You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World

by Alan Noble

As Ellul describes it, “[Modern] leisure time is mechanized time and is exploited by techniques which, although different from those of man’s ordinary work, are as invasive, exacting, and leave man no more free than labor itself.”18 Even when we think we are on vacation or relaxing, the spirit of our action is still efficiency. Vacation becomes a project that must be completed on-time and under budget. Even when we try to “veg” by scrolling through Instagram, playing a mindless video game, or watching episode after episode of a mediocre sitcom, the pace of the entertainment is frenetic. Images change rapidly and we get bored easily. Our rest is rarely restful. It is an active rest, a rest without silence or stillness, a rest marked by the overwhelming responsibility to make better use of your time.