236 - An Inside Look at an Outside Mission: Social Action and the Church

An Inside Look at an Outside Mission:
Social Action and the Church
By Jon W. Magnuson

WHEN we buried Stan, we left his sweater on. The green one, with the frayed sleeves that be wore to work and to church on Sunday mornings after he got off the night shift. Union organizer, mechanic, welder, and carpenter, this tow-haired, six-foot-four bear of a man excuded a combination of gentleness and hard, worldly savvy that stood him out like some Old Testament Prophet born twenty - five hundred years too late. As a young pastor in that northern Michigan community, I learned from him about small town politics, of trade - offs and compromises, of backroom barbershop deals and power struggles. Stan came into the church late in life, not drawn by memories of Sunday school lessons and ice cream socials, but driven, sometimes it seemed obsessed, with life's injustice and a keen sense for an abuse of political power. We were in the midst of organizing a grass - roots congregational teach - in for the up - coming elections in '76 when a stroke felled him. Only the week before, we had been to a public hearing up at a nearby state college. Articulate and bitingly perceptive, his challenge to the State Attorney regarding river bed damage from winter navigation policy on the Great Lakes drew a thunderous applause from a room jammed full of university students. The afternoon of his funeral I remember our small country church packed with waitresses, pulp cutters, and plumbers, working folk for whom he had served as their unchallenged spokesman and interpreter. He had found his place in the church looking for another kingdom that somehow could one day even things up in this one.

Deanna was a member of the same parish. Young, bright, college educated, and world traveled, she was one of a handful of professionals in the community (a grade school teacher). I had sought her out to head - up our church's local World Hunger Appeal one September. I remember now a late fall afternoon in the church basement, recognizing in the eyes of this young woman that the social action arm of our parish life was an alien and foreign place for her spirit. We talked a bit and concluded that it would be best if she could use her gifts elsewhere in the congregational program. She and I parted, myself puzzled and bewildered by what had turned her off, and questioning if the project would ever get off the ground.

Stan and Deanna were members of the same religious community.

Jon W. Magnuson is an ordained minister of the Lutheran Church in America. Having served parishes in both Michigan and Wisconsin, he is currently completing graduate study (M.S.W.) in the field of religion and psychology at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. This essay is a condensed version of a paper presented to the Wisconsin Upper Michigan Synod of the Lutheran Church in America.

237 - An Inside Look at an Outside Mission: Social Action and the Church

Challenged by their church's commitment to issues of justice and ethics, each responded out of their own experience and sense of priorities when it came down to specific social action concerns. Each, in turn, expressed a religious sensitivity in a seemingly incompatible style with the other.

I. THE PROBLEM OF INVOLVEMENT

Much conventional discussion about the failure of the church in its commitment to the political arena of the public sector focuses on issues of apathy and the vested interests of the middle class. The intention of this article is to take a closer look at what has become an increasingly guilt - ridden albatross hanging around the necks of many mainline churches: the apparent failure of church, leadership to mobilize and assist in helping their constituencies in making a commitment to the problems of social justice.

There is little concern in this particular analysis for arguments pro and con regarding a commitment to social action per se by the Christian community. That concern and ethical commitment to the public realm, at least from a theological perspective, I regard biblically as a given, even for my own Lutheran tradition, however cautiously it may be articulated. My concern here, on the other hand, is to explore the dynamics of the church's more liberal leadership in its failure supposedly to win the vision of "the person in the pew" in terms of a deeper and more visible commitment to a more just social order.

Certain psychological constructs and perspectives are employed here to take an inside look at an outside mission. These reflections expose a certain level of naivete, so it seems to me, generated in our contemporary mechanistic culture about the nature of the religious experience. These reflections are also critical of the church's leadership in its lack of appreciation for the various levels of emotional needs and the various dimensions of an individual's spiritual geography. Clergy might do well to begin to reclaim, with a fresh humility and awe, this territory of the soul.

