Imagine a narrow winding pathway, stretching off into the distance. The sides of the pathway are steep and slippery. On one side of the path is a bog, on the other a desert, from either of which it is evidently difficult to escape, should you find yourself therein.
The Bog
The boggy morass to one side is ruled by Powers hostile to God, which demand a definite and increasing control in the lives of humans who live there. These Powers have Agendas to which they demand allegiance. These agendas are promoted through human institutions and systems.
These institutions are often powerful and far-reaching, having a considerable influence in the lives of those exposed to them. Many of them are were founded on noble ideas and laudable ideals. Ideals, however, that are perverted by the Ruler-Powers, in order to ensnare and control people. Two groups of stakeholders are particularly influenced by these institutions and systems: workers (employed by the institution) and consumers (of the institution’s products). Both ultimately are required to give allegiance to the institution and to comply with its agenda.
Compliance with the agendas of commercial · religious · governmental · political · cultural · ideological institutions. Some very obviously enslaving human beings, others doing so much less obviously. None, however, are promoting genuine human freedom and human flourishing: i.e., the capacity to fulfil personal destiny, to behave authentically, in community with others, to act intentionally — “making a conscious choice to make a conscious choice,” as Saint Benedict describes it.
The people caught in this bog are thus ruled — directly and indirectly — by the institutions’ agendas. Their compliance is ensured by ‘strongholds’ — engrained attitudes, actions, cultures, codes, expectations, structures having a strong hold upon their hearts and minds: strongholds of complacency, fear, anxiety and oppression, intentionally engineered by regnant Powers hostile to human flourishing and freedom.
The boggy morass is (called) Compliancy.
The Desert
The barren desert on the opposite side of the narrow pathway is also ruled by powers hostile to God. These powers, however, do not control the dessert-dwelling humans, as do those ruling the inhabitants of the bog. They do not seek to control, but rather to drive. They do not seek allegiance to institutions, but, rather, they engender attitudes of aggravation, rebellion, cynicism.
The people here can see much farther than those in the bog; they are more analytical and can easily identify faults and problems in the social, cultural, political, economic, religious, ideological Concepts, Systems and Institutions holding people in the bog under sway. Consequently, people in the desert are usually fierce critics of the Institutions. In fact, they are people who, at some time in the past, identified the deep cynicism towards human flourishing lying at the heart of some particular institution or another, or indeed, of a maze of institutions.
Having identified the cynicism at the heart of the institutions, these people found they can no longer give their allegiance to the perverted agendas that the Ruling Powers promote within and via the institutions. They have realised — made real in practice — the absolute necessity of resisting the Agendas, exposing them and challenging the Reigning Power Structures. In raising legitimate and reasonable concerns, they were, in reality, typically seeking to bring institutions back to the honourable and just purposes that they were originally founded to serve … honourably, without cynicism.
Nevertheless, because of the Ruling Powers demand for compliancy and, ultimately complete allegiance, those who critique the institutions in this way are swiftly identified and — if they continue to refuse to comply — marginalised, before they can properly expose the institutional cynicism and perversion of humanity that is at stake. Those treated in this way find that their own criticisms are — and risk sounding — increasingly cynical, as they soon discover themselves to be practically powerless in the face of overwhelming intransigence and wholesale compliancy.
Thus, Critics become the next victims of the cynical powers and institutions which they have identified. Unable to comply, they continue to resist, but finding themselves marginalised and disempowered, they themselves sink into despondency and hit back, wounded by all that has taken place, with what feels like the only weapon left: Cynical Accusation. The Critics become Cynics and the Powers have won their battle.
The process is completed when the marginalised cynics are expelled from the Bog — in modern parlance cancelled — forced into the desert, where they wander about, attempting to give one another succour through sympathising with and indulging each other’s critiques. Unfortunately, whilst their thinking may be partially clearer, they are as lacking in true Freedom as those in the bog of Compliancy.
The desert is (called) Cynicism.
Narrow Pathway to Life
As should be obvious to any experienced observer of life, some of the strongest and most cynical institutions have historically been those of a religious nature. Religious affections are used to promote a strong motivation for compliancy and, equally, to provide a fearful condemnation for those who seek to expose the cynicism.
Jesus became such a ‘victim’ of Religious Powers; powers who were able to entice the powerful Politico-Military Powers of the Roman Empire to comply with their agenda against him, into serving their wicked end, unjustly, publicly assassinating him. Before this happened, however, Jesus provided the ultimate example of how to walk upon the narrow road that gives and leads to life…
The narrow path represents a way of walking. A way that is pleasing to Adonai, to God — the God of Jesus, the Messiah — a narrow path that is called righteousness and faithfulness. Embarking, walking and remaining on the path requires significant levels of intentionality, devotion, determination and development of vital skills and disciplines, representing a thoroughgoing transformation of heart and mind that enables those who would walk upon this road to understand something of the heart of God and to become deeply influenced and led by it.
Most of the time, those who walk on this path do so in privacy and secrecy, experiencing varying degrees and seasons of isolation, such that, at times, they may be quite unaware of other journeyers. During other key periods, however, the journey becomes a shared one, and may, for that time, be identified as prophetic.
The chief characteristic of those who walk upon this narrow road is a rhythm of hearing, believing, trusting and obeying the Word and the Spirit which testifies to the Word. The Word and the Spirit are discernible at all times to those upon the pathway: as a silent Sound, an invisible Presence, a Hidden Reality that constantly accompanies and, in fact, can be seen at work amongst all human communities and especially amongst those lost in the bog or the desert. The Word always bears testimony to the Will of God.
Those who walk upon the Narrow Road must constantly resist the tactical attempts of the Powers of compliancy and cynicism to defeat them, resisting their efforts to tempt them into either the Bog of Compliancy or the Desert of Cynicism. Just to go on making progress upon this Pathway represents a highly significant victory.
Occasionally, the Narrow Path becomes particularly difficult to traverse: becoming rocky or steep or littered with hard-to-navigate obstacles. Sometimes additional responsibilities for the journeyers takes a heavy toll on them. Wounds inflicted en-route and difficulties endured in the course of progress can mean that the Narrow Road seems a much harder choice than either the bog of Compliancy or the desert of Cynicism. This is a Reality that cannot be avoided.
Pilgrim Community
During such times of testing, the Community of Pilgrim Travellers must be relied upon to assist one another in overcoming the obstacles. Those more experienced lend the voice of experience; those with particular skills, gifts, strengths offer them. A group uniting around a commonality — a community — making possible what would have been impossible for a lone traveller and gels around such experiences. In time this offers the hope, the possibility of their becoming an authentic prophetic community — a genuine alternative to either cynicism towards or compliancy with the Powers.
The “Church” is intended by God to be a Prophetic, Pilgrim Community, bearing witness to the Word and Spirit of God and to the Will of God. More normally its constituents have settled and formed an Institution, with its own Agenda, lapsing into forcing Compliancy upon human beings and making Cynics out of critics, before rejecting them entirely.
Prophetic Communities arising through the united efforts of Travellers on the Narrow Road will always face the temptation towards employing Coercion and Compliancy: the Bog is never far away.
Similarly, those who find too great the cost of the Journey of travelling on the path of Righteousness, run the risk of becoming Cynical about the Truth. The desert, too is never far away.
Another excellent and thought provoking article. While most of us are well aware of the bog, many are not aware of the dangers of cynanism, or that they are even lost in the desert,