Is There A Tension Between Individualism and Community?

If rampant individualism (on the one hand) and conformity (on the other) aren't the answer, what is?

I've been thinking lately about the tension between individualism and community.

The indisputable fact is that we need both. As humans, we need community. In Tribe, Sebastian Junger makes the case that our modern life is too individualistic, and this individualism is a huge driver of the depression and loneliness that so many of us experience. He notes that multiple studies show a correlation between material prosperity and mental health issues.

"According to a global survey by the World Health Organization, people in wealthy countries suffer depression at as much as eight times the rate they do in poor countries, and people in countries with large income disparities—like the United States—run a much higher lifelong risk of developing severe mood disorders."

Why is this correlation so strong? According to Junger, it's because modern society robs us of our sense of community. Material prosperity can make us feel more independent, reducing our reliance on our fellow human. As Junger writes, "poor people are forced to share their time and resources more than wealthy people are, and as a result they live in closer communities." At the same time, modern society is highly urbanized, and as a result we can spend most of our days rubbing elbows with strangers on the street instead of actually getting to know our fellow human. In this kind of hyper-individualized society, we feel lonely and disconnected; because the truth is that we do better when we're embedded in dense social networks.

In A Time to Build, political scientist Yuval Levin blames a lot of our societal problems on the fact that we've become too individualistic, including the dysfunction of Congress (Congresspeople are increasingly using the office to build their personal brands, rather than coming together in a spirit of unity to attempt to fix the legislative body's problems) and the decline of trust in institutions more generally. Levin suggests that a better society is one in which we see institutions as "molds" that shape our values and our roles in society, rather than "platforms" that we feel no loyalty towards and simply use for personal aggrandizement. 

The two authors together make a powerful point: maybe society really would be better if we were less fractious, less obsessed with going our own way, and more willing to sacrifice some of our individualism for the good of the group.

But whenever I start to think about the benefits of this way of life, I'm reminded of my own journey. I'm a writer. I work for myself, and a big reason why I do so is so that I don't have to serve two masters (God and a boss). I used to write for a large think-tank, and they let me go because my views evolved to the point where I disagreed with them on many issues and I wasn't willing to lie. I don't regret that outcome. Where my conscience led me into conflict with a community, I was willing to part ways rather than betray my own ideals.

One of my friends was recruited by the CIA, and did amazing work alongside them. But he didn't work for them because taking orders from the United States government might have conflicted with his deeper calling to serve God. 

I think individualism can sometimes be a manifestation of selfishness or distrust. But, as with my friend, it can also be a manifestation of faith and courage.

But is there a way to resolve this tension between individualism and community? Or better yet: is there a way to position these values so that they are not in tension, so that we can have as much as we need of both—so that our healthy individualism embeds us in the communities that will most help us to thrive, even while those communities help us to tap into our individualism in the deepest sense of the word?

I believe so.

Christian communities accomplish this with the idea of the body of Christ. Of course, there are terrible Christian communities, and this idea can go horribly wrong (as all ideas implemented by we flawed human beings have the potential to do). But I've also seen this idea work beautifully. Here's the gist.

First, we ask God for our true identity. This is the deepest core of who we are, the essence of us that was knit together in our mother's womb. It is deeper than ephemeral passions or desires or the wounding messages that we receive in a fallen world. When an angel appeared to Gideon and called him "mighty man of valor," he was naming Gideon's true identity. Jamie Winship (who taught me about this concept)'s true identity is "untier of knots," and he has spent his life untangling some of the thorniest conflicts in the world. My own true identity (as best as I can tell) is "Warrior healer," and I work to embody that each day: to heal people, by helping them to cast out the fear, anger, guilt, and shame that keep so many of us trapped.

Along with our true identity comes a purpose. The purpose is not the identity (for example, if I had a stroke and couldn't write about finding God anymore, my true identity would not change), but it does flow naturally from the identity. I think living out of our true identity is the highest and best manifestation of individualism.

Overlaid on the concept of true identity comes the idea of the body of Christ. Here's how Paul described this idea in 1 Corinthians.

"There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ." (1 Corinthians 12, NIV)

One essential component of the body of Christ is that we all have different gifts, different purposes, and different identities. That individualism is to be treasured, because it lets the body perform different tasks. As Paul writes, "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" (12:17) And, every part of the body is treasured equally. No true identity is valued one over the other.

Ultimately, then, I think the idea of the body of Christ offers one resolution to the tension between individualism and community: a dense network of community, its members bound by shared values and working towards a shared goal, but in which it is recognized that the deepest essence of our individualism is vital to accomplishing that goal.

I point out how Christians do this, but in truth I think this is a path-agnostic concept. True identity is certainly not an idea restricted to Christians; in a recent podcast, Jamie suggested that you can ask "the universe" to tell you your true identity just as you can ask God. My own conception is that God will answer questions posed to Him on this topic, regardless of what you call Him (or Her, It, etc). 

The idea of a community in which everyone plays different roles and everyone has each others' backs is also not restricted to Christianity. In Extreme Ownership, former Navy SEAL commander Jocko Willink writes about the importance of what he calls "Cover and move." The idea is that when one team is advancing down a street to secure a building, a second team is covering them and shooting anyone who wants to attack them while they're vulnerable. We each play different roles, and those roles come together to help us all to accomplish the mission. As long as we're choosing and performing each role as a natural outgrowth of our discernment and our own true identity, this method can offer the same marriage of the best of community and the best of individualism as the body of Christ can offer at its best.

So here's our action item for this week, as a community of practice. If you know your true identity, ask God (or Spirit, Source, the Universe, etc) to put you in touch with other people whose true identities can complement your own. With enough of these communities, we can rebuild the virtuous, vibrant, connected world in which we all want to live.

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