{"id":37348,"date":"2024-04-10T10:33:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T17:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37348"},"modified":"2024-04-10T10:39:54","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T17:39:54","slug":"37348-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/37348-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The West Wing, A Job I Used to Have, and An Ancient Way Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

“It’s Not The Battles We Lose That Bother Me, It’s The Ones We Don’t Suit Up For.” – Toby Ziegler<\/strong><\/p>\n

This quote is from a character in one of my favorite shows growing up, The West Wing<\/em>. In this American TV drama, witty dialogue, thoughtful complex situations to solve and lessons on leadership shaped me as a young adult. Every Wednesday night I would finish my homework in time to watch the show with my mom (because I\u2019m so old that a show was only on once a week).<\/p>\n

Then, I had the opportunity, after completing my undergraduate degree, to work at the Oregon State Capitol in the Senate chambers as the Sergeant-at-Arms, a very militant title for someone who is a glorified floor manager, opening doors for senators and legislative aids and making sure the press and public stayed in their designated areas. It was a great job, and it gave me a close-up window to the world of politics, even if it was only state politics, and several of my favorite people I met during that time have gone on to become Oregon Governors and members of the US congress.<\/p>\n

What I noticed about some of my favorite leaders was the way that they took genuine interest in people\u2019s lives, cared about their colleagues across the aisle and were absolutely ruthless in obtaining the agenda they believed was right. This seemed like a dichotomy to me, someone who believed in being nice above all things, was resistant to conflict and had learned to go along to get along. But they had learned the art of attacking bad ideas instead of “bad people”.<\/p>\n

As politics and culture have become increasingly divide, I wonder if we must learn again how to argue against bad ideas instead of bad people. As we consistently vilify and mistrust those whose ideas are different from our own, our tribalistic mindsets are pushing us farther and farther away from one another.<\/p>\n

Matthew Petrusek\u2019s book on Evangelization and Ideology<\/em> is a helpful, though voluminous, work that gives the reader a framework for engaging with some of the bad ideas that are most prevalent in our society today. He invites us to become \u201chappy warriors\u201d[1]<\/a> in the battle of this time and place for the Good News of the Gospel to actually have an impact on people\u2019s lives and our culture. He astutely observes that, \u201cwhat unites all political ideologies is that they are all ultimately dead ends\u2014wildly diverse paths through fantastically different terrain that all end up smacking into the same wall.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

In his book, Petrusek outlines four different ideologies and traces their roots in philosophical thought, their epistemological premise and ultimately their insufficiencies in having a viable future in the relation to the Good News of Jesus. His detailed outlines are worth revisiting further, but they remind me of two other works that also have four categories for understanding our current political climate. In the summer of 2021 George Packer wrote in the Atlantic about the different stories of America that are being told today and how those stories shape the potential futures, as well as the present conflicts, that we feel so acutely in this time and place in our American culture.[3]<\/a> Packer outlines four \u201cAmericas\u201d that are summarized well in a new book by Joshua Ryan Butler called, The Party Crasher<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Smart America<\/strong><\/span>: the worldview of Silicon Valley and the professional elite, who believe we can use science, technology, and strong institutions to change the world.<\/li>\n
  2. Free America<\/strong><\/span>: the worldview of the suburbs, with an emphasis on free markets and hard work, dedicated to caring for whatever small patch of the world we\u2019re on and contributing to a thriving economy.<\/li>\n
  3. Just America<\/span><\/strong>: the worldview of the urban core, with an emphasis on citizens as members of identity groups that inflict or suffer oppression with a call to dismantle unjust systems.<\/li>\n
  4. Real America<\/strong><\/span>: the worldview of the Midwest and rural areas, with an emphasis on loyalty to deep roots and protection from outside threats.[4]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    While these categories from Packer are broad-stroked summaries, Butler utilizes these four Americas as way to generate a list of positive attributes about each of these types of America and Butler models a potential way forward for us when it comes to being the “Happy Warrior“<\/em> that Petrusek invites us to be. Butler’s reframe of Packer’s Americas are:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Progress (versus \u201csmart\u201d)<\/strong>: to speak to the upper left\u2019s strong belief in the value of science, technology, and institutions to change the world for the better.<\/li>\n
    2. Responsibility (versus \u201cfree\u201d<\/strong>): to speak to the upper right\u2019s strong belief in hard work, family values, and personal ownership to build flourishing communities.<\/li>\n
    3. Identity (versus \u201cjust\u201d)<\/strong>: to speak to the lower left\u2019s strong belief in self-expression, anti-discrimination, and a recognition of others\u2019 unique stories to tackle oppressive legacies and build a more just society.<\/li>\n
    4. Security (versus \u201creal\u201d):<\/strong> to speak to the lower right\u2019s strong belief in loyalty, local identity, and protection from external[5]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      While I look forward to digging into Butler\u2019s book more (though I\u2019m not a fan of everything he has written) what I appreciate about his work is that he is taking an appreciative stance on some of these versions of American that have positive qualities worth highlighting. This may be the place where we can find common ground and connect with these different \u201cAmericas\u201d or \u201cIdeologies\u201d in an effort to engage, shape and, in Petrusek\u2019s language, \u201cevangelize\u201d those who have found themselves trapped in these various versions or narratives.<\/p>\n

