{"id":27100,"date":"2021-01-18T10:45:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T18:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=27100"},"modified":"2021-01-18T10:46:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T18:46:59","slug":"bonhoeffer-leadership-intellectual-openness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/bonhoeffer-leadership-intellectual-openness\/","title":{"rendered":"Bonhoeffer & Leadership: Intellectual Openness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout the first half of this semester, my blogging will be in conversation with the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as exposed in Eric Metaxes\u2019 biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy<\/em>. I purchased the book years ago based on the recommendations of multiple friends and mentors and with the intention to get to it when the time was right. The time became \u201cright\u201d at the end of 2020 which found us in the ever-growing lethal intensity of a global pandemic, at the tail-end of a dangerous, evangelically-backed white-supremacist presidency, and at either a deepening midnight or a breaking dawn.<\/p>\n

My particular location as a white male Christian faith leader and peacemaker in the United States deepened my curiosity about the life of Bonhoeffer. In a different time, he, too, was a white, male, Christian theologian, pastor, and activist. We both were groomed within a nationalist theological agenda that placed us at the pinnacle of a sociological and theological human hierarchy. For different reasons, both of us were awakened to the calamity of this false religion and identity and have embarked upon pilgrimages that have and (hopefully) are leading to the kinds of transformation that reform our understanding of identity, theology, practice, and influence.<\/p>\n

In the posts that emerge over the next six weeks, I will explore some of the components of Bonhoeffer\u2019s pilgrimage. I will do this in an effort to discover how other dominant culture faith leaders who have been groomed within nationalist Christianity can experience liberation from the shackles of this religion.<\/p>\n

To begin, I want to point to Bonhoeffer\u2019s intellectual openness. As a student in Berlin, Metaxes points out that Bonhoeffer possessed the remarkable capacity to understand the perspectives of those with whom he agreed and disagreed with. In reflecting on Bonhoeffer\u2019s interaction with differing schools of theology, Metaxes writes: \u201cAs a result of his intellectual openness, Bonhoeffer learned how to think like a fox and respect the way foxes thought, even though he was in the camp of the hedgehogs.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Intellectual openness seems not to be a posture that one is naturally endowed with. Metaxes points to Bonhoeffer\u2019s upbringing as the incubator of this mindset. His father \u201ctaught his children to speak only when they had something to say,\u201d and that \u201che did not tolerate sloppiness of expression.\u201d[2]<\/a> The emphasis throughout Bonhoeffer\u2019s rearing was on deep listening and the expectation was that in order to engage in thoughtful discourse, one must first demonstrate that they understood the thought process of another. It was only after seeking to understand the ideas of another that the Bonhoeffer children were permitted to surface their thinking and convictions on the matter.<\/p>\n

It seems as though this practice generated in Bonhoeffer the ability to hold multiple perspectives in tension and learn from them without compromising his convictions. For Bonhoeffer, to demonstrate an understanding of another\u2019s perspective was to show respect for the person. Yet, to demonstrate understanding was not the same as adopting the understanding of another. Rather, understanding paved the way for an exploration of deeper truths and more refined convictions.<\/p>\n

Intellectual openness seems uncommon, even rare, in this moment of U.S. history. The generosity that comes with intellectual openness has dissolved and seems to be have been replaced with the rigidity and angry defensiveness of apologetic thinking. The result is the roar of simultaneous monologues accompanied by the applause of those in our own personal echo-chambers. Few are listening to, much less learning from and respecting, the different perspectives of others.<\/p>\n

So how might leaders who may not have had the privilege of being raised in homes where intellectual openness was a lived value grow in this regard?<\/p>\n

Let me offer three suggestions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Interrogate yourself.<\/strong> In conversation with others, pay attention to how you show up and then rate yourself 1-5 on the following topics:\n
      \n
    1. I listened thoughtfully, respectfully, and actively to the perspective of another.<\/li>\n
    2. I asked a number of follow-up questions in order to seek a better understanding before I shared my input.<\/li>\n
    3. I demonstrated my understanding of their perspective and inquired about its accuracy before I offered my input.<\/li>\n
    4. I offered my input in a way that established connections and thoughtful contrasts with my partner\u2019s perspective.<\/li>\n
    5. I offered my input in a way that invited critique.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
    6. Displace yourself.<\/strong> Find spaces within your own social location and\/or in virtual forums that are being facilitated by those different than you where you will be held accountable for showing up, listening long, and demonstrating learning.<\/li>\n
    7. Expand yourself.<\/strong> While displaced, listen for and write down the words, topics, and ideas that are unfamiliar to you. Rather than pretending to understand, seek understanding by identifying and pursuing thought leaders, books, articles, and other resources on the topics.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      ~~<\/p>\n

      [1]<\/a> Metaxes, 61.<\/p>\n

      [2]<\/a> Ibid., 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Throughout the first half of this semester, my blogging will be in conversation with the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as exposed in Eric Metaxes\u2019 biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. I purchased the book years ago based on the recommendations of multiple friends and mentors and with the intention to get to it when the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1943,1631,1944,35],"class_list":["post-27100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bonhoeffer","tag-civil-discourse","tag-intellectual-openness","tag-leadership","cohort-lgp10"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27100"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27102,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27100\/revisions\/27102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}