We sat across from the school superintendent with our two boys, who were in 1st and 5th grade at the time. We had been having issues with some of the teachers and the principal of the elementary school, and it had reached a boiling point. With only a few weeks left in the school year, we were trying to figure out how to make it work until we came up with a new solution for the start of school in the fall. There were no behavioral issues; this was purely about how poorly things were running at the school, and the kids were paying the price. We talked about our concerns, and he finally looked at my husband and me, pointed at our sweet boys, and said, “It’s $5,000 for you and $5,000 for you. If you leave, we’ll lose $10,000.” That’s what it came down to. The money, their bodies, supporting the system.

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I first heard the idea of simulation through Michael O’Fallon of Sovereign Nations a couple of years ago. It was a video he had called Simulacra – The Causes of Things, Ep. 30. I hadn’t really heard of this idea before then, outside of things like The Matrix and the thought that we live in a computer simulation. The computer simulation seemed silly at the time and still does. However, that’s not what this is.

My husband recently finished reading a book, Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard, which he says is a slow read. (It is! I started reading a bit of it, and it was translated from French, not very well, in my opinion.) So the conversation came around again, and I remembered the video above. The book inspired the video. Here’s what Michael O’Fallon says about this topic:

“We are in the process of transitioning from an analog. objective, real, physical world into a digital, subjective, surreal world. And this process of transformation is happening in every facet of our civilization
But what we are experiencing is a transformation of what is accepted as reality, when it isn’t reality: it is synthetic.
In this discussion enters Jean Beaudriallard and his understanding of hyperreality the creation of synthetic reality, which is not reality at all: it is the creation of something that is more real than real.
It is beyond propaganda, but propaganda is certainly utilized.
It is the creation of simulacra and simulation.
And in this world of simulacra, we are being told to ignore objective reality and embrace hyperreality: an unreality that has no connection with that which it claims to represent.
Our way of life, our media, our news and our body politic are now guided by the ever-changing synthetic world of the hyperreal.”

There’s the famous quote from William Shakespeare that “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players…” and I’ve thought of that frequently over the years. Often, when I see a news story, especially surrounding politics, I think “political theater.” James Corbett touches on it here, where he also mentions the Simulacrum: https://corbettreport.com/dissecting-the-selection/?

Of course, it’s not limited to news and politics. We see it in our everyday lives. Most notably on social media, where we curate what we want people to see. It might not be fake, but it’s only a part of our real lives. We see it in our medical care, where they try to fit a pill to your symptom and separate your body into parts, going to this “specialty” doctor and that one. Where it’s one size fits most, and if you don’t fit and can’t be fixed with the automated system, you’re the problem, and you’ll suffer for it.

We see this when we go to a store and the tag says one thing, but the system says another. You talk to a store associate to try to get the problem fixed, but it gets escalated to the manager, and they can no longer (in many cases) override the system that’s been put in place. The system has become the rule. The system is synthetic; it doesn’t have reasoning or thinking, it only does what it’s programmed to do. And that programming is oftentimes faulty. It doesn’t take outside factors or mistakes into account because it’s not a person; it’s a simulation of what a person might do. It’s not real in its essence, but it affects our lives in a real way.

The problem is not in having systems. The problem is when we elevate systems above people. When we take something that’s supposed to help create organization and ease, it replaces personal interaction and accountability.

This has also affected the church. We now have churches adopting the same systems that businesses use. Like businesses, they are trying to grow their “customer base” through worldly systems. Looking at things like demographics, community outreach, social media presence, events, activities, etc. None of these things are necessarily bad in and of themselves, but when your “church” is not prioritizing the great commission, preaching the Gospel, or caring for widows and orphans, as we are called to do, there’s a big problem.

The church is not a system. It is a people united through Jesus. Much of what we’re experiencing in the “American church” is not really church. It’s a simulation of a church. It can and has done a lot of damage, and it doesn’t do what the Bible has called us to, which is to be the church. Often, in these churches, Jesus isn’t even mentioned, and when He is, it’s another Jesus, offered as a footnote to uphold what’s being said and done.

Betrayal, loss of friendship, and failing to treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ are now common. Real people get pushed to the side for the sake of the system. Are we acting out a simulation of church rather than being the church? Has “church” replaced the Church?

When your church is more concerned about the bodies that are there than the souls of those bodies, that’s a big deal. We are more than bodies. We are more than cogs in a system. When problems arise within church congregations and people are secondary to the systems of that church, you are no longer acting as the Church; you’re just another organization. An organization using “Christian” lingo and precepts, using God’s name in vain, to keep the doors open and the lights on.

There’s no care for the issues at hand. There’s no responsibility taken or accountability. In this system, there doesn’t have to be. When you call out this kind of behavior, some pastors and elders turn to you and say, “That’s $5,000 for you and $5,000 for you. If you leave, we’ll lose $10,000.” Friends, this is not what the church is supposed to look like.

You might go to a building every Sunday and participate in a gathering, but if the system is more important than the people where you are, all you’re doing is acting out a simulation of church and not participating in the real thing.

“Jesus Christ did not die for our systems. He died for human beings.” -Diane Langberg, PhD