Hauerwas on Living Out of Control

"Thus to live out of control means to that we do not assume that our task as Christians is to make history come out right. We do not need to write social ethics from the perspective of those who would claim to be in control and 'in power.' Rather we must assume that those who can more nearly give us a sense of what is really going on in the world are those who are 'out of control.' For those who are without control have fewer illusions about what makes this world secure or safe; and they inherently distrust those who say they are going to help through power and violence. Christian social ethics, therefore, is not best written from the perspective of the Secretary of State or the President, but from those who are subject to such people.

"The task of the Christian people is not to seek to control history, but to be faithful to the mode of life of the peaceable kingdom."

Stanley Hauerwas, PK, 106.