Engaging in a game that no-one believes in
I have been busy working on my lastest book and so have not been posting much up on my blog of late. Sorry about that. However I can say that I am very excited about how the new book is shaping up. I am currently working on some reflections on Hitler, Mother Teresa, Columbo and Mel Gibson. However right now I am writing on the deep theological significance of the following anecdote that I remember from the home where so much of my heart still lives. Can anyone guess the point I am making with it?
There was once a British army base located in a tiny town in rural Northern Ireland. The story goes that each time a new battalion of soldiers arrived to do their tour of duty one of the resident Officers would show them a trick that could be played on the hapless locals.
When the latest group of soldiers arrived the Officer brought them down to the local pub for a drink. When they were settled he got out an old twenty pound note and a one pound coin. As the soldiers watched he crumpled up the twenty pound note and polished the pound coin before placing them on the table. Once he had done this he then scanned the bar for one of the oldest and drunkest men in the place, and called him over. When the local had settled himself the Officer said, ‘I want to give you one of these, but which would you prefer, this bright shiny coin or this old crumpled piece of paper’?
In response the old man picked up the coin, bit into it with his teeth and then exclaimed with delight, ‘I’ll take the shiny coin please”. The soldiers, of course, found this hilarious and started trying it with others. The foolishness of the Irish provided them with endless hours of entertainment.
However there also happened to be a tourist in the bar that night who watched what was taking place in disbelief. When the soldiers had left, she went up to some of the old men and exclaimed, ‘why on earth did you take the coin when you could have had the note? Do you not know that it is worth twenty times more’?
‘Of course we do’, replied one of the locals, ‘but if we took the note they would stop playing’.
December 18th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Peter Rollins, Austin Ward. Austin Ward said: @PeterRollins brilliant http://peterrollins.net/blog/?p=760 [...]
December 18th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I swear you have the coolest stories.
I would guess the point is that sometimes we don’t know when we’re playing a game on ourselves.
December 18th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I’ve been thinking about this lately as a seminary student (well, at least I think this is related to where you are going with this…). I talk to so many people who are in seminary with me who are dissatisfied with the church “game.” However, few, if any, end up doing anything about this. Some just end up reluctantly going into the game. Others end up leaving the game as a career but either stay in by going to church or just quit church altogether. Still others try to avoid the game by going the academic route, moving toward teaching, while again either continuing to go to church or just quitting church.
None of these routes does anything about changing the nature of the game. All these options either continue to perpetuate the game or just refuse to engage it.
Of course, this is not really a critique of my friends, this is a critique of myself. Moving forward I want to do something to create change. I want to be part of the answer. But that’s not easy or simple…
December 18th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by PeterRollins: The foolishness of the Irish – http://bit.ly/8O6336…
December 18th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
One more thing, I just finished watching the amazing television series (which you must watch) called “The Wire.” Much of the show talks directly about the “game” of the drug trade. Suppliers, dealers, police, government all play their role. None are completely happy with the situation, but they all continue to play their roles (for the most part).
Church as drug trade…?
December 18th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I want to encourage lots of different interpretations… however annoyingly Adam has nailed the very thing I am exploring in the chapter. Not surprising however as he is part of what I think is one of the most radical and penetrating faith collectives in the US… a group that understands this problem and is attempting to address it.
December 18th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Another potential interpretation:
We all know the Irish hold their liquor well, so those drunken Irish gents were in fact in full command of their faculties. Their subterfuge was in fact an intentional means of undermining a much bigger game. By maintaining the illusion of weakness & folly, they created for themselves (and perhaps for their compatriots outside the pub) a margin of safety and distance. In that unwatched, unsuspected space, they created the opportunity for creative resistance, for ultimately dismantling the game in subtle, undetected ways.
December 18th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Peter
I see it a little different. The truth is, as long as you keep giving people a small shiny thing that they believe has value, they will continue to play the game. However, if they were to choose the big idea (the note) they would then have to get up from the bar and go do something with their new found wealth. Who wants to do that? The fact is, it is easier to sit at the bar, drink the cocktail they are serving and hold on to the little shiny thing they give you at the end. The church is great at giving away little shiny things and we all love to sit at the bar and wait for the church to deliver but what we need is for the church to be honest and say there is nothing of value here for you. Take what you have been given and change the world for the Kingdom of God is among us. Just to clarify, I have no ssue with hanging at the bar ( literally of course)
December 18th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
It’s very understandable how it would seem better to have the neverending stream of coins. With the base turnover, the fools are never known. That doesn’t make them wise, though; I think Lori’s read is insightful, but they’re selling themselves. I don’t see how anybody ultimately wins.