II. THE VARIETY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

Paul Tillich in his Dynamics of Faith (1959) builds upon Rudolf Otto's analysis of the experience of the "holy" by making reference to two dimensions of how we "experience" the presence of God. Phenomenologically, those dimensions can be seen as: (1) the sense of "being grasped," and (2) the feeling of the moral, the experience of "the ought." In one instance, the emphasis is on being, belonging, surrendering. In the other, the emphasis is on action, ethical decision - making, and encounter.

Talcott Parsons, reflecting on the insights of Tillich and Otto and integrating the sociological constructs of Max Weber, sees the emergence of four types of personal religious orientation. These individual and corporate expressions of religious experience and belief rest on a basic polarity between the mystic (seeking some form of withdrawal

238 - An Inside Look at an Outside Mission: Social Action and the Church

from felt conflict and tension) and the ascetic (seeking to assume an activistic form producing overt rearrangements in life). The four types can be seen as: (a) an in - the - world ascetic, (b) an in - the - world mystic, (c) an otherworldly ascetic, and (d) an otherworldly mystic.¹

While all four types legitimate their salvation schemes theologically, the two otherworldly types lead away from intervention in the world. The in - the - worldly types have leverage, on the other hand, in producing social change.

Using this frame of reference, one can begin to appreciate the variety and diversity of emphasis within congregations and individuals. Both the mystic and ascetic types can be acknowledged as providing valuable social contributions in their commitment to the connectedness of their "in - the - world" stance. One can also begin to identify the shapes of certain contemporary personalities and groups within the boundaries of this frame of reference (i.e., Mother Teresa being of an "in - the - world mystic type" and the Sojourner Fellowship representing an "in - theworld ascetic type"). It might be significant to note that those who reach national leadership positions in most mainline denominational structures tend to be personally political and activistic, thus representing in many instances an in - the - world ascetic type of priority that too often simply represents the platform of a liberal democrat. The crux of the matter is that this liberal leadership is often not appreciative of the other forms of religious experience, often more predominant, that are an integral part of their constituencies' spiritual lives.

III. DEALING WITH DEPENDENCY AND AUTONOMY

In an intriguing investigation of religious experience as it manifests certain emotional needs, Paul Pruyser suggests that persons are attracted to religious communities for two basic kinds of needs. The first need is for structure, authority, and guidance. Individuals drawn to this pole are usually of a passive, dependent nature; they are looking for strong pastoral images and clearly defined doctrines. A second polarity of need revolves around an inborn striving for autonomy and selfactualization. Persons drawn by this pole are usually ethically sensitive, holding a premium value on freedom, individuality, and self - expression. They resist dogma and prefer shared leadership.²

Pruyser suggests that either of the more dominant sets of needs can form the guiding principle for a person's philosophy of life. It is significant to note that both dependency and autonomy needs are qualities and conditions unevenly distributed within any single personality structure and can manifest themselves with different degrees of intensity at different stages of psychological development. For instance, in an era of social transition or disintegration the need for authority figures and clearly defined boundaries loom on the horizon attractively

¹ Parsons, Talcott. "Introduction to Max Weber," in Max Weber's The Sociology of Religion, trans. by E. Fishchoff (1922 edition). Boston: Beacon, 1963.
² Pruyser, Paul W. Between Belief and Unbelief. New York: Harper and Row, 1974.

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while at the same time any total denial of individual freedom and self - expression is an historical downpayment on revolution and chaos.

Although often posed as mutually exclusive, both dependency and autonomy needs exist paradoxically within the human personality. This is an insight from clinical psychiatry that can help us in understanding the "burn - out" and cynicism of activistic, social - action oriented clergy who oftentimes fail to appreciate the emotional needs of their parishioners as well as their own. I know that my own theology following my seminary education in the late 1960s hinged a great deal on a self - actualizing model of autonomy. Looking back on that experience from an emotional point of view, I realize now I represented a certain kind of "suicide mission" in the name of social reform and political justice. I had to learn the hard way, as many pastors do, about my own dependency needs. I'm still learning.

