Healthy agency

God has made human beings to have agency. We were made for agency, to make choices, then act, in ways that make a difference in the world. We can see this from the first chapter of the Bible. ²⁶ Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’

²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’

When God makes human beings in his image, we should think- what has God been doing so far? Because humans in God’s image will presumably do what God does, but on a smaller scale. In Genesis 1:1-25, God has been acting as creator, making choices, causing new things to happen. So when he makes us in his image, we can learn that we are meant to be acting, choosing, making changes in the world. And this is confirmed in v28, where God gives humanity a task- to fill the earth, subdue it and rule over it. Human beings are made by God to have agency in his world. We are meant to be able to make a difference in the world under God’s rule.

If this is true, then when people lack agency, that is likely to be a problem. Sometimes the lack of agency is a problem because it causes other problems. Other times the lack of agency is a result of other problems. But with mental health problems growing, it seems worth exploring what healthy agency is and how we can have it.

Problems with lack of agency (or feeling of lack of agency)

One problem is that people feel like they lack agency. They feel like they don’t have any choices, or that they don’t make any difference in the world. The industrialisation of society can make us feel like interchangeable cogs- everything I do could be done by someone else.

Many people feel helpless. They don’t feel they are equipped to do anything that really matters. So many things are now hard to fix, or need training and qualifications to fix, that we can always be relying on someone else to come and fix things, to make a difference. Office work can often feel like its impact is intangible. Menial work often feels relentless, a Sisyphean task.  

And alongside feeling helpless, many people feel worthless. If I don’t feel I have meaningful choices or make an important difference in the world, then I feel worthless. I don’t matter. Now sometimes physical illness will mean a person can do very little- and they remain image bearers and precious to God. Even if I do nothing, I remain valuable in Christ. But for people to lack agency often does feed a feeling of worthlessness. And so encouraging healthy agency helps people to feel empowered and that they matter to others. This is a creation level reality, a cause and effect reality, not a redemption truth. But it remains a helpful part of being human. Finding small ways to have agency, to make a difference, is often a helpful step to understanding our own value. (That is why Jordan Peterson include “tidy your room” as a rule for life- something I’m not the best at!)

 Problems with fake agency

There are several ways the modern world encourages us to get trapped in fake agency. One is the temptation to escape into the virtual world. Now there can be real agency in using computers to create, to manage real world activity, to really connect to people. But the online world offers us a fake agency option which offers short term dopamine hits but not real agency. In the virtual world I may be a hero competent in warfare, leadership and building a world. But in the real world I am weak, unfit, lonely and unable to do DIY. The escapism into a virtual world where I am competent and important ends up trapping us, stopping us investing the time and effort into relationships and skills in the real world.

There is a place for imagination, and even escapism. But if the virtual world is crowding out real world agency, it ends up harming us. This is also a compounding problem, because gaining skills and impact in the real world means greater agency in the future, and so more gaining of fitness and skills.

Another form of fake agency is consumer choice. Now it is not wrong to enjoy things in this world and to have choices. But if we focus on what we consume, and our only choices are related to what we consume, in the long run we don’t feel like we are making a difference to others or to the world. I wonder if we have masked our fading agency in the modern world with consumer choices. In the short-term consumer choice feels like powerful agency, but it is not true agency, not making a difference for others or the world.   

Problems with feeling over-responsible

Another problem with agency is people feeling over responsible- thinking they should be able to change things they can’t. This can lead to people feeling like failures when they can’t change something they would never have had power to change. Or because they can’t affect big things, they can feel helpless in all areas.

One example of this is the focus on campaigning on “big” issues at the expense of skills to impact the immediate context. It’s not wrong to be involved in some campaigning, and some people will make that their life’s work. But if young people feel personally responsible for stopping global climate change or overcoming global social inequality, they will feel powerless and helpless. How does one person, or even a group of people overcome global and entrenched problems? And that can lead to failing to take good personal steps for local environmental improvement or local help for those in need.

Sometimes people feel responsible for things only God can change. Romans 12:18 is helpful: If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Sometimes other people will not respond peacefully, and you are not responsible for peace if they are determined not to have peace. Likewise, we are not responsible for other people responding to Jesus. If we feel over-responsible, it can be paralysing or guilt-inducing.  

Healthy agency

So what does healthy agency look like. Well it starts with recognising that we are made in God’s image, with real but limited agency. There are many things we can’t do because we are not God. But there are many things we can do as image bearers. We can make choices with our time, effort, and skills that make a difference. That make a difference to another person. That make a difference to the institutions we belong to. That make a difference to the physical environment we live in.

And as we do that, we will grow in skills. For seasons we will invest in gaining more skills. Agency is a seed that grows, with more capacity and more opportunities as you gain skill and reputation. Choose paths that give you useful skills for impacting people or culture or the environment you live in.

Much of agency is about choosing to do the boring everyday things well and serving others. Jesus commends the every day choice to serve others, and this is a fundamental choice. Will I serve God and others, or will I serve myself. This fundamental choice shapes everything else in life. Healthy agency turns daily to Jesus for forgiveness (forgive us our sins) and for power to live rightly and make a good impact (your kingdom come… deliver us from evil).