I know you don't drive your car above the speed limit (I don't either). Only people with problems do that. (The nine points I have on my license are completely inexplicable.) Have you ever noticed those wicked guys who are driving their cars too fast, tend to slow down when they're in the presence of a speed camera? I know you don't need to slow down, you're a law-abiding citizen, (I am too.) It's those dangerous speedsters who need to be watched. Do you see that the speedster changes his behavior when he's under surveillance? It shows that when you're being watched you behave differently from when you're not. What we probably need are more cameras and informants. That would keep us all safer, right? After all, heaven forfend, that men might make decisions for themselves about the correct speed they should drive at. Clearly the State knows best. More cameras! More informants! More spies please!
One of the most powerful films Linda and I have ever watched is The Lives of Others (click here to see the trailer).
The movie documents the breakdown of East German society as people are unable to trust one another, because they are under constant surveillance. The main characters are never properly free to express what they are thinking or feeling, because they are unsure if their conversations are private, or being listened to. The movie conveys the difficulties of living while being spied upon.
I had cause to remember this movie recently, and I thought about it in connection with Jesus and his ministry. Jesus was considered a threat to the authorities of his day (both political and religious) but he was popular with the people (cf. John 11: 45-53). And he was clearly under surveillance.
And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts ... (Luke 6: 7-8)
So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
(Luke 20:20)
I don't think it was until I saw The Lives of Others that I started to appreciate just how difficult it must be to live in a world where you have no privacy. Because that's what you have when you're under constant surveillance.
Rod Dreher, in his classic work Live not by Lies details the difficulty of living under a regime which operates a police state; with informers, false friends, and spies constantly watching your every move.
The Lives of Others and Dreher's book have made me consider how I would behave if I felt I were under constant surveillance; being watched carefully; having every word weighed, examined, and possibly being subject to false accusation over the most trivial of incidents. What does it look like to live in a society where the worst possible construction is put on my words - especially anything spoken in public?
I think that the way I would respond to that would be to speak much less in public, possibly to the point of saying nothing at all. And I think it would also lead to me spending much less time with the people I cared about, in order to keep them safe. Because if I am considered a threat to various authorities (even if I be no threat), then the people I spend time with may fall under suspicion of being a threat too. And that would mean their lives would also come under surveillance. My presence in their lives could lead to trouble for them, and I wouldn't want that.
So that would lead to me spending less time with them, perhaps none at all. And the individual(s) concerned might then think, “Ian doesn't seem to care about me the way he once did. He never talks to me any more ” when in fact the opposite would be true. I think all I could do was hope that the individuals impacted by my changed behavior knew that it had changed not because I didn't care about them, but precisely because I did.
You see these challenges happening in Jesus ministry.
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? ”
(Matthew 22:18)
And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
(Matthew 22:35)
And you see our Lord's response:
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He wouldn't go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. (John 7: 1)
Let's be clear about what's happening here. Jesus was being closely watched. The authorities were keen to remove him from public view, even to the point of having him killed. So he removed himself from public view. But later, his friends called upon him, because one of them was dangerously ill.
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again. ” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again? ”
John 11: 5-8
Mary and Martha wanted Jesus in their lives because he brought life, joy, peace and resolved all problems. But Jesus was in danger. Every one of the disciples understood that the situation was incredibly serious:
So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
John 11:16
A life under surveillance is a life I would find very hard to live.
Every move would be closely watched.
Every conversation listened to, or enquired about.
Every public word spoken would be scrutinised.
Every person I spoke to would become (potentially) exposed to inquiry by the relevant authorities (What did he say? Why did he say that? What do you think he means by that?)
All I could do in that situation is pray for my friends, and trust that they knew my changed behavior was driven by concern for their well-being.
I would hate to live my life under surveillance. That's why I will never get an Alexa, and why I've moved to a dumb phone (the smart phones listen to you all the time).
I'm not free if there aren't people to whom I can speak without fear of misunderstanding, or my words being reported to others.
I'm not free if I live in a society like that.
I can't help but think that if I lived in a society like that, then I would be forced either to leave that society, or I would be forced to wear a mask.
But little children never wear masks.
And unless I be like a little child, I cannot enter the kingdom of God, as I wrote about once before.
A society like that would be tricky to live in. I hope it never comes to that.
The best I could hope for is that those I cared about would understand that my changed behavior was taking place not because I didn't care them, but precisely because I did.
And I would just have to trust that one day, all the changed behaviors would be understood. That what is now seen through a glass darkly would one day be seen clearly.
Above all I wouldn't want the people I care about to think that I had any hard feelings, because I wouldn't have any.
I would just be trying to keep them safe.
If you haven't watched The Lives of Others I'd encourage you to do so. It might explain why the behavior of some people change, without apparent explanation.
“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”
My prayer, in these troubled days, is increasingly:
“Our Father in Heaven, deliver us from evil. ”
No comments:
Post a Comment