A Complex Thing Can’t Be Made Simple: James Baldwin and the Bible on One of Our Most Destructive Tendencies

In a 1961 radio interview, writer and civil rights activist, James Baldwin famously explained, “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious, is to be in a state of rage almost all of the time… It isn’t only what is happening to you. But it’s what’s happening all around…”

Often forgotten is how Baldwin completed this line of thought.

“…it’s a great temptation to simplify the issues under the illusion that if you simplify them enough, people will recognize them. I think this illusion is very dangerous because, in fact, it isn’t the way it works. A complex thing can’t be made simple. You simply have to try to deal with it in all its complexity and hope to get that complexity across.”

A complex thing can’t be made simple.

The one who first states a case seems right, until the other comes and cross-examines. (Proverbs 18:17)

Trading complexity for clarity without considering what’s lost in translation.

Flattening out nuance at the expense of accuracy.

Doubling down and toeing the line of one’s “tribe” in the face of conflicting evidence because it’s more emotionally palatable than admitting a mistaken interpretation or worse – that we’ve changed our minds!

So how should people following the way of Jesus navigate this cognitive dissonance? Perhaps it starts with paying more attention in some directions, less in others.

Selective exposure means consuming sources or environments that align with one’s existing views. The cable news we consume is financially incentivized to keep our anxiety at a fever pitch, not to inform. The algorithms controlling our social media feeds reinforce our biases at a deep imperceptible, neurological level. The ongoing “big sort” filters us into hermetically sealed groups of education attainment, income level, and political proclivity. It all fuels what Chuck DeGroat once called, “our certainty-addicted egos.”

It’s this very “certainty addiction” that Jesus repeatedly rebukes, usually by asking questions that force his conversation partners to examine their assumptions. Jesus’s challengers frequently ask questions not out of curiosity but with intent to show how their views and way of life are definitive, to identify insiders and outsiders.

In an attempt to trick Jesus, some Pharisees and Herodians asked, “Teacher… Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” Jesus knew it was a trick question, and said, ‘Why are you playing these games with me? Bring me a coin and let me look at it.’ They handed him one. ‘This engraving – who does it look like? And whose name is on it?’ ‘Caesar,’ they said. Jesus said, ‘Give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his.’ Their mouths hung open, speechless.” (Mark 12:13-17, MSG)

Jesus’s encounter with the rich young ruler begins in a similar manner.

… a man ran up and knelt before [Jesus] and asked, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good?’” (Luke 18:9-10 NRSV)

These are just two of numerous instances when Jesus answers a question with a question, challenging someone to examine their assumptions and take a step back from their need to simplify reality.

This act of engaging the complexity of oneself, the world, and the way of discipleship is where the fruit of the spirit grows and where solutions are born. But to get there, we have to get curious, listen more, assume less, freely admit we don’t have all the answers, ask questions that “complicate the narrativeand indeed “become like little children…” as Jesus says. (Matthew 18:3-4)

Because the opposite of oversimplification isn’t complication.

It’s wisdom.


Discussion Prompts:

In your ministry context…

  • Where do you see a tendency toward oversimplification? What are the assumptions about “how the world works” or “how we do things around here” that deserve faithful critique?

 

  • What are the risks of disrupting existing narratives or assumptions? What might it cost?

 

  • How would you describe the relationship between truth-telling and humility, or between deep conviction and compromising for a greater good?

 

  • What would it look like for your ministry to become known in the community as a model of humility, trust-building, and dealing with complexity in all its complexity (a la Baldwin’s quote above).
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