Myth, the American Dream, and Northside Church of Christ

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ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

MYTH, THE AMERICAN DREAM, AND NORTHSIDE CHURCH OF CHRIST

SUBMITTED TO DR. JONATHAN HUDDLESTON

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF BIBL 640 MYTHMAKING IN THE WORLD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE PATHWAYS PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

BY MATT FREDRICKSON

APRIL 12, 2012

The pursuit and achievement of theAmerican dreamis one of, if not the most, pervasive world making myths in the United States. From the birth and settlement of the nation,[1] to the book of our currently elected president,The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream,[2]this myth has arguably shaped the country’s very foundations. While appealing to the American dream may have helped Obama’s campaign, the embedded nature of this myth has had a negative impact on John’s leadership at Northside Church of Christ.[3]

Similar to the ways some interpreters understand the function of biblical myth, the American dream orients individuals and communities to the way they view the world and their place in it. According to this societal hermeneutic, “myth works, from the sociological perspective, only as it is enacted in ritual, transmitted by political and educational institutions, explained by the community’s priests and scribes, and revised by the community’s poets and prophets.”[4] In the case of the American dream, determined immigrants who moved to the U.S. in search of prosperity and fulfillment, perhaps, first enacted the ritual. If these families worked hard enough, they might,against all odds, make a name for themselves. The glorification of these success stories was then used to write inspiring political literature that was passed down through educational institutions, inherited by religious leaders, and picked up by the media.

In this way, myths like the American dream helpstructure a culture’s identity. Claude Levi-Strauss, for example,believed that he could study the “deep structures of the human mind” by analyzing a culture’s myths.[5]This is the level at which the American dream functions.The dream manifests itself in many ways beyond this brief description, but is usually couched in the attainment of success[6] through individual work ethic.Virtually all analysis of the American dream credit James Truslow Adams for coining the term in his book, The epic of America in 1931; he called it “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement” (emphasis added).[7]Because of the American dream, many believe strongly that if they work hard enough, they can accomplish anything, even if their social standing dictates otherwise.In his attempts to articulate the dream, Fredric Carpenter said, “Whether Americans have believed that their new world would progressively achieve a more perfect democracy, [a hope Obama seemed to be promoting during his presidential campaign[8]] or whether they have attacked this dream as delusion, it has determined the patterns of our thinking.”[9]

The purpose of this work will gravitate towards the delusion of which Carpenter speaks – not to prove the dream itself a fallacy, but to show the dream’s futility both in its comparison to biblical myth and with regard to itsfunction within the church, specifically Northside. When applied to church growth and ministerial achievement, the American dream is a chasing after the wind.In the case study, “Northside at the Crossroads,”[10] John has allowed the American dream myth to influence his approach to mission, causing him to favor his specialized ambition above the individual and cooperate needs of the church[11]and to neglectNorthside’spotential purpose in the community with respect to God’sactivity in the world. “Because of John’s specialized ambition and belief that ‘the Lord has been faithful to honor his hard work’[12] (emphasis added), catering to prospective members becomes his sole focus, in a quest to build his ideal church.”[13] The American dreamhas caused John to place his hope for successful church growth in the historical activity of hardworking Americans rather than the activity of a faithful God.

According to Diana Stiuliuc,the American dream is a culturalnarrative, made up of “stories that constitute ‘truth’ in a particular culture in that they shape beliefs, values and concepts of self.”[14]In this way, the dream captures inspiring success stories and uses them to captivate the nation and inform its identity.Every successful “rags to riches” tale is written in the annals of the American dream, providing hope and a sense of purpose for the generations to come. In every profession, in every state, city, or neighborhood, there are stories of individuals who,as a result of their own hard work and determination, against all odds, came out on top. These are the stories that provide Americans hope in the midst of adversity and pride in the celebration of nationalism.

Israel’s myths alsocontain stories of triumph that suppliedher own cultural identity. However, Israel’s hope was not placed in her own hard work, but in the work of YHWH her creator and liberator. In both times of trial and celebration, Israel placed her faithin the mighty acts of her God. This is expressed perhaps most clearlyin the psalms, especially those that combine the establishment of God’s peoplewith the origins of the cosmos.[15]For example, when the author of Ps 77 remembers the exodus and Israel’ssubsequent formation as a people, the psalmist also envisions YHWH slaying the chaos monster and creating the universe (Ps 77:16-21).Richard Clifford describes Ps 77 as telling “‘the wonders of old,’ the victory of the storm God over cosmic waters that brought Israel as a people into being.”[16]The lamenting psalmist, in distress, recalls YHWH’s faithfulness (v. 11), saying, “I will meditate on all your work and muse on your mighty deeds” (v. 12 NRSV). Doing so, the psalmist places hope, not in Israel’s will to persevere, but in what YHWH has done for Israel. Here, it is the work of YHWH that gives Israel her sense of national and cosmic identity.

