Systems Witness

Years ago I was introduced to the concept of “family systems.” In summary, what that means is that families are not just a collection of individuals, but a unit in which the actions of each member impact and influence the whole. When a member of the family seeks counseling for some presenting issue, it often leads to the whole family being changed. We are not autonomous individuals but rather live in a “web of relationships.” Society as a whole is like that too. We live in a network of systems which either enhance or diminish our lives personally. They can be agents of"good news" or "bad news."

I’ve been thinking of this because of two gatherings this weekend.

One was on Friday night at our Summer Fellowship gathering. Enping (pictured here with his permission!) shared about why he has chosen to study medical engineering, designing the tools doctors need to advance their work. Right next to Enping was Mike, a PhD candidate in economics whose focus is on models for reducing health care costs. Two seats away from Mike was Samantha who is in medical school. Across the circle was Evelyn, a recent Nursing School graduate whose story I shared in an earlier blog. Together, these four are all working in the same system though in very different aspects. Yet the work of each will impact the others… and all the rest of us as well!

On Sunday, I was at a reception for new students entering Yale’s School of Management. We had met some of them at a Welcome Weekend last April so this was a chance to invite those who had expressed interest in the Christian fellowship to meet one another during their orientation program. As they talked about why they have come to Yale, I was struck with the vision several of them have. Two want to be involved in financial systems that will benefit poor urban communities. Another spoke about her desire to better serve social service organizations.

The common denominator between these two gatherings is that these Christian students are involved in “systems witness” in that they are seeking to incarnate the values of God’s reign in the context of their work. As Enping said, what he sees himself involved with is a ministry of physical healing that echoes the ministry of Jesus. The focus of Mike’s health care cost study is what happens when an adversarial model of dealing with medical mistakes is replaced by a model that actively seeks to amend the situation (i.e. reconciliation rather than litigation!). Samantha and Evelyn seek to bring compassion as well as competency to their work. Personally, but even more so collectively, they are bearing witness to the reign of God to the whole system of healthcare. Likewise, the School of Management students are positioned to bring their witness to God’s priorities into our economic system. In other words, they want to make these systems carriers of "good news!"

Evangelical Christians most often think of witness in terms of “personal witness,” verbally sharing one’s faith with somebody. That’s a critical aspect of our witness, but the call to impact institutional systems with the values of God’s reign is likewise critical since it displays the working out of God’s shalom to the whole of society.

As I continue to consider what is similar and what is different in terms of ministry to undergrad and graduate students, this is surely one of the differences. By virtue of where they are in life, graduate students are positioned to have impact on systems that deeply impact us all. Part of our calling in ministry to graduate students is to keep encouraging them to let their Christian faith shape the way they do their work such that the reign of God becomes more and more visible in the world.

I read somewhere that C.S. Lewis wrote the Narnia Tales at least in part to create an imaginary world for children that would open their hearts and minds to receive the gospel when they heard it. “Systems witness” is like that; as we contribute to the formation or renewing of systems that are healthy and just and life enhancing, it contributes to the believability that indeed God is at work answering the prayer that his will may “be done on earth as it is in heaven.”