      What Petrusek, Packer and Butler seem to all agree on is that staying in one of these quadrants or categories exclusively is a death warrant. The Gospel invites us to something deeper that transcends and overcomes the tribalism and division that we are seeing in our culture today. Butler powerfully says, \u201cWhere does the church belong? The Church belongs to Jesus.\u201d[6]<\/a>\u00a0 Packer suggests that, \u201c\u00a0a way forward that tries to make us Equal Americans, all with the same rights and opportunities\u2014the only basis for shared citizenship and self-government\u2014is a road that connects our past and our future.\u201d[7]<\/a>And Petrusek contends that we must \u201ceffectively understand and respond to the contemporary ideological battlefield.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

      When the Apostle Paul was writing to the early church in Corinth, who itself was full of divisions and factions (perhaps four as well) he reminded them of the \u201cpower of Christ crucified.\u201d[9]<\/a> It was the power of Jesus and his self-sacrificing love that would ultimately upend all of the political and social structures of the world. We must learn to preach and practice Christ-crucified again in our churches, homes and public spheres. The cross was a political statement in and of itself, a radical commitment to embrace suffering and disgrace that ultimately \u201cdisarmed the powers and authorities\u201d[10]<\/a> and put God at the center of what is sovereign and salvific in the world. Its why, for me, I walked away from the world of politics and instead chose to pursue the vocation of pastor. But as I walk with a congregation through this current climate and election cycle, may I, embrace the call to be a \u201cHappy Warrior\u201d who joyfully speaks the truth in love, willing to embrace the cross and trust that the Truth will set us free.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Footnotes:<\/p>\n

      [1]<\/a> Petrusek, Matthew. Evangelization and Ideology. 451<\/p>\n

      [2]<\/a> Petrusek. 449.<\/p>\n

      [3]<\/a> George Packer: The Four Americas – The Atlantic<\/a><\/p>\n

      [4]<\/a> Butler, Joshua Ryan. The Party Crasher<\/em>. Page 7.<\/p>\n

      [5]<\/a> The Party Crasher<\/em>. 9<\/p>\n

      [6]<\/a> The Party Crasher. <\/em>22.<\/p>\n

      [7]<\/a> George Packer: The Four Americas – The Atlantic<\/a><\/p>\n

      [8]<\/a> Evangelization and Ideology<\/em>. 3.<\/p>\n

      [9]<\/a> 1 Corinthians 1:23<\/p>\n

      [10]<\/a> Colossians 2:15<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      “It’s Not The Battles We Lose That Bother Me, It’s The Ones We Don’t Suit Up For.” – Toby Ziegler This quote is from a character in one of my favorite shows growing up, The West Wing. In this American TV drama, witty dialogue, thoughtful complex situations to solve and lessons on leadership shaped me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37348"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37351,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37348\/revisions\/37351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}