middle-class entrenchment?

What does it mean to say that our congregation in entrenched in a middle-class worldview? A couple of folks have asked me about this statement I made in reference to Ruby Payne's coming to SSU. This post is a sketchy attempt to unpack that statement.

When we think of barriers that exist between people, typical descriptors come to mind: race, religion, politics, gender, culture, etc. However, a great arguement can made for the case that economic status is the greatest segregator of people in the world. In America, we often reference three broad economic classes: low, middle, and upper. What we fail to appreciate is that these distinctions involve far more than just net worth and buying power, rather, these classes are truly separate subcultures.

At Sunshine, we march to a middle-class tune. From Payne's work, I will highlight two dynamics in an effort to make the point: language and "hidden rules."

Language is a powerful segregator of people. How broad is your vocabulary? How skillful are you at utilizing proper grammar in speech and writing? In low income subcultures, breadth of vocabulary and complexity of grammatical skills is limited. Interaction in a school, work setting, or church functions where formal vocabulary and language is commonplace can be intimidating. You might think that we are not formal at Sunshine, but you are defining formal by your cultural familiarity. There are many folks who feel inadequate to hang out with us. Just as we are intimidated by circles of conversation that are over our heads.

More significant to understanding the barrier of language is appreciating how language shapes congnitive functioning. Payne's work pulls together varying research on language and congnitive functioning. The general result is that the differing economic classes think differently. That may seem like a "no-brainer" but I can assure you that it is very significant. Survival in the middle-class world depends upon cognitive skills and mental models of thinking that are unavailable to lower income folks.

The "hidden rules" are very interesting. Payne notes that each economic class has differing cues to indicate whether or not one belongs. These rules are very subtle and function covertly, yet they are extremely powerful in determining whether or not associations between people are maintained or dropped. In just a few minutes of reading through these rules and reflecting on past experience, it is obvious that such "hidden rules" truly exist.

Moving away from middle-class entrenchment simply means becoming more aware of these subcultural dynamics that are propogated by economic class. Awareness is the first step to becoming more friendly and open to others that our different from ourselves.

I think this is relevant in the context of our talking about bigger buildings and growing numbers. We live in an economically depressed area. Our mission involves in part (a large part I would suggest), reaching out to those of a lower economic class than the typical movers and shakers of the Sunshine congregation.

Evangelism is less like selling a product and more like making friends.