John Baw, over at WildOx Blog had this creative post on how movements spread their message virally and what might stop that viral spread. Follow John on Twitter and add his blog to your Movement RSS feed.
After reading John’s post below, think about discussing with your team how your movement might be “catching, binning, and killing” the gospel message and its power to bring Kingdom change to every heart and place.
Movements have a cause. Their message behaves very much like a virus. I was intrigued about the guidelines released by Governments for containing the H1N1 virus, the virus also know as ‘Swine Flu’. These same principles that will stop viruses form spreading are the principles that will cause a movement to die out.
Viruses are stopped firstly by there being a mechanism in place to ‘catch’ or ‘contain’ the delivery of the message. If you want to quench the power of a movement, start to dictate how, when and in what way the viral message is to be delivered. Start to issue guidelines on what is appropriate and what is not, on who should be involved, and what the right ‘qualifications’ for the task at hand are.
Secondly you ‘bin’ it. You try and keep control over your message – keep it ‘contained’ in a secure and safe place.
Thirdly you ‘kill’ it by using a chemical agent that works anti-virally. When a counter-message is evoked, an anti-message, if you will, is spread, that has the power to totally undermine your movement and leave it dead on the water.
In many circles, churches have almost killed-off the raw power of the message of Christianity by doing just that. The ‘virus’ is ‘caught’ by insisting on qualifications for the job. Thus a whole clerical hierarchy has evolved and it ensures that only appropriate channels are used to deliver the message. Secondly, special ‘bins’ called ‘churches’ and ‘cathedrals’ are the only places authorised to house this message. Thirdly, an anti-virus is applied – a positive message (virus) of hope, love, and peace has been replaced by one of end-of-the-age-doom, of judgement and of performance against standards of behaviour.
This tragedy has seen the people of God transition from being the light of the world, to a community that shies-away from the world in order to avoid being contaminated with impurity.
God is now raising an end-time army of surrendered ones who have totally been infected with the virus of LOVE, and who are actively engaging with society in order to get as many infected with the same virus as possible.–John Baw
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