Correcting Distorted Visions, Adapting to the Bifocals of Justice by Jack Sullivan, Jr.

Last December, I made my way to my ophthalmologist’s office for my annual eye examination.  Moments after the doctor presided over the ritual-like dilation of both of my eyes followed by the torturous puff of air test, he confirmed what already knew but did not want to deal with: I suffer from nearsightedness.  This means I have a hard time focusing on words and images that are not close to me.  When I look up the road while driving, all I see is a colorful blur, a distorted image.

Yet, my ophthalmologist added a twist.  He said I need glasses, but not just any glasses—I   needed bifocals!  Not only could I not focus on objects at a distance; I could not even focus on images that were close!  So, on that dreadful day, it was determined I had been living with distorted vision. The remedy? Bifocals! My diagnosis and treatment option presented me with a “What am I going to do now?” moment.

I believe that when it comes to acknowledging the reality of systemic oppression, particularly patriarchy, many of us live with a state of distorted vision called denial.  We seemingly cannot or often will not see the plain truth that is both far from us and close to us at the same time: we live in an oppressive, patriarchal society, one that lifts, honors, and protects male presence/power/privilege as it downgrades and even trivializes the personhood of women.

Patriarchy flows in the groundwater of the nation and world, spewing its male-first toxicity throughout economic environments, political parties, academic arenas, social settings, and religious realms, even those in which I have invested my life.

As an ordained African American male Christian minister in a denomination that is around 90% White, I know that in many – not all – settings within my denomination and other church bodies, the gold standard for authoritative leadership and respected decision-making service has been and remains the male.  Within predominantly White church bodies, insert “White” in front of male.  So, while a church body may hang an “Equal Opportunity Employer” moniker on its senior level job posting, in effect, it may be for amusement purposes only, for the official or actual search agents seek (White) male finalists only.

To be sure, we simply must acknowledge and applaud the fact that increasing numbers of women hold senior and executive operational and governance posts within their church bodies.  At the same time, we must wonder about the extent to which institutional power and authority are conferred upon women leaders, for by now we know that leadership positions do not necessarily come with decision-making power and ethos-altering authority.  Sometimes those roles are reserved for others = males.

Having acknowledged that I am a male, I must also acknowledge the fact that I have seen patriarchy at work and have benefitted from it whether I realized it or not. In moments of my silence where I refused to come to terms with my diagnosis of distorted cultural vision, I have most certainly have contributed to patriarchal systems.

Yet my history of being influenced of strong women leaders such as my mother, my maternal grandmother, and several aunts, teachers and ministers provisioned me with the social/political/religious bifocals necessary to push past the distorted view of the world given by the world around me, so that I could plainly see sexist systems and patriarchal patterns in real time. Collectively, they taught me to embrace the conviction that I could live as an agent of holy change, one who would not cooperate with injustice but could use my God-given abilities and positions of influence in ways that would assist women as they broke through glass ceilings en route to leadership roles and positions that their abilities prepared them to pursue.

I remembered this sacred counsel during my days as a regional minister (kinda like a bishop) within my denomination.  Through this role, I was given the privilege of submitting profiles of ministry-seeking clergy to congregations seeking new ministers. While many congregations were open to receiving profiles from all qualified candidates, some expressed a desire for male candidates only.

As one who experienced racial discrimination in both society and within the church, and as one who remembered the sacred counsel of women leaders of my past, I resolved that I would not legitimize or participate in any oppressive discrimination schemes of any congregations, and that I would forward the profiles of all qualified clergy, including women, People of Color, and LGBTQ clergy to their search committees. Several congregations called women to their senior pastoral posts.

It seems to me that regardless of the realms in which we function, if we say were are committed to fairness and the common good, we must be willing to put on the bifocals of justice that we may see past a distorted view of the world around us, acknowledge the patriarchal brokenness that is part of our societal and global landscape, and commit to using whatever power and influence we have to break our allegiance with patriarchy and forge new relationships that boast of power and authority that are animated by justice and punctuated by equity. Amen.

The Reverend Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. On January 1, 2019, he began ministry as Executive Director of the Columbus-based Ohio Council of Churches, the 100-year-old ecumenical agency linking 17 denominations in Ohio as a sign of Christian unity, mutual support and shared public witness. Dr. Sullivan is the immediate-past Senior Pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a 131-year-old congregation in Findlay, Ohio. He has also given leadership as Executive Director of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation and as Regional Minister and President (bishop) of the Northwest and Pennsylvania Regions, respectively, of his denomination.

Dr. Sullivan is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Interpersonal Communication from what is now the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University, Athens, Ohio; a Master of Divinity degree from Lexington Theological Seminary, Lexington, Kentucky where he is an adjunct professor; and a Doctor of Ministry degree in Economic and Social Justice from United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio where he studied with Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. and the late Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor. He has engaged in doctoral studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, studied non-profit management through Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia. In recognition of his social justice and anti-death penalty efforts, Dr. Sullivan was given the 2018 African American Liberation Award from the National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). An advocate of global learning, Dr. Sullivan has participated and given leadership in conferences and events in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Israel-Palestine, and Switzerland. He was a member of an October 2018 Journey of Hope delegation to Uganda for the purposes of anti-death penalty advocacy. Dr. Sullivan recently participated in the 7th World Congress against the Death Penalty in Brussels, Belgium.