The Kingdom: A Place to be Seen and Heard
The emotionally charged world in which we live today seems like it is primed for Pragya Agarwal’s book Sway: Unravelling unconscious bias. [1] Nearly every day there is some reference to racism, sexism, homophobia, or the discrimination of someone. The political rhetoric of the day is to point fingers and blame someone for another group’s disadvantage while the media cannot wait for the next juicy tidbit that can be used to stir the pot of division among us all. Agarwal provides the read with a comprehensive thoroughly researched look into the origins of bias, and its effect on every aspect of daily life. The author’s background as an acclaimed academic, and behavioral and data scientist is represented in this social science exploration into why we react to people who are different from us.
Initially, this week’s reading was difficult for me to get into. I felt like I was rereading Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow [2] or Lieberman and Long’s The Molecule of More. [3] This review and the meticulous research of every aspect of the subject bogged me down. I found some of her examples to be lacking enough information to full support her point. For example, the two individuals photographed carrying goods after Hurricane Katrina. [4] The dark skin man is portrayed as a thief and the white woman as being resourceful. This in fact could be blatant bias, however she reveals her bias by not confirming that the man was not a thief.
I found Agarwal’s reference to Kurt Lewin’s equation of behavior interesting. It is the person within their environment, together with their cognition that determine a particular behavior. [5] A person’s environmental experience shapes their cognitive processing of similar situations and ultimately their behavior. I remember the first time I crossed one particular boarder into Germany after the fall of Communism. The guards at that boarder were extremely threatening more than once. I remember having an emotional and physical reaction on that first visit. It is our experiences within certain context that lead us to cognitive interpretations of whether it is a safe environment. If it is determined that there is a threat it can lead to a fear response of negative stereotypes and prejudices. [6] The author admits that “understanding more about unconscious bias is not going to magically fix…injustices.” [7] So what will? Are to be stuck on a carrousel of blame and accusation?
I cannot help but think that our fast-paced lives with narrow margins drive into a constant state of quick System 1 [8] responses that leaves us vulnerable to errors from unconscious bias. [9] It is when we live with wide margins that a person has time and space to process their world rationally, System 2. [10] It is in this place of rational thinking that one can learn to see people as “the fearfully and wonderfully made” [11] divine creation that they are. It is this place of awareness of where each person comes from that one can begin to see the uniqueness, struggles and victories that makes up each life. It is when one sees the individual for all of who they are that it is possible to make room at the table of life to hear the voices of the marginalized. When a person has a secure place in the conversation, they no longer need to engage in conformity [12] because they are accepted as they are. [13] My hope is that I can be that self-differentiated leader who has a large table where there is always room for one more person who is not seen.
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[1] Pragya Agarwal, Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias, 2021.
[2] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 1st pbk. ed (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013).
[3] Daniel Z Lieberman and Michael E Long, The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity-and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race, 2019.
[4] Agarwal, Sway, 39.
[5] Ibid., 32.
[6] Ibid., 46.
[7] Ibid., 404.
[8] Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 415.
[9] Agarwal, Sway, 27-42.
[10] Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 415.
[11] Richard Sasanow, The NIV Study Bible/10th Anniversary Edition (Place of publication not identified: Zondervan, 1995), 925. Psalms 139:14.
[12] Agarwal, Sway, 34.
[13] Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian J. Walsh, Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2008), 59, 64.
About the Author
Denise Johnson
Special Education teacher K-12, School Counselor K-12, Overseas field worker in Poland,10 responses to “The Kingdom: A Place to be Seen and Heard”
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Denise, you write about the need for margin so that we can hear other’s and understand them and their value. I totally agree with that. Do you think that effort can be incorporated into a church when the gathered group shares a service and participates in ministry? If so, how would you see that implemented?
Roy, great questions.
I think that the implementation of margin is foundational for the congregations we serve to begin to value margin. Just like a family and their practices determine the values and worldview so the church’s practices bring a heavenly worldview. Unfortunately, too often (at lease in my world) our practices do not match what we are communicating.
The implementation is the tricky part. This is due to the investment of individuals to the way things have been done. However, much like a missionary finds a person of peace, or that one person of relational credibility to help, leadership can do that as well.
Much like my one prototype group. I just grabbed a group of thirty-somethings in my friend’s church. We only met four times. But the stir it caused because people of various ages wanted to be included. I think that is how the most effective change happens.
Denise: Thoughtful post and I appreciated your connections to the previous works we’ve read. I’m wondering in your field of work how you’ve navigated in creating those secure places in conversation for those you’ve ministered to/with? Do you feel like in this time of transition that you have found a secure place yourself?
Kayli, great questions.
I think that while creating a safe and secure place is essential for growth, it is not easy. It takes time and relational intentionality. Some of my thinking on this was formed by my early professional experience. I discovered that when my classroom was stable. My expectations of these “forgotten and hopeless” teens were based in the belief that they were worth the effort. They were better able to take control of their own future. For me, I think that what I need has continued to morph. I think it starts with a self-awareness forged in quietness. I am much better in the conversation for others then myself. But conversation that is focused on listening, reflective question for me and clarifying questions of others makes a huge difference.
For me, when I can fully embrace Psalm 46:10 and be still on the inside, I am better able to see the secure place he has provided and experience the peace I am looking for wherever I am.
Thank you for tapping into a modern example. And yet, the tension of this region has existed for centuries.
In what way can we as leaders help unveil the unconscious bias of the people we work beside in an act of grace?
Andy, you are so right.
This is always complicated by my own unconscious biases. I think that the challenge is complicated by an internal clock that presses my perceived need of an urgent resolve. Helping someone to see their unconscious bias requires time and a depth of relationship that I have earned the right to be heard at a deep personal level.
I think Jesus did it masterfully by quiet, calm, simple reflective questions. I am reminded of the woman caught in adultery. The mobs preconceived ideas of righteousness were brought into a clearer view when they had to look into their own thoughts and behaviors.
Ty Denise for your thoughts, especially the connection between the person’s beliefs to their past experiences. You wrote, “ It is our experiences within certain context that lead us to cognitive interpretations of whether it is a safe environment.” Do you have any practical experiences of how to uproot negative experiences that forms the negative bias in a person?
Jonathan, great question.
I do not know that we can really ever “uproot” difficult life experiences. It is much like grief. We need to fully experience that hardship. I have used guided imaging to see that Jesus was there with me. It is by walking through that circumstance with him that helps to gain a different perspective. That in turn allows me to come with an attitude of openness to receive his healing and to see the redemptive power he brings. Like a sermon I preached years ago. Everyone gets their fair share of “poop.” If you allow it to pile up, all you will have is a big burn spot. But if you spread out with hope. You have the opportunity for it to be the fertilizer for a transforming and fruitful harvest.
Denise as I read your post I could not help but think about the wisdom of The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking. After we have travelled this far, how do the 20 Barriers to Critical Societies section of that book “feel” now? Can they inform how we lead people to that big table?
Nicole, you always challenge me.
I think that the concise statements of 20 Barriers to Critical Societies could play an informative role for leaders as they invite people to the table. Particularly, while facilitating meaningful, creative, reflective and honoring conversation.