The Elephant in the Virtual Room
Unity implies diversity; uniformity eliminates it.
Unity makes us one; uniformity makes us the same.
Unity creates an organism; uniformity craves organization.
Unity combines and includes; uniformity confines and excludes.
Unity forms a totality; uniformity is totalitarian.
Leaders promote unity; tyrants impose uniformity.
Unity springs from conviction; uniformity comes from coercion.
Unity respects individuality; uniformity eradicates it.
A bouquet of flowers gets its beauty not from uniformity, but from unity.
Nature is not uniform, but a wondrous unity!
So, why do people sacrifice a profound unity for the sake of a superficial uniformity?[1]
—Walter Niebrzydowski
The current social unrest has created a conundrum for Christians who wish for a united response from their religious affiliation but don’t feel their voice is represented in some of the virtual church meetings when momentous events are being discussed. There are a variety of distinct prototypical points of view on what is occurring, but many of the conversations don’t seem to allow for context and nuance. So I, along with friends, both people of color and white, have looked for productive alternatives for processing and integrating our thoughts. We’ve created small gatherings based on the European concept called a salon. (See Gatherings).
Like many of my friends, I am unopen to any form of unity that requires an uncritical look at ideologies promoted by governing figures, the media, identity experts, or any other source as they seep into the church. Truth is more nuanced than is represented by each prototypical perspective. As a consultant, I’ve come to recognize that the presenting stories concerning a volatile flashpoint are a necessary starting place, not the final story. Then comes the work of deep discovery, collaborative analysis, and enlightenment, followed by reflection, reconciliation, and new resolve. It seems that the influencers of our nation, beginning in Washington, can’t seem to collaborate even when lives depend on it.
When the dust settles a picture will emerge that will be different from either the singular perspectives that are being pushed at us or the one that I possess. There is a famous Eastern parable told in many versions. Often called “The Six Blind Men and the Elephant,” it has been leveraged in modern problem-solving discussions. This version is by American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816–1887), who is credited with bringing it to a Western audience.
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a WALL!”
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a SPEAR!”
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a SNAKE!”
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he:
“’Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a TREE!”
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a FAN!”
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a ROPE!”
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
We each see through our own window into racial injustices, but none of us sees everything. One reason is that our species develops saturated lenses through our injury, grief, and exasperation. We can be easily flummoxed by the frequency and form of information. It takes an effort to avoid the constant replays of horrific videos, hearing of dismal institutional responses, or another person being fired because of the cancel culture. The constant Siskel-and-Eberting of someone’s apology or perspective produces excessive humiliation, which is unproductive in problem-solving. The places to hold safe and meaningful two-way conversations are where the best individual and collective learning happens, but these are too few. No wonder we see the wall, the spear, the snake, the tree, the fan, or the rope.
My commitment to racial justice and building just systems has primarily been within a church context. In 1997 I completed a substantial master’s thesis on unity and diversity in the early church. My research led me to a new level of celebrating difference, not homogeneity. From 2005 to 2008 my wife Tricia and I ministered to an urban ministry. In 2009, I cochaired the first conference addressing racism within American Christianity in our family of churches, WHY DO THE NATIONS RAGE? Gospel Solutions to Prejudice and Separation. In 2012 I cofounded a Diversity Task Force for the US portion of our family of churches with three African American friends and served on it until 2018. It has expanded to include men and women of varying generations, roles, and expertise. Some of my consultation work has involved significant issues on race, and I’ve been asked to speak on race-related themes on numerous occasions. I’m very comfortable with delving into longstanding or recent issues around racial injustice, alongside others, if the goal is to achieve wondrous unity and transformative changes rather than to promote superficial uniformity.
Concerning the current unrest, I am spending more time reading and thinking about perspectives different from my own. Discernment and knowledge are not inborn, but sought after (Proverbs 18:15, 28:2). For those who want to join me in the quest to stay open and learn, I will share my growing list of resources that come from a wide array of points of view. My website, www.bridginginternational.com, has been overhauled to focus on solutions to a variety of systemic challenges in organizations and society. You can expect articles, webinars, and blog posts related to managing current threats, future risks, new ideas, and sudden opportunities.
Interestingly, I developed two workshops, Anything Can Happen and Unimaginable—Mitigating Unexpected Events, before Covid-19 and the recent flashpoint around racial injustice. In March I cancelled two West Coast workshops and began converting the sessions into webinars. One of the benefits of this training is learning how to get each of our separate “partly true” realities out on the table, so they can be probed. Of all our uncomfortable problems, we can only solve the ones we create a reasonable space to talk about. Within a few months I will post free versions of these materials on the website.
I believe that we will be much more likely to collectively see and discuss the elephant when we listen to hear, and then strive to synthesize our perspectives with those of other reasonable people.
More imperative than thinking alike is being a collective model of God’s justice and achieving a wondrous unity that celebrates diversity.
Partly Right,
www.stephenfstaten.com (Author. Speaker. Consultant.)
www.bridginginternational.com (Audacious Solutions to Systemic Challenges)
[1] Niebrzydowski, Walter (2012-01-16). Versus Verses (Kindle Locations 1038–1044). Kindle Edition.
