I recently attended a lively anniversary celebration at a local church with a majority African-American congregation. Two fine preachers spoke and engaged in a call and response type that called the congregation to be engaged by responding vocally and physically. A common call is, ‘Anybody got an Amen?’ The immediate response is ‘Amen’ or ‘Hallelujah’ or ‘Praise the Lord.’ People standing, hands raised, some movement; no one fell asleep during the sermons!
I learned a valuable lesson both about preaching and a truth with a wider application. A preacher cannot preach without engaged listeners. Years ago I attended an assembly of several thousand predominantly Caucasian Christians. An African-American preacher known as a powerful speaker spoke to the assembly. When she called for a response, it was met with silence. She struggled through a sermon with good content, but without power. I thought at the time that what she needed was a hundred of her home church members in the front rows, and she would have had the auditorium humming along.
The other lesson is that we humans cannot survive or flourish isolated from others. We are by nature social creatures. We require the presence and assistance of others in order to live. Isolationists can separate themselves for a brief time or from some segments of society, but that can only be a partial separation. One does not need to be a ‘hail fellow well met’ in order to engage with others just as one need not engage in a lively call and response sermon in order to worship with depth, meaning, and commitment.
The congregation where I worship is staid and laid back compared to the anniversary celebrations I attended. We sometimes mummer an Amen after an anthem or solo and clap after children sing, but never during or after a sermon. Nevertheless, deep feelings are communicated silently by a nod of the head or a tear streaming from an eye.
Just as individuals need others to flourish, social groups need other groups surrounding them in order to be vibrant. I realized that the church I attend needs the African-American churches and other churches to support us in our identity and mission, just as we support the identity and many activities of other congregations.
Other social groups also need a diversity in order to remain relevant and vibrant. Some readers may not be involved in church activities. Other social groups in which you and I participate need others. Democrats need Republicans; both need internal diversity. Employers and workers need each other to be self-aware and sturdy. Biologists know that diversity of species increases creativity. Without internal and external diversity groups will stultify and become stagnant like mud silos in a desert — or die.
A flourishing community needs to protect the freedom of speech and thought. Individuals can then hear the positions of those with diverse life experiences, viewpoints, and commitments.
We might agree on some actions to take that will promote the common good. Many of us might be able to say together, ‘Amen’ if only in quietly.
Raymond Brady Williams, Crawfordsville, LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities emeritus, contributed this guest column.
