The Viral Church

Posted by on 28 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Uncategorized

One thought Seth Godin had in his book Small is the New Big (i do recommend this book in case you were wondering):

What Makes an idea viral?
No one sends an idea unless:
1. they understand it
2. they want to spread it
3. they believe that spreading it will enhance their power (reputation, income, friendships) or their piece of mind
4. the effort necessary to send the idea is less than the benefits

No ones “get” an idea unless:
1. the first impression demands further investigation
2. they already understand the foundation ideas necessary to get the new idea
3. they trust or respect the sender enough to invest the time.

so the question i have been dealing with since i read this: Is church viral? if it’s not, why not? how can we assist people to make them want to spread the idea of attending a church? how can we help people “get” it?

have we instituted barriers for entry? do we turn people off without even knowing it?

2 Responses to “The Viral Church”

  1. on 28 Jun 2007 at 10:39 pm 1.joe said …

    You know, I’ve also struggled with the same question.

    Eventually, after a significant amount of soul-searching and research, I came to the conclusion that it really doesn’t matter if the church is viral.

    It matters if the Good News of Jesus is viral.

    And, frankly, it is. We are the ones who mess it up and make it “un-viral”. We complicate it and super-spiritualize it. Furthermore, we try to center the Good News around church, rather than make it the underlying principle in our everyday lives.

    I really think that we over-emphasize going to church and under-emphasize the Good News. I know that it seems counterintuitive to stop encouraging people to go to church (and I’m not trying to be anti-church here, I just think there is more to the Christian life than church), but if we live out the Good News no one should be able to keep us away from the church body. And, as we share the Good News, people who truly accept it will find themselves becoming more like Christ and therefore unable to stay away from their fellow Christians.

    That’s my $0.02…

  2. on 29 Jun 2007 at 7:46 am 2.nathan said …

    Jeremiah,
    Bingo–that’s Godin’s point, precisely.

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