Out in the Dark

Help your group members experience injustice before they talk about it.

Purpose: To help group members experience a sense of injustice and separation.

Activity: Split your group into two sections, then announce that you would like each section to brainstorm an answer to this question: "What is the difference between justice and injustice?"

Have one of the groups remain in your normal meeting location (including comfortable chairs and snacks), but ask the other group to discuss the question outside. Do not provide any chairs or food, but encourage them to leave as they are and discuss the issue outside in the dark. (If it is daytime, or if there is inclement weather, ask the second group to brainstorm in a smaller room with the lights turned off.)

After 5-10 minutes, bring the groups back together and ask the following debriefing questions:

Unpacking Questions

  1. What did your group decide is the difference between justice and injustice? (Leader's note: If one of the members of the "outside" group grumbles here about experiencing injustice, that is great. Ask them to explain what they mean, and then continue with the questions below.)
  2. For those in the "outside" group, how did it change your experience to be brainstorming in the dark?
  3. How did it change your experience to know that the other group was inside with comfortable chairs and snacks?
  4. For those of the "inside" group, were you concerned about the people outside? For how long did that concern stay in the front of your mind?

Free Newsletter

Sign up for our Weekly newsletter: Regular access to innovative training resources, Bible-based curriculum, and practical articles.

Related

How Should a Christian View War?

How Should a Christian View War?

Making sense of a difficult question
Abortion and the War on Women

Abortion and the War on Women

Sex-selective abortion has taken 163 million girls. What can we do about it?
Battered Wives and Bitter Husbands

Battered Wives and Bitter Husbands

Can we break the cycle of abuse?
Living in an Age of Terroism

Living in an Age of Terroism

What we can learn from Oswald Chambers and C. S. Lewis about the long battle with terrorism.