Desiring the Kingdom, by James K. A. Smith

Smith writes with the premise that we are first and foremost loving creatures, that too often Christians have overly-emphasized the importance of right doctrine or right thinking to combat the challenges of living in a world that holds much in antithesis with the Gospel of Christ. Not that these emphases are wrong in and of themselves but that they do not go far enough, because ultimately if we are "loving" creatures and not merely "thinking" creatures, then it is going to take more than "right thinking" to transform and change us into the people we are supposed to be. Smith contends that the practices of worship that we partake in on a regular basis, both private and public, individual and corporate, begin to shape our hearts and imaginations as they get embedded into our "social imaginary." These habits begin to give us a love for the vision of the Kingdom of God and to live for it instead of the lesser visions of human flourishing that are all around us. Smith makes the case that there are many "secular (i.e. competing) liturgies" all around us that vie for our affections, become embedded into our hearts and turn our hearts' desires. All these "liturgies" hold forth a kind of vision for human flourishing, i.e. the Kingdom of God, ... yet also hold unsatisfactory, even harmful answers. For example, think about the "liturgies" of national patriotism and sporting events, often intertwined into a common story: a) we say the pledge of allegiance from our youth in school; b) we sing the national anthem at various sporting events; c) we honor fallen soldiers at these events: d) we have military aircraft fly overhead before the start of sporting events; e) we inter-mix stories of "glory" whether that of the gridiron or the battlefield and f) we mix metaphors in both arenas as we speak of "combat, the heat of battle, being a warrior/soldier, etc."  

Now, the emphasis on these themes is not bad in and of itself unless it supplants the dominant image that the Gospel of Christ means to bring us, that we are part of a pan-national citizenship that involves all who have a citizenship in heaven, ... a vision of a Kingdom that involves all peoples, nations and tribes and seeks their shalom and flourishing.  Also, we no longer speak of the "ultimate sacrifice" as necessarily a soldier dying for one country, sometimes in the middle of killing soldiers of other countries, but we redefine the "ultimate sacrifice" after the vision of Isaiah 53 when we're told about "the suffering servant" who was "... oppressed and afflicted, yet ... did not open his mouth; ... led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth."  The "ultimate sacrifice" envisions the One who gave up His life for "all peoples, nations and tribes," for their advantage and flourishing, not only that of one nation. 

But the larger point for Smith is that we have come to assume and "love" these ideas of sacrifice and American nationalism because of the practices and "liturgies" we have participated in, often from youth, and their exercise have created a space in our hearts and imaginations to live out of the power of their narrative.  Yet, for the heart to be changed and transformed to desire the Kingdom of God, counter-formative habits and practices of Christian practice and worship need to be a regular and intentional part of our lives; they must serve as a corrective to the various liturgies that vie for our hearts each and every day (and in many ways have already captured them). Smith walks through the particulars of worship practices rooted in the history and the practice of the Church and in the end makes a case for ecclesial universities that connect the classroom with the worship practices of the Church, as the original question in the opening of his book asks, "what is a Christian education for?"

I'm not yet fully formed on Smith's perspective on the pursuit of building ecclesial universities. While it seems neither to be in Smith's heart nor writing, I wonder if the logical end of forming these kind of schools stands to become sectarian and "anti-cultural," despite Smith writing explicitly against this end. Overall, an amazing and provocative book to get us to think about the things we participate in each and every day that end up capturing our hearts and shaping our lives, sometimes in harmful ways but also to give us a vision for how we "counter" these particular and powerful heart-shaping influences.