IV. REFLECTIONS ON MOTIVATIONAL THEORY

The area of physical disability and human behavior has given the field of rehabilitation a fascinating and useful insight into the problematic challenge of motivating individuals and groups. Working with the severely handicapped has prompted certain schools of rehabilitative medicine to commit themselves to extensive research on the nature and dynamics of the various variables that influence any one individual's pattern of motivation. James W. McDaniel suggests that the principle determinants of motivated behavior include: (a) the perceived value of the goal, (b) the perceived probability of reaching the goal, (c) the perceived cost of attainment, (d) the energy level of the individual, and (e) the level of inhibitors such as anxiety, distraction, fear, and depression.³

Still another key variable is reflected in the simple equation that "Performance = Ability + Motivation." In other words, if the knowledge base or functional ability of the individual is limited, the best of persuasive techniques or rhetoric will end up ineffective. More often than not, clergy seem to lack appreciation for these variables and instead react with anger and disillusionment at the apparent "disinterest" or "lack of theology" on the part of their congregation.

The implications of motivation theory in terms of social action by individuals and groups within the church are many. But among the most significant is that too frequently ecclesiastical leadership asks lay persons (volunteers) to risk reputations, jobs, emotional health, and self - esteem when they, themselves, would never pay such costs.

I once organized a petition drive in the community in which I served my first pastorate. It was related to that small village's struggle to protect a number of families who were then involved in fishing the Great Lakes as a commercial livelihood. With a deadline pending for legislative action on a state level, I remember the wife of one of the

³ McDaniel, James W. Physical Disability and Human Behavior. New York: Pergamon, 1976.

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Norwegian - bred fishermen looking away from me when I asked if she might help me organize such a petition drive at the local A&P. I was at that time frustrated and annoyed at her refusal to participate. I later came to appreciate the kind of collective wrath a small town could bring to bear on a woman such as herself, especially in the midst of a tightly - knit village. She knew the cost and respected it.

V. CONCLUSIONS

These reflections conclude with some practical recognition of the importance of social action commitment with the mainline churches and suggest some reminders, in light of the previous considerations, for putting these psychological understandings to work on a congregational level. For example:

The Need to Accept the Whole Gospel. Recognize the unbalanced nature of much private American religious experience and lift up the dynamic "unfinished" work of God. At the same time quit worrying about everybody becoming involved in everything. Persons need to go through stages of rest, reflection, and action. Accept the particular personality of your congregation and begin there.

Respect the Emotional Health Correlation Between Stress and Support Levels. As controversial problems are engaged by the congregation in terms of social action, remember support and play strategies are crucial; not planning and task forces, but potluck dinners, festivals, and dances. (Rumor has it that Paul Newman once said in reference to his waistline that he can drink as much beer as he wishes on any given night just so long as he increases the number of situps to his daily regimen the next morning.)

Apply the Lessons of Motivational Theory and Set Realistic Goals. Count the cost, measure the energy level of the folks involved, take into account any number of possible inhibitors, and most importantly, don't be surprised by church folk not jumping aboard the clergy's bandwagon.

Emphasize Identity - Forming Structures and Events. Lift up symbols, identity - forming events like baptism and the reception of new members. Provide space and structures where people can grow together in their care and nurture for one another (making sure those dependency needs are being met) as well as providing opportunities for disciplined and organized social action efforts.

With a fresh appreciation for the diversity of religious experience and correlating psychological needs, we can avoid the waste of energy and resource when life is too easily reduced to liberalized ideology, and when simplistic answers to social problems overpower the mission efforts of our churches. Beneath the prejudice and bias of individuals and social groups rages a more human, desperate cry for acceptance and love. We in the churches who commit ourselves to social action must pray that we will always hear it.