I have been involved in justice ministry since 1958. During that time, I have known dozens of clergy who were very effective in the work. What I noticed about them was how well they did the small things, actions I call “micro practices” — the more personal, one-on-one, small group interactions and meetings that advance and promote justice in congregations and communities.
Someone once said that our body is the instrument by which we constitute the character of our lives. Convinced by such claims, and to make a long story short, I became interested in micro practices. To be sure, I am also very interested in macro practice, but I became increasingly aware that not much attention had been given explicitly to the micro practices for justice ministry.
So, I set out to find 50 highly talented, well-versed, active clergy in justice ministry, and was able to reach and interview 42 of them. My interviews consisted of questions about the small things they do that make them effective in justice ministry. I was not only amazed and gratified, but I was also moved and inspired by what I heard. There were times when I was so touched that I just let them go on talking because I was too choked up emotionally to ask my next question.
One conversation that stood out was with Rev. Donna Claycomb Sokol, pastor of Mount Vernon Place UMC in Washington, DC, on her practices for addressing political issues with her congregation. She says the important thing is to get all of us in the church “arguing with Jesus.” Rather than articulating her own stand in certain circumstances, she has people directly engage Jesus’s teaching on issues like citizenship and patriotism. If an argument follows, they are arguing with Jesus’s teaching and not with her. Such engagements led her congregation to place citizenship in the kingdom of God before their citizenship as Americans. It led them to remove symbols of patriotism like the American flag from the sanctuary. They do not sing patriotic songs like “God Bless America,” and they are very careful about how they pray. In the interview, I heard these comments as quite effective ways to deal with the idols of citizenship and patriotism. None of these things, of course, rules out an appropriate love of country and responsible citizenship.
I will never forget Sokol’s comment that hearing a story is to be a visitor in someone’s life and requires the appropriate etiquette. Such a sensibility comes from keeping your eyes and your heart open and from listening deeply. These are face-to-face foundational practices that require formation in the recesses of the things that tacitly hold us together and break loose in action. Because words, though necessary, are never enough, it should not be surprising that such sensibilities disrupt our ease and require our presence and our participation in locations of hurt and wrongdoing. When the direction of our lives and the pathways of our actions are not clear, it is time to argue with Jesus and remember which kingdom has our citizenship and our passport.
Tex Sample is an ordained elder in the UMC, the Robert B. and Kathleen Rogers Professor Emeritus of Church and Society at the Saint Paul School of Theology, and author of dozens of books, including Micro Practices for Justice Ministry: Doing Little Things for the Common Good.
This reflection was adapted from Micro Practices for Justice Ministry: Doing Little Things for the Common Good (Upper Room Books, 2025).
Have you ever felt like a visitor in someone else’s story? What did you learn?
What symbols in your life or community might need reconsidering?
What does it mean to argue with Jesus instead of each other?
What micro practices are shaping your character or your community?
Share your responses with others in the comments below!
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