You Have More Agency Than You Think
On Choosing and Acting
Recently I have been building the case that inhibition marks contemporary culture, particularly the sense that we lack agency in our lives. A few weeks ago I argued that because we are taught that we are radically autonomous, we get overwhelmed with our freedoms and freeze up, coming to despise the very freedom that we’ve been promised by the World. In this process of despising our freedoms, we come to deny our God-given agency. Instead of just rejecting the promise that we are radically free from God, family, the church, and creation, we respond by coming to believe that we are also unable to act in our lives. We feel we are helpless to make our own choices, advocate for ourselves, or otherwise act. But part of becoming healthy, God-honoring adults is learning to accept the truth that God has given you agency. You have the ability to make choices: both prudential and ethical. In fact, you have a duty to make and act on your choices. This is part of what it means to be human. You have the obligation to make judgements and act. Thankfully, as Christians we have the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us and strengthen us, but we still must ask for wisdom and make judgements and follow through with them. And that duty can feel crushing to some people. How do I know if I’m in God’s will? What if I make the wrong choice? What if I’m not really worthy or qualified to make this choice or act in this way? This is the sin of pusillanimity, a fear of being unworthy of the giftings and greatness that God has called you to. And he has called you to act in your life! So how do we do this? How do we make choices and act with resoluteness when we are afraid we are inadequate to the task, either because we feel we can’t make good choices or we don’t have the agency to follow through with those choices?
Choices
Let’s first consider the fear that you are not capable of making difficult decisions, whether those are difficult moral decisions or life decisions. To begin with, James tells us that God offers wisdom generously to all who ask (James 1:5). But verse 6 reminds us to pray without doubt! We have no reason to doubt that God will give us wisdom. This doesn’t mean that when we make a decision after praying for wisdom it will necessarily be the right one; it’s still possible to deny the wisdom God gives us with our own pride, but he will give us wisdom. Then it’s important to go through the process of prudent discernment, which I discuss in To Live Well: surveying reality rightly, identifying the good, deliberating moderately, making a judgement, and acting resolutely.
I don’t have the space to go through each of these steps here, but what I can say is that going through this process allows you to accurately assess the situation according to reality, focus on what would glorify God, bring in wise counselors, and make the best judgement you can with the information you have at the time. Your duty is to be faithful to make the best decision you can with what you have for God’s glory and your neighbor’s good. That’s it. Make that decision and move on. You can always make the best decision you can, because by definition, that’s the best decision you can make. That what God asks of you. But he does ask that of you—that you use the wisdom and reason and wise counsel and the Word that he has given you to make good choices. And then to act on them.
And when you make a mistake (not if, but when), you must face your mistake, repent (if that is appropriate), learn from your mistake, and make a new wise decision. That’s what human life is comprised of: a series of choices (the best you can make) some of which are mistakes, and some of which are wise, all done under the grace and for the glory of God.
The point here is that you probably have all the tools you need to make wise choices in your life. God has gifted you with the Holy Spirit, with reason, with resources, and if you look around, there are probably wise counselors for you to rely on. The goal is not to have those counselors make decisions for you, but to get their advice. You still have to make the decision. The good news is, you can!
In addition to praying for wisdom, we should pray for courage to make wise choices. Because once you make a choice, you have to walk it out. You have to live it. Many of us get stuck in our heads. We spend all our time deliberating or we make a decision and then never act. But a truly prudent person does something about their decision. They go out into the world and follow through with their choice, only veering from their path if new, significant information comes to light. And that takes courage.
Actions
As I have argued before, the contemporary world tries to convince us that we don’t have agency, that we are controlled by massive forces: our biology, the State, Big Tech, the Economy, the Environment, and so on. We’re just along for the ride. Voting doesn’t do anything. Politicians are all the same: corrupt and self-serving. The same can be said for corporations. We’re all victims of our mental and physical conditions, which, as we research more, we discover are more and more disruptive of our lives. There’s no predicting the market or careers because the Economy is out of control and/or is governed by an oligarchy of billionaires. At best, all we can do is entertain ourselves and fight for scraps. This mindset is directly related to the socio-political nihilism described by James Davison Hunter in his book, Democracy and Solidarity.
But it’s not reality. In reality we still have agency, more agency than we think. Yes, there are powerful forces which limit what we can do in the contemporary world, but we can still act, can still choose to live, to fight for what is good for us, to advocate for justice and human flourishing.
Human life has been toil since the Fall. This is nothing new. You can advocate for yourself medically more than you think, whether it’s physically or mentally or both. You can advocate for yourself or for justice at work more than you think. You can pursue beauty and good work, even when the world feels plastic and saccharine and soulless. You have agency. The only question is, will you take a step to the block and exercise that agency, or will you find excuses to abdicate your humanity?
As children, some of us climbed the ladder to the slide only to hesitate at the top for fear of plunging down. Over time, hopefully, we learned that the good of the joy of sliding was worth the risk of hurting ourselves. And so we took the plunge, we acted with courage.
Many of us still hesitate at the top, afraid that what awaits us at the bottom is only pain and suffering. And of course, that is possible. Just as when going down a slide it’s possible to fly off and hurt yourself, so it’s possible that if you take a plunge in your life and become an active agent based on a wise choice, you may end up hurt. But oh, the joy you will miss if you never plunge!
Again, the good news is that God has given you what you need to act! You have the Holy Spirit, his Word, the church, and reason. If you have prayerfully made a wise decision, then walk out that decision in peace, knowing that God is beside you. Do so with your head held high. You may be afraid, as you were afraid when you first went down that slide, but that fear can go with courage, knowing that you are doing what you are obligated to do: the best you know.
And here’s the truly Good News: even the best you know will sometimes be wrong and God’s grace is enough for you in that moment! If you repent and turn to him in your sins, he will forgive you. You don’t have to be afraid to choose wisely and act responsibly. Your Father in heaven knows you and loves you and desires your good. He will shepherd you to sanctification. Rest in that and act.
For more on choosing wisely and acting with courage, see my new book, To Live Well: Practical Wisdom for Moving Through Chaotic Times, out now wherever fine or even mediocre books are sold!
