Author Q&A: Alan Noble, Author of You Are Not Your Own
Alan Noble is one of the deepest and wisest thinkers I know. We met via Christ and Pop Culture, which he cofounded, and I’ve learned a great deal both from his writing and from getting to know him as a friend. Alan’s new book is called You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World, and I really appreciate his taking the time to answer some questions about it for me.
Q: In this book you dig deep down to the very roots of our current predicament: our trying to live as humans in an inhuman environment, and our very definition of what it means to be human. What led you to start thinking and writing about these things?
A: There were two significant catalysts for this project. First, I was closely following several public debates about identity, gender, abortion, religious liberty, the environment, and so on. And it occurred to me that each of these issues centers around a question of belonging. If we naturally belong to ourselves, then that has implications for our identity, for example. So at the abstract, public-discourse level I was thinking about the importance of belonging to God. Second, in my personal life, and in the lives of many people I know, I started noticing how fundamentally anti-human the structures of society were. The expectations that are placed upon us are ridiculous and unbearable. And at some point I realized that maybe these problems were linked. Maybe a society which teaches that we are each radically our own will naturally lead to inhuman living conditions.
Q: You name efficiency as the “guiding value” of our time. I never would have thought to put it that way (perhaps because we all tend to think of efficiency as a means rather than an end), but it really made sense when I read your argument. When our lives are so ruled by efficiency, why are we so seldom aware of it?
A: We disguise efficiency in language of self-improvement and progress. It doesn't feel like a value to us. It feels like a way to make things better. So we think about a dishwasher “making our lives easier” when we are really prioritizing the efficiency of a dishwasher over handwashing. Or we may think about using a treadmill as an easier way to exercise when we are really prioritizing the efficiency of exercise machines over an active lifestyle. Because choices to act more efficiently inherently feel like an improvement of our lives (and sometimes they are!), it’s easy to overlook the other values like goodness, beauty, truth, and love.
Q: I’ve seen some vigorous pushback against your book’s title on social media, much of it from Christians—even though it's taken from a Bible verse (which, as you note, was later incorporated into the Heidelberg Catechism). Where do you think some of these visceral reactions are coming from? Why have so many Christians bought into the idea that we actually are our own?
A: Some pushback to the idea of belonging to God comes out of a deep belief in self-ownership and self-sufficiency. But my impression is that most Christians who struggle with this concept have experienced abuse. Sometimes abusive people and institutions have used the idea of belonging to God to control and harm people. In the book I try to address this problem of abuse and explain why belonging to God is actually a comfort, but I understand the concern.
As for Christians who have bought into the idea that they are their own, what's interesting to me is that most of them would probably give the right theological answer. If you asked them whether or not they belonged to God, they would say, “Yes!” But the great danger is that we can consciously affirm one idea of our personhood while living in a contrary way. We might claim that we belong to God, yet we live frantic lives, striving to create an identity and meaning and purpose for ourselves.
Q: In chapter 2, you write, “The primary way society helps us to justify our lives is through stories. ... Viewers don’t just enjoy a good film; they need stories to make sense out of their existence. And since no one story can definitively model the good life, viewers will always need more stories.” If this is the case for those who believe they are their own and have the responsibility of creating their own meaning, what is the role of story for those who believe that they belong to God and their identity is found in Him?
A: We ought to read good stories. We should take encouragement in stories where characters accept that they are not their own, and therefore fulfill their good and appropriate responsibilities to others. We should clearly recognize when characters in stories see the purpose of their lives as self-actualization and self-fulfillment. I don’t think we just need to read stories that model right living. But we do need to be aware of the ideas in the stories we read.
Q: You quote extensively from French philosopher and theologian Jacques Ellul over the course of the book. What appeals to you most about his ideas? For those like me who have never read Ellul, where would you recommend we start?
A: I love Ellul because he was a reformed (mostly) Christian who had a very high view of Scripture, was an insightful thinker, and a great scholar. Like most of my favorite writers, Ellul overstates his claims (in my opinion). So he is sometimes too negative about technology and society. But if you read him with that in mind, you can learn a great deal.
His books are not easy, but I think The Technological Society is the most important.
Q: Though you don’t mention Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option by name, you advocate a way of living that’s directly opposed to his vision. You argue that Christians need to stay where they are and work for the good of the community instead of retreating into their own enclaves. Can you explain more about why this is so important?
A: Well, I suppose I’m arguing that we need to build shelters from the storm, wherever we find ourselves. Like Dreher, I believe we need to be intentionally working in Christian community. And those communities should be visibly different from the rest of the city. Not different for the sake of being different, but because we don’t make efficiency the highest good (for example). And we live like people who are not their own. For example, I would love each church to be known as a place where people rest. Wouldn't that be an amazing testimony? In a world that demands constant self optimization and action, Christians could be known as people who truly rest.
I also believe that we have a responsibility to work for the good of our entire community. I do not know how much Dreher advocates for that in his book, so I can’t speak to the comparison. But as members of a community that goes beyond the church, we must advocate for justice, peace, and human flourishing.
(Cover image copyright InterVarsity Press)
Book Links:
You Are Not Your Own on Amazon
You Are Not Your Own on Bookshop