Viral
Viral marketing, viral video…… you’ve probably heard someone using those terms. If you haven’t, or if you’re unsure of their meaning, when something goes viral it simply means that is replicates and spreads quickly and exponentially… like a virus. Thanks originally to email, and now to YouTube and social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, we’ve all seen the power of viral marketing and viral video, even if some didn’t know what it was. Some of you might remember the Peanut Butter Jelly video that was popular several years ago, the dancing baby from Ally McBeal or the fat kid lip-syncing Numa, Numa. A more recent example would be the JK Wedding Entrance Dance that was posted on YouTube last month. A friend of mine sent me the link in a Facebook message, I posted it on Twitter and Facebook, several of my friends posted it on their sites, etc., etc., until within a few days it was everywhere. As of right now, exactly one month after being posted on YouTube, the video has over twenty million views. What was originally just a video of someone’s wedding entrance is now among the top 100 most viewed YouTube videos of all time!
Anyways, this got me thinking; we as people are viral. Our attitudes are viral, our passions are viral. We all know this – we’ve all had that situation where everything was going good, but all it took was that one person saying that one thing to us and from that point on the day was ruined. On the other hand, we’ve all had one of those days where nothing seems to be going right but all it took was one person to smile or say something encouraging and suddenly things seemed to turn around. So I was lying in bed early this morning thinking about Jesus and how everywhere he went he was speaking life into people. Jesus changed lives not through law, but through love. John 3:16 doesn’t say if you accept Christ, God will love you. It says because God loves us He sent Christ to us. Jesus loved people where they were at and that love was so infectious it caused them to love, and then to change. Because even a child knows that merely saying “I love you” isn’t the same as showing it through your actions and life. As the old DC Talk song says, “Luv is a verb.” The early church didn’t have any fancy marketing strategies to advance the message of Christ; no TV/radio commercials, no podcasts, no websites, no million dollar buildings. Nothing to draw people in, except love. What began as just a sect of Judaism is now the largest religion in the world, and originally is spread from person to person through love.
Yet Christianity is now hemorrhaging followers. Instead of growing it is shrinking year over year. Why is that?
Maybe because many Christians just show up on Sunday and nothing more, another big group is busy with old school potlucks and singing Christmas trees, and then there are innovators who are busy strategizing, marketing, doing cool tech stuff, and attending conferences. Not many are actually hanging with and loving their neighbors much (myself included.)
Thanks for the input. Sadly you’re right. Reading your comment I’m reminded of a story Shaun King (Courageous Church, ATL) told. He said his wife was getting her hair done and the stylist asked her if her church has an outreach ministry and his wife responded, “No, our church IS the outreach ministry.”
That's awesome!
A simple thought…the church back in the day is not the church of today in America. We are self centered, gluttonous as you would say, lazy, and egotistical! We have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof! Many churches stick to themselves, the 4 walls of their churches and most American Christians, and make absolutely no difference in their communities or for the Gospel of Christ!
I know here in the Bible belt the secular world equates Christianity with Perfection! THIS IS SO FREAKING WRONG! Christianity equates to Love, love that God has for us, working through us to reach the world! We are no sold out, we are not carrying our cross, we are not obeying His commands, we are not praying, we are not fasting, we are not reading His Living Word, we are worthless as part of the body of Christ, if we can even say we are apart…that maybe a facade in itself…I do not know only God does but the American Church stats and fruits do not line up with the Word as I am reading it. Enough of that rant…
The early church was viral; they appealed to everyone because they operated out of the Love of Jesus Christ and served any and everybody. They put themselves last as Jesus did! This is contagious; because serving others, helping others is natural…it feels good to help. Once you help 1 person you want to help another and then another. People under your realm of influence begin to notice and talk and people want to help. When you serve the lost you develop a reputation with them, you gain their trust, and they see a Jesus Christianity and not an American Christianity. These people get infected and infect others, and it is an ever growing virus of Love of Christ spread among the U.S. and world…problem is the American Church is viewed as judgmental and hypocritical because we point fingers trying to expose the sins of others but we are ignoring the sins within the church.
But if as a whole, a interdenominational unit served everyone, lived as we are no better than any man, showing the Love of Christ willing to give up everything we have for Jesus we would be viewed as loving and helping, set a part and when we shed light on sin through Love people might be willing to listen. When someone hears you are a Christian they might actually want to hear you or at least listen out of respect instead turning a deaf ear. Jesus Christ is the virus we just have to infect ourselves first in the Love of Christ in order to infect others.
Simply said lets quit talking, Seek Jesus with all our hearts and obey the Word! Lets put the hand to the plow and get to work!
I would argue that the unchurched have good reason to equate Christianity with perfection – many Christians do the same. I'm not saying it's right, but when you're constantly told to "clean up your act" or something similar then you're going to think Christianity = perfection. That's why I love seeing the look on someone's face when I show them in scripture that God loves them where they're at; that He doesn't expect them to change before coming to Him. As for talking, as long as someone is walking the walk, I got no problem with them talking. Without talking (whether it's dialogue, questions, conversation or even confrontation) there is no change. I can name people who wholeheartedly believe they're seeking Jesus with all their hearts and yet they don't have it all together, but if you were to talk to them they think they do. Just look at the UPC as an example. They teach that you must be baptized in water and the Holy Spirit to be saved. That's not in the Bible; but you can't argue with them because they've created a culture where questions = doubt and doubt = sin.
Point being, if you've got the actions to back up the words, keep talking.
"I would argue that the unchurched have good reason to equate Christianity with perfection – many Christians do the same. I'm not saying it's right, but when you're constantly told to "clean up your act" or something similar then you're going to think Christianity = perfection."
- thought is what I said…
"Point being, if you've got the actions to back up the words, keep talking. "
-I agree here too, my point isn't this thread but in general conversations I have heard. Everyone talks as what they should do, or what they are doing wrong, but time goes by and they have not had any change…they are just talking.
I have no disagreements and wasn't trying to imply anything…
Sorry if my reply came off that way. I agreed with everything you said, I was just clarifying my thoughts on a couple things.
The early church was viral; they appealed to everyone because they operated out of the Love of Jesus Christ and served ahy and everybody. They put themselves last as Jesus did! This is contagious; because serving others, helping others is natural…it feels good to help. Once you help 1 person you want to help another and then another. People under your realm of influence begun to notice and talk and people want to help. When you serve the lost you develop a reputation with them, you gain their trust, and they see a Jesus Christianity and not an American Christianity. These people get infected and infect others, and it is an ever growing virus of Love of Christ spread among the U.S. and world…problem is the American Church is viewed as judgmental and hypocritical because we point fingers trying to expose the sins of others but we are ignoring the sins within the church. ;