The Tectonic School Philosophy - Part 1

A Serious of Posts Outlining the Background and Purpose behind Tectonic School

This series of posts come out of the draft document that, combined with a sizable number of devotionals, will eventually comprise a book to help launch Tectonic School programs.

It outlines particular problems that are present in our society, our local churches, and in the lives of individuals and families. The solution offered is a plan to integrate a severely disenfranchised and undervalued group - young men - into meaningful involvement in local communities through training and employment in trade jobs and the life of the local church. This will be accomplished through cooperation in mutually beneficial relationships with local businesses, local churches, and local families. 

Introduction: Virology

Over the past few years, perhaps no concept has been as relevant to our understanding of the world we live in that the term viral. The two main areas that have brought this concept to the fore are that of the viral video or meme, and the worldwide panic over coronavirus. When the viral content is fun and humorous, we have no problem with the fact that it spreads so rapidly, and like a seasonal cold, after a viral message has made its rounds it tends to fade away. However, in the last few years our society has made a concerted attempt to thwart both physical and informational viruses. In both regards, the effort has been unsuccessful. Despite measures to prevent contact far more strict than anything in living memory, the vast majority of populations still dealt with the novel virus in the usual way - by contracting and then recovering from infection. Similarly, during the contentious election cycles of the past few years, campaigns against “misinformation” have backfired. Trust in government and news institutions have fallen precipitously, and while there may not have been one particular viral strain that has overtaken the narrative, the power of the institutional media has waned severely. To liken it to a physical pandemic, the government, and the news which seeks to prop it up, has become a weak antibiotic. It leaves people vulnerable to all sorts of other infections. When enough of this exposure occurs, people are left without recourse. They have no ability to trust or believe anything. When the body’s immune response is depleted, a person can fall to even the mildest of infections. Likewise, when the mind’s ability to discern truth from lies erodes, it leaves people vulnerable to everything from apathy to genocide. 

Because trust in our institutions has eroded so much, many people are fearful of some sort of societal collapse. Alongside this fear is the worry about what will rush in to fill the void when our current structures finally give way. When the particular fears of individuals and communities range from totalitarianism to chaos and anarchy, there is no clear cut solution. Factions will react against both of these impulses whenever they sense them coming from voices of authority. Inevitably, this will result in the sort of collapse that we all fear. As Jesus said;

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”¹

Francis Schaeffer in his excellent book and video series, How Shall We Then Live? compares the state of society to that of a Roman era stone bridge. When the weight placed upon the bridge stays below the limits of its design, it will last for Millenia, as many such bridges have all across Europe. However, when the bridge is tasked with supporting the weight of a fully laden modern truck, it will collapse within moments. 

There is no way for common men and women to control the forces that have amassed the power and influence over the broad sweep of society. Nor is there any way for individuals or small communities to prevent the effect of pressures from outside. 

To simply hope that nothing disastrous will happen is foolish and naïve. While we all should pray for the protection and blessing of God on our nation, a wise man prepares for the coming storm. 

In Jesus’ warning about the kingdom divided, he speaks on three levels of unity. A kingdom, a city, and a household. If the kingdom is divided, but the city is not, then the fracture will only spread so far. In Jesus’ comparison of the two builders, the wise man builds his house on the foundation of a rock. Metaphorically, this represents the one who heeds the words of Jesus. The foolish man builds his house on sand; this is to hear the words and ignore them. 

In many ways, we live in a house that has been inherited from the generations that come before. The foundations may have been solid when the walls were first raised, but if we have neglected to maintain the integrity of the structure, the stone may have become eroded. Therefore, we need to look at the foundation, to dig down below the surface and see what needs to be done. 

Fortunately, we are never in a truly hopeless situation. The great theme of the gospel is not a message that conquers the world through brute force of will, but through the redemption of the broken and bruised. The divisions that come from the top down may fracture nations, states and cities. The households that are not united will tear apart, and even the individuals who are filled with conflict will be broken and consumed. But the fractures will stop when they reach something whole. Wholeness is not found in uniformity, or perfection, or superiority of raw material. The integrity of a structure is found in what unites the disparate parts. The foundation must be strengthened from the smallest parts first. The loose stones must be fitted and fixed in place. The tiniest pebble, and even the shifting grains of sand can become a part of the firm foundation. What is needed is something that binds them together. The strongest mortar that can hold societies together is a self-sacrificial love. Not the sacrifice of the weak for the sake of the strong, but the sacrifice of the greatest for the sake of the least. 

The Marxist vision of utopia tries to compel people to live this way - to give up their own self-interest for the sake of the greater good. But the leader of such movements never leads by his own example; because he desires to be the beneficiary of the sacrifice of others. Only one movement has a leader who has sacrificed everything for the sake of His followers. The greatest truth that has ever been told is that this act of selfless generosity has already been done - and we are already the beneficiaries. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”²

This was the truth presented to the oppressed and downtrodden in the message of the Gospel - and the power of this message made it go viral. While many have sought to rediscover the most “authentic” version of Christianity, perhaps the difficulty of defining its truest form is that it is truly universal. The heart of this message cuts through culture, language, history and tradition, and causes a flourishing of inner human life in any condition. The truest form of the Gospel is the one that prepares believers to confront the unknown head-on.

Unfortunately, the virality of this message seems to have been lost in the confusion of the times in which we live. While we have updated the façade of our structures to keep up appearances, our reliance on the successful formulas of the past have caused us to stop maintaining the integrity of our foundations. What we have considered to be the heart of the gospel is something that our society has become immune to. Therefore, we must go back and rediscover what truly made this message a viral success, because the only suitable foundation for an unknown future is men and women surrendered to God.

The next post in this series is available here:

1. Matthew 12:25b

2. Romans 5:8