Group Think

I work in an office that isn’t very diverse. It’s full of people with common traits – we are drawn to science and math, we are comfortable in our lack of social skills, we share jokes that very few people get (and probably aren’t nearly as funny as we think), we question everything, we have a knack for applying technical knowledge to solve practical problems, we share a sense of accomplishment when hard work results in a successful project, we are all a bit quirky, and we each have our own little OCD tendencies.

On the other hand, we have a wide variety of characteristics and beliefs that make us each unique. We have people born in Kenya, Scotland, Myanmar, India, Eritrea, and Orange County. We have Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics, and Christians. Our politics range from traditional conservative to semi-socialist millennial to dedicated ambivalent. We have a wide variety of skin colors, eye colors, hair colors, shapes, and sizes. But none of these traits have any bearing on how we interact with one another, how we work as a team, or how we perform our jobs. They are irrelevant to our mission and so we naturally tend to ignore them.

Individual humans are complicated and unpredictable. We each have our own abilities, aptitudes, skills, desires, and stories that make us who we are. Understanding humans is even more challenging when you throw in our ever-changing attitudes and emotions. Our complexities make us difficult to understand and control. But this is part of the beauty of humanity and the way God created us to be a part of the body of Christ [1 Corinthians 12]. When you put the mess of people together with a common purpose, with each doing the part they were called to do, amazing things happen that aren’t possible when we act as self-interested individuals.

For the past 18 months, our “social justice” focused cultural and political institutions have been obsessed with separating us into easily understood groups, based either on our superficial features or our beliefs. They separate us by ethnicity, ancestral origin, the melanin content of our skin, our religious beliefs, our level of education, our financial status, our “gender”, and most recently our Covid-19 vaccination status. The narratives promoted by our politicians, academia, and entertainment industries are intentionally divisive. They are specifically and intentionally designed to promote “us versus them” tribalism and foment fear and hatred.

For those elites who seek to transform society into their vision of socialist utopia, this method of promoting grievances has been proven quite effective over the last two centuries for achieving their goal of gaining power and control. Marx kept it simple with the lower classes vs. the upper class, Stalin pitted the Bolsheviks against the bourgeoisie, Hitler had the Jewish people, and Mao kept it flexible pitting “the people” against all kinds of potential enemies. Today we have an entire matrix of cultural victimhood that defines who are the systemically oppressed, and who are their oppressors.

The irony of the “social justice” movement is that it seeks to enhance the wealth and power of those elitists who already control our societies’ institutions so that they have sufficient power to punish the oppressors and reward the victims, in the name of diversity, inclusion, and equity. As long as their targets for punishment are racist white supremacists, misogynistic deplorables, dangerous gun enthusiasts, evil LGBTQ++-phobes, and backward-thinking traditional Christians, the elitists are banking on the fact that the “victims” won’t notice that the elitists themselves are the ones that are currently controlling the system that is systemically oppressing them. So far, that’s working out pretty well for them.

This divisive group mentality is even permeating the Church. In July, I watched an online sermon about the Lord’s Prayer. The pastor made the statements, “Our tendency is not to seek group forgiveness for sins committed by our particular group. We are way too individualistic in our thinking.”; “The thought of our group sinning is very difficult for us Americans. For us to grieve or lament or ask for forgiveness for sins that we didn’t necessarily individually do, but something that was done in our group – like, in our country.”; “Are we willing to repent of sins that have been done in our past, even if we weren’t directly involved?”

Sins committed by our “group”? Sins done by our “group” in the past? Am I to ask forgiveness for sins done by my “group” that I’m not aware of? What is my group and how do I discern which of “our” unknown sins I should ask forgiveness for? This is nuts!

Yes, as Christians, each of us are sinners but we have already been redeemed. “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” [Romans 3:22-24].

This relentless focus on segregating ourselves into groups has been demonstrably unhealthy. Our societal divisions have never been so pronounced. Our political divisions have resulted in levels of governmental ineptitude that we have never experienced. Churches whose leaders have adopted this mentality are losing members in droves. And perhaps rightfully so.

It’s time we recognize this essential Truth. We are one people. We are one race. We all need God’s grace and Christ’s redemption. “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. [Ephesians 4:1-5]

For those who seek to control us by fomenting divisions, our unity is the ultimate act of defiance. Their tenuous grip on power is completely reliant on our divisions, distrust for one another, compliance, and our perceived dependency on their leadership. In order to achieve unity, we must focus on the essentials of who we are. As Americans, that means focusing on those ideals that continue to draw people in from all over the world; equal opportunity, justice for all, and liberty. As Christians we must focus on the Truth, loving God, and loving one another. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.