#EmpireBusiness

Recently, I’ve been using this hashtag on Twitter a bit.

#empirebusiness.

It’s an attempt to warm ya’ll up to an idea – the idea behind my next book, actually, in the development phase right now.

Empire Business will look at challenges facing the American church in its relationship to empire – the structures of selfish power and control that so often define life here. Specifically, it will look at the ways in which the church, like the religious institution of Jesus’s day, often reflects and conforms to the way of empire.

And, the book will tackle this from the perspective of two pop culture icons: Don Draper and Walter White, the latter of whom is the source of the title (think living room scene with Jesse in the first half of Breaking Bad Season 5). Each of these characters is uniquely entangled in the ways of empire, such that it is both enriching them and destroying them. However, ironically, they both engage in a forceful critique of empire in their unique hypocrisies. As energy is ramping up for the final season of Breaking Bad in July and, before that, the second to last season of Mad Men in April, my excitement for the project is building, too. These shows have something very important to say to us in the church.

One last thing. The topic, and the tweets, may seem to be a bit of harsh critique for the church, without much of a bright side. But critique is not the only point here, nor is the #empirebusiness tag meant to be damning. We are all entangled at some level, and I’m convinced none of us will be totally free of empire until the next age begins. But, the bright side is precisely that even here in this country, movements are afoot within the church that are questioning this ungodly entanglement and seeking to unravel it one bit at a time.

I aim to interview pastors and leaders of larger churches, smaller churches, and church movements, for each chapter of the book.

If you’d like to get involved, just let me know.

And if you’d like to read my first book, Nothing but the Blood: The Gospel According to Dexter check it out on Amazon paperback and Kindle.