Viral Christianity

I am amazed by viral videos. How many of us haven't seen such great YouTube classics as The Nooma-Nooma guy, Double Rainbow, the Bed Intruder Song, and so many others? What makes these videos popular? Why do they gain so much momentum? Are they really that funny or entertaining? (Not always). Are they always unique? (Not really). Are they a good use of our time? (Hardly ever).

So what makes them so popular?

I think it's momentum. The video starts small, a few people see it, nothing major. But then people begin to share it. They use their social media networks to spread the video's appeal. They post it on Facebook, refer to it in twitter, link to it on their blogs. And suddenly it is off. People have to watch things that are shared. They feel they must respond. They might think it is stupid in the end; they might find it a waste of time; they might totally buy in and begin posting it for all of THEIR friends to see... But they rarely ever simply ignore it.

Oh, that Christianity would be the same! In fact, at one time it was. People couldn't help but share the good news of Jesus. They wanted others to know what they knew. It started off small: 12 here, 500 there, 3,000 on Pentecost... But then the movement was off! They couldn't make it stop. It was like the mustard seed: starts off small, but eventually provides shelter for all the animals.

What can we do to make Christianity viral again? What can we do to make it appealing to those around us? How can we make them interested enough to take notice, not just writing us off as stupid or irrelevant?

That is the discussion we will be following for the next four days. Stay tuned, and learn how to become viral!