In his book, The Learning Paradigm College, John Tagg says that integrity “entails that we continuously maintain the vision by changing practices, by adjusting [the] work on the periphery so that it makes a good fit with the core” (p. 288). I consider myself a conservative both politically and theologically. However, I’ve observed with dismay how my fellow conservatives often don’t seem to be able to make a distinction between the core of their conservative values and the peripheral ways in which these values are expressed. In fact, over time, it seems like groups experience a relentless shift away from the core toward an ever-increasing focus on the periphery.

Charles Handy used an illustration of an “inside-out doughnut” to describe an organization that knows how to focus on the core while empowering its people to act responsibly and autonomously on the periphery. The core of the doughnut, instead of being empty, is full. This is the part of our work that is essential to what we are supposed to be doing. It represents our core values. The outer ring of the doughnut is empty (hence the inside-out doughnut). This outer ring represents “our opportunity to make a difference, to go beyond the bounds of duty, to live up to our full potential” (p. 70). This, says Handy, is “our ultimate responsibility in life, a responsibility always larger than duty.”

Too often, we conservatives make the outer limits of the doughnut the sacred zone that must not be tampered with and we so focus on that external doughnut skin that we may even forget completely what the core was all about. At some point, there is a shift and what once was the periphery becomes the core. Jesus had a run-in with a fundamentalist religious group called the Pharisees where He tried to make this point with them, but they weren’t listening. Jesus said to these religious leaders: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin [valuable spices in the ancient world] and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23, NASB; See also Micah 6:8). What a great visual image of focusing on the peripherals! One can imagine these persnickety old men with their bearded faces bent down over a table, carefully separating ten percent of their spices so they can give their tithe at the next temple worship service, all the while ignoring their own ruthless treatment of outsiders, their racism, and their love for money.

Churches are notorious for turning the peripherals into sacred cows. I know of a church that was considering the possibility of building a new worship center. I overheard one of the women of that group say: “I’m all for it as long as it looks like a church.” My thought was: “Since when did “looking like a church” become a core value of Christianity? What about serving people? What about helping people get connected with God?

Everyone knows the story of how the Swiss watch companies lost the market to the digital watches. How might the story have been different if these companies had focused on the core value of helping people to keep track of their time, rather than focusing on making mechanical watches? There seems to exist this natural tendency to slide into a mode of defending the solution to such an extent that we forget what the problem was. And once we forget what the problem was, we fail to understand our current problems and we fail to foresee those problems that are on the horizon.

[Post a Response]

Works Cited

Tagg, John. 2003. The Learning Paradigm College. Bolton, MA: Anker. ISBN: 01740-0249

Handy, Charles. 1994. The Age of Paradox. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. ISBN: 0-87584-643-2

New American Standard Bible. 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Mt 23:23.