelation, Augustine actually held to an understanding of political ethics that emphasizes practical wisdom and judgment in a mode that resembles that of Aristotle and Cicero rather than of Machiavelli."

This introduces a unique perspective on Augustine, as many have used his view of original sin as the lens through which he viewed politics. To a point that is true, but I've questioned to what degree. We must be leery of removing Augustine from his particular time in history - the transitory period from the ancient to medieval eras - and projecting our post-Reformation perspective onto his vision. 

I don't know how well Heyking will prove his thesis, but on the surface it makes more sense to me than most modern interpretations I've read because it keeps him as a man of his time, receiving the best wisdom of the ancients rather than turning him into a pre-Renaissance political philosopher.