In this time of transition in our country, I was re-reading a book that I used as part of my doctoral research that spoke to me this afternoon. My doctoral advisor recommended this book because it helped shape a lot of the thinking that he did as a pastor of a thriving church in our area. And while the book is not theological in nature, or written for the church generally, the work of Gillian Tett can be instrumental in helping society, and in our case the church, live faithfully, and care faithfully, in a culture that is in transition and polarized.
In her book ,The Silo Effect: The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers, she writes these words:
“Silos are fundamentally a cultural phenomenon. They arise because social groups and organizations have particular conventions about how to classify the world.”
After defining what a silo is, in her mind, she continues in her book by saying:
“The key point is this: with or without a formal training in anthropology, we all do need to think about the cultural patterns and classification systems that we use. If we do, we can master our silos. If we do not, they will master us.”
Another way that we can consider a ’silo-mindset’ is to think about the 'echo chamber’ that exists around us—an idea some in our culture look for and collate accordingly. Together these ideas relate to how we as people tend to look for, and belong to, groups that only support our mindset or affirm our beliefs. We then exclude any other opportunities to think and learn. While there is a value in being with like-minded Christians that I do support, the danger of a ’silo-mindset’ is that we stop analyzing and considering what we witness before us each day. We create a loop that only affirms us, and while that silo affirms us, it also devalues the other person drastically. It devalues their belief, their feelings, their experience.
Silo-thinking leads to social isolation because we no longer engage in healthy discussions or considerations on a topic. We only look for people who think like us, act like us, and reason like us.
That makes it quite hard to be faithful to the calling God places upon us as the church.
I am happy to say that the ’silo-mindset’ is being addressed in our Sunday school discussions group. We come together and affirm that we do not have the answer. We listen to differing opinions and lines of thinking. There is an unspoken ’togetherness’ that is being grown here because each of us, regardless of the stressors or our day, are able to put aside things that could divide us and we look for creative things that we can do to live faithfully.
We know that we cannot fix everything that is wrong in our culture, and so rather than pontificate on these issues, or make judgements, we lean into God and let God handle it. We listen. We think. And by doing so we discover new and creative things.
So I wonder what silos are at work in your life?
I have them in my life. My wife and children do as well. Instead of losing hope because they are there, I wonder what small, incremental step you can take to address the things that separate us from one another? Because when we work to end silos in our lives, we open ourselves up to new possibilities that God will reveal.
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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