Making Meaning by Making Enemies:
Tribes, Mimetic Rivals, & Gospel Peace
With John Houmes and Brad Edwards
Why do we need enemies to feel like we belong?
In this conversation, John and Brad unpack Trevin Wax's article "When the Tribe Eats the Church" through the lens of René Girard's scapegoat mechanism—revealing why communities (left and right) use the same tribal pattern to maintain unity.
From mimetic desire to mythological justification, from McCarthyism to cancel culture, we're watching the same mechanism play out in real-time: communities make meaning by making enemies.
But the Resurrection changes everything.
🎯 What You'll Hear
• How expressive individualism evolved into tribalism
• Girard's mimetic desire: we learn what to want by imitating others
• The scapegoat mechanism: communities uniting through accusation and expulsion
• McCarthyism vs. cancel culture—same pattern, different tribes
• Why mythology hides the violence of persecution
• How Christ's resurrection vindicated the innocent victim
• Why double imputation means Christians don't need another scapegoat
• What the church must offer: belonging rooted in worship, not enemies
• How gathered worship reorders our tribal identity
💡 KEY QUOTES
BRAD EDWARDS:
"We don't know how to exist, how to make sense of the world and make meaning without an enemy. That is an incredible enslavement that we have willingly walked into."
JOHN HOUMES:
"We're living in a story that's way too small. Jesus is victorious over our deepest enemy—sin, death, and the devil. He rises from the dead in victory."
📚 RESOURCES
Trevin Wax, "When the Tribe Eats the Church" (Gospel Coalition, April 9, 2026)
René Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning
Luke Burgis, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
Eugene Peterson, The Pastor
Michelle Margolis, From Politics to the Pews
#Tribalism #Polarization #ScapegoatMechanism #RenéGirard #TrevinWax #Gospel #Church #Belonging #Identity #Discipleship #PostEverything
Chapters
00:00 🎯INTRO
01:17 🏘️Trevin Wax: When Tribe Eats Church
01:44 👤What Are Tribes? Examples Everywhere
03:32 🎭Tribalism's New Function: Making Meaning
05:47 📱Eugene Peterson: Digital Ecstasy
07:30 🚫Escape Isn't Transcendence
08:51 👎Making Meaning by Making Enemies
09:15 🤖Algorithms Designed to Deliver Enemies
10:17 🏛️Digital Disembodies Everything
11:41 🐴Horseshoe Theory: Same Battlefield
14:16 💔Church Planting on Enemy Opposition
16:36 🔄Echo Chambers Refuse New Ideas
19:45 ❌Tribal Concerns Become Gospel Tests
24:24 🗳️Politics Replaced Religion as Primary
27:34 🔍Introducing René Girard
29:41 🧠Mimetic Desire: We Learn Wanting
30:52 🏆Mimetic Rivalry: Victory Over Object
34:13 🎪Scapegoat Mechanism Brings Peace
37:11 📖Mythology Justifies the Perpetrators
38:20 ☮️McCarthyism and Cancel Culture Parallel
42:30 ✝️Gospel Uniquely Sides With Victim
43:10 🙏Resurrection Breaks the Mechanism
43:55 💫Double Imputation Means No Scapegoats
45:52 📜Stories Too Small, Jeremiah Example
57:25 🤝Church: Thick Belonging, Gospel Posture
