Politics of Change, I

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” - Matt. 5:13

Since the decline of American reading habits is now so well documented, we have decided that the future commends us to de-emphasize writing in our curriculum and, instead, begin training our students in the art of producing short video clips for YouTube. We calculate that at the present rate, texting and twitter will supplant the need for day to day communication and that video is the wave of the future in reaching the masses. We will no longer be inflicting endless spelling and grammar lessons on students because of the new, freely abbreviated language emerging in txt & twt.

Do I have your attention yet? Is this scenario so far-fetched anymore? I do think it is time to admit we live in an era of unprecedented change in the field of communications. So should we endorse all this change and hop on board, not wanting to give up the chance to influence this cultural shift in the name of Christian education? Is this new shift a symptom of cultural decline or simply a new ministry opportunity? The larger question revolves around whether you consider yourself a conservative or a progressive.

Conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone you leave it exposed to a torrent of corrosive influences and change. A white post left alone soon becomes a black post. So, too, it is with human institutions. Men are natural backsliders. Human virtue tends by its own nature to rust and rot. Witness the moral drift of our oldest colleges, Harvard and Yale, and the similar tale of decline that has accompanied many churches over the years. Simply clinging to tradition as “the way we have always done it” is no hedge against dissolution and decay. I have decided I am no conservative.

Progressivism assumes that through technology and science the human condition is improving every day, in every way. Change is inevitable and natural and leads us on to broad sunlit paths away from the antiquated and primitive past. There are some problems with this assumption, as any student of nuclear war can tell you. Progressives also suffer from the lack of a fixed target, goal, or endpoint. It is hard for them to agree on a set goal because they have no absolute by which to measure “progress.” Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to suit a vision, but it has been found much easier to just change the vision. Schools used to stress striving for various competencies. Then they shifted to building self-esteem. What we have today are students with steadily declining test scores but who feel better about themselves than ever before in history (in documented test results). I decided I am no progressive.

G.K. Chesterton was much more comfortable with the appellation of “reformer” for it implied a certain set form for which we strive. For him the ideal vision must be set, and he looked to the Scriptures for a form that was set and fixed before time began. A reformer sees a certain thing out of shape and sets to put it into shape, knowing well what that shape is. A reformer is fond of this world in order to change it, but is also fond of another world in order to have something to change it to. This I can live with.

I have decided I am no conservative who will cling tenaciously to the dry crust of tradition long after it has been hollowed out and sucked dry of all essence and life. I am no progressive who is slave to a blind belief that change is of necessity both inevitable and good especially when those who propose it cannot define what the good is. I would rather claim to be a reformer, ever vigilant to call us back to the heavenly vision that remains a constant yet needs to be ever reborn in us anew with fresh zeal and insight. It is not by the might of tradition as it slogs along some weary path or the power of the crowd as it clamors for something new and novel but by the Spirit of the ever living eternal Lord that we build our lives or maintain any human institution (apologies to Zach. 4:6). I want to be ready and willing to judge cultural trends as they come and be an agent of cultural reform instead of either a mere, unthinking follower or an intransigent obstructionist.

As for reading and grammar … to be continued.


Mercy and Truth,
Mr. Moe

Thoughts were freely taken from G.K. Chesterton and his book, Orthodoxy (chapter 7), written in 1908.