The Argument Clinic Sketch
Do you feel that when you go to your congregation, it seems like you've entered the Monty Python skit The Argument Clinic? In the skit, a man pays good money for an argument, which he gets, but he also gets complaints, abuse, and hit over the head. In this sketch, one line is, "If you complain nothing happens ... you might just as well not bother." I believe that complaints can be valuable, for they tell us what we long for. It takes however some practice and skill to shift the internal and external conversations so that something wonderful might happen in your congregation.
What complaints do you hear?
The service went too
long!
I didn't like the
music this morning.
People don't pledge
enough to keep this congregation solvent!
We just don't have
enough people to handle all the volunteer duties.
Our congregation is
dying, we need younger people!
I'm tired of all the
conflict and gossip around here.
Do these sound familiar to you? If so, you might also have experienced in
your body a lowering of energy, or perhaps tenseness when you hear a complaint. Maybe you feel exhaustion, lack of hope, and
a desire to withdraw from the conversation or even the relationship or the
congregation. The needs behind this
response are multiple - mutual empowerment, hope, fun, ease, connection,
etc. Over time "complaint
energy" can embed itself within a congregation and be difficult to eradicate,
but not impossible.
One way to reverse complaint energy is to play the complaint
game.
Gather with a group of people in your congregation and write
down all the commonly heard complaints, or the complaints or criticisms that
cause you to go nuts. As a group come up with the needs that exist behind the complaints. Then role play a
conversation where one person issues forth a complaint, while the other
responds with empathy by guessing what might be the needs of the
complainer. In this way both parties receive
the gift of helping each other connect to life and to one another by sharing
the needs that exist behind the complaint.
The complaint game is also a good way to practice, so that when you hear
a complaint in "real time" you can immediately translate it to life giving needs, both for
your benefit and for another's if you so choose to empathize out loud with the other.
So let's play shall we?
What needs are behind the complaints listed above? When you have come up with a list continue
reading.
The service went too
long! (consideration, efficiency, rest, integrity, ?)
I didn't like the
music this morning. (stimulation, pleasure, joy, shared reality, ?)
People don't pledge
enough to keep this congregation solvent! (fairness, hope, community, faith,?)
We just don't have
enough people to handle all the volunteer duties. (rest, fairness, fun, ?)
Our congregation is
dying, we need younger people! (hope, contribution, justice, love, community,
nurturance, ?)
I'm tired of all the
conflict and gossip around here. (rest, peace, connection, integrity, ?)
You can play the complaint game by yourself too.
I now invite you to think of an important complaint you have
about your congregation. I say
"important" because complaints let you know what you value and long
for. List the needs behind the complaint
and then translate the complaint into a statement about
needs. Then imagine those needs being
met and rest in that energy for a while.
This will prepare you to share these precious needs with others in a
form that perhaps they can hear, empathize with, and experience mutual
empowerment so that together you can come up with a strategy that might address
these needs.
For example, I might complain: Why
can't we loosen up around here - move our bodies, clap our hands, dance, and
shout amen?
I long for connection, sharing, spirit, fun, kinesthetic
movement, physical well being, etc.
To my worship committee I might then say, "I sure do
appreciate how wonderful my body feels when I move during a service and value
so strongly sharing the embodiment of our faith with others. Would you be willing to tell me what comes up
for you when you hear me say this?"
I believe that people do not join a community of faith to argue, but to serve life, which we can do by translating complaints into needs language.
Good hope in this,
LoraKim
Good hope in this,
LoraKim