Defending Institutions in a World of Chaos
Institutions are crumbling, but they are needed more than ever.
Institutions provide a foundation of stability amidst a world of chaos. They establish and defend certain cultural norms against the flights of fancy that threaten to pull society to the extremes. Therefore, is it any coincidence that as institutions find themselves torn apart by scandal after scandal, we see more and more societal unrest?
It is the responsibility of those who defend any semblance of objective truth to either build institutions ourselves or come alongside those who are building institutions that will provide a solid anchor in the storms of modernity.
Some of you might disagree with this contention.
The first objection to this contention is that institutions are unnecessary. They are susceptible to problems. Critics will say that religious institutions violate their own moral codes, governmental institutions work against the public interest, and social organizations fail to help the people they claim to care about. Many institutions have abused the trust that people have put in them, and it is much harder to build trust than it is to tear it down.
Why, then, would I suggest that institutions are the answer, even though some are bad?
An abuse of an idea does not automatically negate the idea. Institutions are not necessarily created to do evil, even though sometimes they do. Immediately concluding that all institutions should not be trusted because there are some bad ones is the equivalent of never sitting in a chair because some chairs break. Perhaps we are cautious about what institutions we trust, but we cannot automatically conclude that all institutions are intrinsically bad.
The second objection to my defense of institutions is that they tend to be cumbersome. In this age of social media activism, people believe they can change the entire world by adding a frame to their profile picture and posting some message of vague support for a socially popular cause. Why bother aligning with a cumbersome institution and having to get in line with someone else when you can feel good about your role in the resistance all by yourself?
To this charge, I would contend that it takes more than one person to change the world.
Big problems take a great deal of effort to solve, and we are finite human beings. Even if you are more than a social media activist, committed to making a great deal of real life change, you are limited. You can make a difference, but if a hundred people are working for evil, you will probably need at least that many people working for good.
If you believe in taking on a massive problem like global hunger, human trafficking, abortion, poverty, or something of that magnitude, you will need people alongside you, despite the cumbersome nature of institutions. Maybe they are inefficient, but it is practically impossible to take on certain problems alone, and therefore like-minded people need to band together in institutions to fight for good.
With these two objections considered, I would like to advance to the topic of building and maintaining institutions. As the original Managing Editor of An Unexpected Journal, a quarterly publication of literary and imaginative apologetics, I have experience building an institution that defends the good, true, and beautiful. Not only that, but I have seen great things come out of this institution, so I know the power that institutions can have for good. I want to suggest five tips that you can do today to help either build the institution you see a need for or support the institution you care about.
1. Identify What You Care About
Our current cultural moment resists institutions, so if you want to build one, your heart needs to be in it.
Emotions fade over time, so it is important to ensure that you are prepared for this cause to occupy your life for several years. Starting an institution only to have it fade away before it has done anything makes you wonder if it was ever worth starting at all. The best way to avoid that is to ensure that you have found something that you care about deeply.
If your heart is not in it, you should not try to begin an institution.
2. Bring Together Support
The strength of your team is going to be directly correlated with the success of your institution.
We started An Unexpected Journal with a group of alumni from what was then known as Houston Baptist University. These are some of the most extraordinary people I have ever met, and we worked for approximately six months before launching our publication to define what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. We did not know everything at that point, but we were committed to working on this project and supporting each other.
As you build your institution, figure out the right people to bring on board.
3. Share Success Stories
Fighting against our anti-institutional culture can be tiring, so it is essential to celebrate the good times.
One of my friends from An Unexpected Journal had one of her video interviews from our YouTube channel shared by a prominent C.S. Lewis podcast the other day. It was awesome! Not only is it good for her and the publication, but it is also good for every team member. Everyone gets a lift when good things start to happen.
Even something as simple as sharing an encouraging email from a reader can be the spark that keeps institutions pushing toward their purpose.
4. Establish Procedures and Protocols
Difficult decisions must be made and disagreements will happen, so it is important to have a plan in place for those times.
Institutions exist for specific purposes. That does not ensure that all members of an institution will be perfectly aligned in all areas of life; they have only signed on to support the purpose of the institution. This may lead to differences of opinion, and it is easier to have plans in place for dealing with conflict before the conflict arises.
Talking about procedures and protocols feels unnecessary at the beginning because it is still the honeymoon phase. However, establishing protocols is important, so the institution stays on track when challenges arise.
5. Be Prepared for Whatever Comes Next
You may have one vision of where your institution is headed, but new opportunities might take you in different directions.
We started An Unexpected Journal as a website, but we quickly learned our audience wanted hardcopy books. Then, we realized that we could reach other audiences by producing video content, so we started to do that. If we had not been willing to try new things, we would not have been prepared for the opportunities coming our way.
Institutions are defenders of stability but cannot risk becoming so entrenched in the status quo that they cease to be relevant.
The Future of Institutions
Institutions are valuable when they stand for truth, even though the world has forgotten about it. However, they are man-made entities; they do not occur naturally. You may find yourself building an institution, or you may find yourself coming alongside an institution to support the good that it is doing; both roles are necessary and valuable. Institutions must be built, maintained, and supported. That takes work and determination. If we are going to make a difference in the world, it is going to be through these institutions, and it is worth our time to dive in, get our hands dirty, and get to work.