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April 26, 2009 The Bystander EffectGrace and peace to you. Have you ever been a witness to an event or situation where it was clear that someone really ought to do something to resolve the event or situation; let’s say something like
My wife, Pastor Caroline, and I were standing in a holding area of the Nanchang Airport with Ellie and five other families, all with their newly adopted daughters, as well. We were all on our way to Guanjo for the next six days before we flew home. The holding area was jammed with travelers. One of the other dads, Edson, and I were talking about triathlons and marathons; he’d done one of each and his wife, Kerri, was a sponsored amateur triathlete. I told Edson that I, too, had done one of each, a marathon and triathlon. ( he did an admirable job of swallowing his laughter! ) It was then that we both noticed a man in a suit and tie, yelling and shoving a young woman. It appeared he was attempting to take the woman’s suitcase. This tug-of-war became increasingly violent, as well as getting closer and closer to our luggage carts AND our new BABIES. I think it was Edson who made the first move, grabbing the suitcase out of the man’s hands; all the while one could hear his wife Kerri saying,“Edson, don’t you go out there, Edson, don’t you get involved, Edson come stand by the girls.” As for me, I was about to step in as Edson’s “wing man” to keep the guy in the suit from going after the suitcase again; at which time I felt a firm grip on my arm which communicated rather clearly,“don’t even think about going out there!” Edson acted and I held back. Such behavior is referred to as the ‘bystander effect.’ The term bystander effect is a phenomenon in which the greater the number of people present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress .When an event or situation occurs, bystanders are more likely to take action if there are few or no other witnesses. In a series of classic studies, researchers Bibb Latane and John Darley found that the amount of time it takes a witness to take action varies depending on how many other witnesses are in the room. In one experiment, subjects were placed in one of three test environments: alone in a room, with two other participants or with two people already in the room who pretended to be normal participants. As the participants sat filling out questionnaires, smoke began to fill the room. When participants were alone, 75% reported the smoke to the experimenters. In contrast, just 38% of participants in a room with two other people reported the smoke. In the final group, the two “plants” in the experiment noted the smoke and then ignored it, which resulted in only 10% of the non-planted participants reporting the smoke. From this experiment and others like it, researchers conclude that because there are other observers, individuals do not feel as much pressure to take action, since the responsibility to take action is thought to be shared among all of those present. Researches have also concluded that people have a need to behave in correct and socially acceptable ways. When other observers fail to react, individuals often take this as a signal that a response is not needed or not appropriate. I wonder if there wasn’t a measure of the bystander effect among the disciples, Mary, Salome, and Mary Magdalene in the days and weeks following Jesus’ arrest, betrayal, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection? Let’s think about this:
It seems to me that in the Easter story from Maundy Thursday to Jesus Ascension, there’s a whole lot of bystander effect going on such that there is little pressure on the 14 participants in our story to take action. Surely someone will do something...but not me. Yet, in the midst of their paralysis, the risen Jesus came back. To this tired, weathered, confused and frightened bunch the risen Jesus came back. And more than simply coming back, the risen Jesus came back to give this group a purpose, to go and tell that the “Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” Fourteen scared, ordinary people...three women and eleven men...overcame the bystander effect, even though based on the conclusions cited earlier, the statistical probability of such an event taking place was low. Fourteen scared, ordinary people...three women and eleven men...began to share the good news of Jesus, such that the sacred story has been passed from generation to generation for more than two millennia now. How? How was that group of fourteen able to accomplish that task? I wonder because I often feel that we still have a measure of bystander effect in our churches and communities of faith. There are millions of Christians worldwide where diffusion of responsibility tends to linger: “someone else will proclaim the good news” I’m not clergy That’s not really what I agreed to when I joined the church My faith is a private matter between me and God. What happened that first Easter season? What inspired 11 men and 3 women to take action rather than experiencing the bystander effect? The risen Lord Jesus came back to be among them. Jesus came back to fill them with his peace. The risen Jesus broke “bread with them” thus revealing himself. The risen Jesus called them to a higher purpose; the risen Jesus sent them out as witnesses...witnesses who became the keepers of all God in Christ Jesus had promised. In spite of two millennia of bystander effect...the church is still the keeper of the promises and now, today, the risen Christ comes to us and says,‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem .You are witnesses of these things.’ What kind of a witness will you be? Let us pray. |
St. Paul's Lutheran Church § 824 N. Lewis § Waukegan IL |