The tradition of placing identity and hope in a faithful God is just as relevant for the church today as it was for ancient Israel; however, the American dream threatens this important discipline. Instead of trusting in the “God who works wonders” (Ps 77:14 NRSV), John has placed his hope for a vibrant church in his own hard work and, most likely, the work of others who have gone before him in the ministry. This is partly why “John sometimes felt that he was beating his head against a brick wall”[17] with no relief, because he relied upon his own hard work rather than the work of God.Although the author of Ps 77 probably experienced frustration similar to John’s, the conclusions following their laments are significantly different.The psalmist starts with lamentbut settles on praising YHWH. (Not all laments finish this way, but most contain elements of praise and hope). John, on the other hand, starts with frustration and ends with egocentric indecision, ruminating on what he should do, apart from what God has done or may currently be doing.In fact, John considers the action of God just once, and only in reference to God’s supposed blessing of John’s hard work (quoted above). John, in the final reflections of the case study, concludes by wondering whether he should“fight [against the objections and threats given by the long time members], compromise, move on, or start a new Northside.”[18]If John does not abandon the mythic dream, his hope will run out, and his “hard work” will prove to be a chasing after the wind.

While John’s current pursuit of the American dream within the church is leading to his eventual burnout and Northside’s potential fracture, it is also preventing him from seeing God’s pervasive action in the cosmos. This is theidentity John should be leading Northside into, instead of dragging the church along on his own personal crusade. John needs to remember that it was YHWH who brought Israel out of Egypt and liberated her from slavery and that it was Jesus who freed his people from the bondage of sin. Instead of focusing on his own hard work, John needs to start trusting in the work of God. David Platt, in his book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, says that

the problem for [Americans] is that in our culture we are tempted at every turn to trust in our own power instead [of God’s]. So the challenge for us is to live in such a way that we are radically dependent on and desperate for the power that only God can provide.[19]

John can move towards this by reorienting himself and Northside to the correct myth. Referring again to Clifford’s Creation Accounts, Ps 66 describes the sea crossing alongside the taking of the land in a hymn that marks God’s establishment of Israel and calls for the worship of YHWH.[20]

Come and see what God has done:

he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.

He turned the sea into dry land;

they passed through the river on foot. (Ps 66:5-6 NRSV)

John must make a conscious decision to stop claiming America’s story and begin to claim Israel’sby pointing to the actions ofthe Creator and God’s founding of Israel.[21]Rather than changing the worship or the nature of the church to attract young families,[22] John needs to consider altering his ministry, so that it calls attention to the identity of God’s people (Israel) through the Creator who established them, in order that Northside may lead the surrounding community to praising YHWH. John will not accomplish this by singing more contemporary hymns and working hard to relate with younger families. This kind of ministry will emerge from a church that creatively embodies theidentity they received fromthe God who slew Chaos in order to establish creation, who brought slaves out of Egypt, and who led wanderers across the Jordan on dry ground. In both lament and praise, these people draw attention to their God, the God who has now made it possible for all, though Jesus, to become God’s children.

In defense of John and his dedication to the task at hand, the American dream has indeed formed the heart of America and fuels the engine that drives it. For many Americans, the dream is almost a natural born instinct.Indeed, the church as a whole needs to reflect on the myths she lives by.

Bibliography

Adams, James Truslow.The Epic of America. Garden City, NY: Garden City Books,

1931.

Carpenter, Frederic.American Literature and the Dream. New York: Philosophical

Library, 1955.

Clifford, Richard. Creation Accounts in the Ancient Near East and in the Bible. Washington DC: The Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1994.

Cullen, Jim. The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation.

New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Fredrickson, Matthew. “Case Brief,” 1-12 [cited 17 March 2012]. Online:

Hochschild, Jennifer. Facing up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of

the Nation. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.

Malinowski,Bronislaw.Myth in Primitive Psychology.New York: W.W. Norton & CO,

1926.

Masur, Louis. Runaway Dream: Born to Run and Bruce Springsteen’s American Vision.

New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009.

Mogen, David et al., eds. The Frontier Experience and the American Dream. College

Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1989.

