Awaiting the King

James K. A. Smith's third volume in his Cultural Liturgies project addresses the crisis of Christian political engagement in contemporary democracies. Written during the tumultuous political climate surrounding the 2016 American election, Smith diagnoses how Christians have often reduced politics to policy positions while neglecting the formative power of political liturgies that shape our deepest loves and allegiances. The work emerges from Smith's conviction that Reformed theology offers essential resources for understanding politics as a sphere of human flourishing that requires both participation and prophetic distance.

Smith argues that political engagement is fundamentally liturgical, involving practices and rituals that form citizens in particular visions of the good life. He contends that the state, while a legitimate sphere of God's common grace, becomes idolatrous when it claims ultimate allegiance or promises final salvation. Drawing on Augustine's distinction between the City of God and the earthly city, Smith develops a framework for faithful political participation that neither withdraws from public life nor baptizes any particular political program. The book emphasizes that Christians must see politics through eschatological lenses, working for justice and human flourishing while recognizing that no earthly political order can deliver ultimate redemption. Smith challenges both progressive and conservative Christians to examine how their political commitments may have become disordered, arguing for a politics of virtue rooted in Christian formation rather than mere procedural democracy.

The work has provided vocabulary and theological grounding for Christians seeking to navigate increasingly polarized political landscapes without abandoning either their faith commitments or their civic responsibilities. Smith's synthesis of Augustine, Reformed theology, and contemporary political theory offers a alternative to both Christian nationalism and secular liberalism. This book serves readers wrestling with how to maintain Christian distinctiveness while engaging responsibly in democratic participation, particularly those who find themselves politically homeless in existing partisan frameworks.