“None of these routes does anything about changing the nature of the game. All these options either continue to perpetuate the game or just refuse to engage it.” So what’s the way out?…
Was just thinking last night about your telling of the pearl of great price. Love it. Wonder how those stories would crash into each other!
Your parables are a blast, but the things people recognize in them are so varied, the only thing I can read for sure is that we’re seeing ourselves.
December 18th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Z: “the only thing I can read for sure is that we’re seeing ourselves”–so [painfully] true!
So my question here is: was the game in the pub the only game in town? Or was there something bigger going on? National resistance? Political & economic oppression? Power struggles? This little microcosm of a greater conflict can be treated as “the game”, to be sure. But it could also be viewed as a minor element of a larger issue. Or maybe just one battle, in the context of a war. Is it possible that “taking a hit” in the small picture isn’t actually selling out or perpetuating the game, but is in fact what allows the players the freedom to engage in matters of much greater ultimate significance?
December 18th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
(btw, I’ll now remember to NEVER insert a smiley-face here. Ouch!)
December 18th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I get this theme of oppression coming back to me whenever I re-read the story (also, I have having flashbacks of Foucault). Who is being fooled? The people or the soldiers?
I think that maybe there HAS to be a game. Everyone is playing it. All the time. And the thing is that the game also includes the people trying to end the game. They have their role too. The game is all about roles.
I think we have to understand that the Kingdom of God is not part of the game, though. Why? ‘Transcendence’ is a word that comes to mind. There are no winners or losers, no money or governments (Sovereignty of God aside), no people or soldiers; at least there are none of these as we know them. Maybe the Kingdom of God is diametrically opposed to ‘the game;’ maybe like order/chaos, shalom/whatever the opposite of shalom is, etc.
December 18th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I totally didn’t steal Lori’s oppression thing. Just saying!
December 18th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Where does the rest of your heart live?
December 18th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Surely it’s about us Christian authors keeping on peddling people crap so they keep buying books? We never let on that we know nothing, or they’d stop thinking we know something.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Ah, KB, maybe we already KNOW that Christian authors know nothing. But we keep buying your books because they might help US to know something.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
It could be seen as though good sense has come full circle? The Irish are deemed to be stupid but they are so ’stupid’ they are able to masquerade as such thereby revealing nous and wisdom.
I like the demonstration of being able to take lightly that which others perceive to be of great value. Much more a treasure than the money the British revere.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
To riff a bit on Lori and Zach’s comments: There was indeed another “game” in town, the one being played by the IRA and the Unionists. And yet, what is the first thing the commander indoctrinates new arrivals into? This pub game. And meanwhile the locals keep playing along for, what amounts to, pocket change. By staying in the game they don’t have to squarely face transcendence. The game is confortable. Choosing sides in the Game is down right scary.
Love the post, Peter
December 18th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I had a boss tell me once, “Never hate a man so much that you won’t take his money.”
I used to argue with Liberals when I was a Fundamentalist, then I became a Liberal who argued with Fundamentalists. Now when anyone attacks me, I immediately agree with them that they are right, I am wrong and they are a better Christian than me. I’m tired of fighting, I’d rather be subversive.
December 19th, 2009 at 7:05 am
There is something wonderful and paradoxically beautiful about letting others increase, that we may decrease…and in decreasing are blessed.
December 19th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
This story makes me think about the benefits of sustainable fishing practices.
December 19th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
a feel good story in which no one wins, but all feel good, political religion all over again
December 19th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
I think it’s great that Adam has nailed the “correct” meaning of this parable/story- I also think VOID is intriguing. I can’t help but wondering if there are other “faith collectives” that don’t have a website or aren’t that “radical” in the typical sense- are their interpretations valid if they aren’t about the buisness of the “church” AT ALL?
December 28th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
[...] Engaging in a game that no-one believes in [...]
February 11th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
I have been reading the Orthodox Heretic and absolutely loving it. However I think this parable is still my favorite. Of course part of the reason I love it is that it’s missing what I would most love to see.
There is a question left hanging when I finish the story, “How do you change the game?” One obvious option is that one person actually takes the item of greater value. While that might end the literal game, it doesn’t change the game underneath that the literal game represents. I would love to see an additional parable that illustrates how to subvert the true game. But, I guess that would also undermine the thing that makes this parable so captivating (the fact that it raises the question but doesn’t give answers.
Thanks for what you’re doing, can’t wait to see the insurrection in Atlanta.