Obama, Barack. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.

New York: Crown Publishers, 2006.

Platt, David. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. Colorado

Springs, CO: Multnomah Books, 2010.

Sensing, Tim. “Northside at the crossroads,” no pages [cited 17 March 2012]. Online:

Stiuliuc, Diana. “The American Dream as the Cultural Expression of North American

Identity.” PhilologicaJassyensiaAn VII, Nr. 2 (14) (2011): 363-370.

Walsh, Richard.Mapping Myths of Biblical Interpretation. Sheffield, England: Sheffield

Academic Press, 2001.

[1] David Mogen et al., eds.,The Frontier Experience and the American Dream (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1989), 3-30.

[2]BarackObama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (New York: Crown Publishers, 2006). I mention Obama’s book, only to note a popular current connection to the prevalence of the American dream.

[3]Tim Sensing, “Northside at the crossroads,” n.p. [cited 17 March 2012]. Online: This is the required case study assigned to all students in the 2011 cohorts of the M.Div. and MACM programs at ACU, and is the study to which I will be referring throughout.

[4] Richard Walsh, Mapping Myths of Biblical Interpretation (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), 74. Here Walsh is explaining an argument found in Bronislaw Malinowski’s Myth in Primitive Psychology (New York: W.W. Norton & CO, 1926), 19.

[5]Ibid., 72.

[6] JenniferHochschild, Facing up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), 15.

[7]James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America (Garden City, NY: Garden City Books, 1931), 317. Even with some admission of uncertainly, all sources in my bibliography credit Adams for first defining the American dream.

[8]Obama, The Audacity of Hope.

[9] Frederic Carpenter, American Literature and the Dream (New York: Philosophical Library, 1955), 5.

[10] Sensing, “Northside at the crossroads,” n.p.

[11]Ibid.,n.p. One of the “long-time” members’ valid complaints against John is his disregard for their interests, opinions, and, put harshly, their general spiritual well being. For my analysis of the case, see: Matthew Fredrickson, “Case Brief,” 2 [cited 17 March 2012]. Online:

[12] Sensing, “Northside,” n.p.

[13]Fredrickson, “Case Brief,” 2. In this work, I assess the situation of Sensing’s case study (“Northside,” n.p.). In my analysis, self absorption is the most significant weakness attributed to both John and the long time members – John, in his obsession with growing the church through his own hard work, and the long time members, in their narcissistic rejection of his efforts. This blinds both parties to Northside’s potential calling understood within the meta-narrative of God’s activity in the world, thus creating an unhealthy sense of mission.

[14]Stiuliuc, Diana. “The American Dream as the Cultural Expression of North American Identity.” PhilologicaJassyensiaAn VII, Nr. 2 (14) (2011): 363-370.

[15] Richard Clifford, Creation Accounts in the Ancient Near East and in the Bible(Washington, DC: CatholicBiblical Association of America, 1994), 153. On this page, Clifford introduces the way Israel composed and understood her “national story” in the Psalms, in relation to YHWH’s creating and saving action in both her “suprahistoric” and “historic” cultural narratives. Suprahistoric and historic are categories that Clifford uses in order to avoid using the word myth, suprahistoric referring to stories predominantly involving heavenly beings (the origin of the cosmos) and historic pertaining to more anthropocentric events (the origin of Israel). Clifford argues in 151-162 that these categories are essentially inseparable when it comes to Israel’s understanding of her history. While Clifford is not trying to establish Israel’s sense of identity, his argument intuitively helps me to do so. I wish to compare the American dream, as a narrative identity contributing to the birth the United States, with the way Israel understood hers.

[16]Ibid., 157.

[17] Sensing, “Northside,” n.p.

[18]Ibid.,n.p.

[19]David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books, 2010), 45. Platt’s work is largely an attempt to wake up wealthy apathetic American Christians from their indifference towards a world that desperately needs saving, and a gospel that demands they do something about it. The First three chapters (1-60) are most relevant to my argument that the American dream has distracted John from the larger scope of God’s mission and that the church must witness to God’s works, not its own. While I agree with the general sentiment of Platt’s book as a whole, there is not room to discuss its totality here, given the need to address in more detail the function of American and Old Testament myth.

[20]Clifford, Creation Accounts, 160.

[21]This shift would also release the long time members from the selfishness of the American dream; if Northside’s identity is rooted in YHWH, it is no longer “our church,” as they argue, but God’s. Reference:Sensing, “Northside,” n.p.

[22] Sensing, “Northside,” n.p.