There are many books out there that try to present a Grand Unified Theory of Everything. Something about books that have a sweep of history to them is inherently appealing. It tries to make sense of the senseless.
This is just such a book.
In (Dis)Ordered, Pastor Christopher Esget tries to give us a framework to understand the chaos that surrounds us. We could be talking about the radicalization of both the left and the right, the bizarre turns in the sexual revolution of the new millennium, or the addictive character of every glowing rectangle known to man. In all of these cases and more, many people have the sense that something has happened, something darker and stranger than we have even imagined was possible. Is this just more of the same, or has something truly shifted in our world?
That is the question.
The first part of the book is entitled “The Contagion Infecting Humanity.” This contagion began, for Esget, with Descartes’ famous dictum cogito ergo sum, or “I think, therefore I am.” By placing the self as the center of the universe, modern man began a quest for authenticity and a desire to discover the “real me.” This quest runs through attempts at defeating death, the innate desire for freedom by destroying all law, “selfie” culture, and the idea that one can be born in the “wrong” body. This part ends with the place of race and culture, with a particular bent toward understanding the Marxist nature of Critical Race Theory (CRT).
It is a theory of everything that begins in the Enlightenment and ends in the nihilism of the modern world. While I do not object to any one part of the narrative, the way it is presented is so profoundly negative that it is almost impossible to see a way out. All one can really say is “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24–25 ESV)
The second part of the book is entitled, “Healing Humanity,” and runs us through the theology of the cross, the proper understanding of “conversion therapy,” resisting our passions, fighting our own demons and temptations, and finally, returning to the Garden and Genesis at the resurrection of the body on the Last Day.
This part of the book could really be considered a way of looking at the Christian life under the cross. It points us to Christ as our only hope in times of need, and how we as the Christian Church have an important, even critical, role to play in the world today. Because hope comes only through Jesus, it is only in his word that we may have hope.
Overall, the book is a tour de force through our cultural landscape, helping us to understand how so many disparate parts are interconnected. If the book has a weakness, it is that Esget sees almost too much order and purpose behind so many forces arrayed against us today. In the continual push back to the formless void before creation (Gen 1:1), not everything has to make sense or tie together quite so nicely. But perhaps I have simply swallowed the words of Alfred in The Dark Knight, “Some people just want to see the world burn.” Things do not have to make sense or be a part of a carefully-constructed conspiracy theory to serve as tools of the Evil One.
Overall, I found (Dis)Ordered to be spot-on, but depressing. The picture he paints is of a war with all the forces arrayed against us. The Scriptures are not shy about describing our life this side of the Last Day as a war (e.g. Rev 12:7). It is a war that is only won by the blood of Jesus Christ, which has already happened.
Is there a better way of portraying the Christian life today? Some may disagree, but I do not find this image of the Christian life under the cross to be hopeful. Esget is not wrong, but neither is his portrayal exactly satisfying. For myself, I will continue to look to the altar for communion with Jesus Christ. That is where my own hope lies.
Todd A. Peperkorn
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana