What does it mean to go 'viral'. Can the Church get in on the action? Is this a wave that the church can, or even should ride? Some say that it already is and that Jesus was possibly one of the first masters of the wave.
What is this quickly spreading phenomena? What is 'Viral'?
If you do a quick search on Wikipedia you'll get this definition:
An object, even a non-material object, is considered to be viral when it has the ability to spread copies of itself or change other similar objects to become more like itself when those objects are simply exposed to the viral object. This has become a common way to describe how thoughts, information and trends move into and through a human population.
Basically if you have a message or product and you pass it on to someone else, and then they, in turn, feel that they should pass it on to others, and then they do the same, that message which you originally passed out, has 'gone viral'. It is all about creating something that can be added to the constant flowing rivers of information, and spread like a virus, to everyone who comes into contact with it.
You may recall
the video on YouTube about the seven year old boy, named David, whose father had just arrived home with him from the dentist. The boy had never had dental work done before. His father video taped him, while still under the influence of the medication from his operation. The father told Oprah that he recorded it and put it on YouTube for the purpose of sharing with his mother and family, but, because of the viral potential of the video within two weeks millions had seen the video. Soon it was such a phenomenon, David, his father, and mother were being interviewed on Oprah, Today, and others.
This is a great example of going viral, and everyone from bloggers, to authors, to major commercial companies, to Hollywood, wants to discover how to ride and stay on the wave.
Can the Church jump on and surf the viral wave?
As I was sitting at Mead's Corner, my favorite coffee shop, a pastor friend came over and asked me what I was writing about. When I told him that I was doing research on the viral phenomena, he said, "Well, it's nothing that can benefit the Church, so I'll let you get back to writing."
After explaining what it was all about, he said, "Oh, well I guess the Church has been riding that wave since Jesus taught us to surf it." What a great thought, and very true.
How has the viral Phenomena been an essential aspect in the Churches history and culture?
Jesus is arguably one of the greatest examples of the viral phenomena in history.
- He had a message
- He brought a message that was revolutionary.
- He started to spread it
- He marketed his message the only way they had in those times, by foot. Not only did he share the message, he was constantly spreading it.
- Others spread the message like wild fire
- He soon had followers who found incredible value in what he offered them and the message spread across the known world in a relatively short time, and it is still spreading.
As a result of the message being spread, and more and more people embracing it and passing it on, it became apparent that a network, a refuge, an organization had to be born which would help encourage, disciple, and keep organized, the message carriers. This was a viral outbreak that proved to contagious to stop, and so, the Church was born.
As new avenues open, how is the culture of the Church changed by this?
Churches are getting more creative with their viral strategies. And it is paying off and getting attention nation wide.
Marble Church (in NYC) wanted to reach out to young hip New Yorkers, and with the launch of their church marketing strategy they not only reported a 31% membership increase in only two years following the launch of their campaign, but with viral potency they were soon peaking the interest of the New York Times, TIME magazine, USA Today, and The New York Daily.
Wichita Pastor, Rob Rotola has no doubt hopped on the viral surf board as well.
As pastor of Word of Life Ministries, Rob Rotola has a highly viral vision which is already seeing a small picture of it mass potential, as it reports 263,860 first time salvations since January 1, 2006.
Pastor Rob has left no room for reservation as he boldly rolled out Vision 20/20. It's Goal is to reach 20 million souls by year 2020. Sounds impossible to many, but with an openness to 'have as many outreaches as possible, to reach as many souls as possibly', (which includes street ministry, foreign missions, radio ministry, TV, and harnessing the power of the internet to evangelize souls and cultivate the hearts of Christians) one can clearly see the how this ministry has grasped the viral concept and is breaking through with it.
It seems that the viral phenomenon that we seen booming the early church into the four corners of their known world is still alive, and being revived and renovated in the culture of todays churches and ministries. The virus is spreading through missions, evangelism outreaches, books, internet radio, blogs, pod-casts and many other avenues.
A few great avenues for extending your viral potential:
I'll share more articles and interviews on this topic in the weeks to come.
This article is part one of a four part series on The Viral Revolution
If you have any questions, suggestions, or would like to hear more about a certain topic, please contact me.
Wichita Christian Faith & Culture Examiner
sam@samthewriter.com
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