Mobs vs. Movements // a theory

Here I am again, writing again about things I feel so far from doing well.

And that’s probably the way it will always be.

When I was trying to decide whether to start blogging regularly, one of the internal debates I kept having was, “The world is already overloaded with voices / information / noise…there’s simply not room for any more.”

And that’s partially true.

Every moment of the day we are inundated with more…well, everything. (I have a slight addiction to infographics because they’re pretty much awesome.)

Everybody is promoting something.

Read this…vote for that…react to this…protest for that…stop this…start that.

It seems that words like injustice, cause, revolution, change and many others have become conversational regulars.

No matter who I talk to, everyone has something worthwhile they seem to be advocating for.

Some of these uprisings can end up drawing millions of people into the ring.

But something I’ve noticed is, the attention span of the “trending generation” is getting shorter and shorter. One example that comes to mind is when I sat glued to the updates of a friend of mine who lives near Tahir Square in Cairo, Egypt as throngs protested day after day. But over time, interest faded, and I’ve only recently been trying to catch back up on what’s happened since.

I suppose we could blame the 24-hour news cycle or something, but I’ve been mulling over another theory…

I believe we’ve become experts at creating mobs, and neglected to foster movements.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, Mark Twain wrote, “The pitifulest thing out is a mob; they don’t fight with courage that’s born in them, but with courage that’s borrowed from their mass.”

Mobs tend to lean toward hype…movements are built by heart.

Mobs get lots of attention…movements create change.

Mobs are more like a one-night stand…movements are a long-term commitment.

Part of the problem is that we are not doing a very good job of really teaching people how to care about things. Information is great, but learning how to truly love something is what makes the difference.

I’ve personally observed the struggle of mob vs. movement from church communities to humanitarian causes and everything in between.

This is one of the reasons Paul penned the famous “Love Chapter” to the church at Corinth.

Because knowing and doing without loving only adds to the noise.

We don’t need more people hyped up only to get burnt out and move on before the work really gets started. We need people who care.

But caring and loving that leads to change starts with us. And we love “Because [God] first loved us.” // 1 John 4:19

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As I said in the beginning, this is a concept I’m very much still learning. In fact, even this blog post feels like a rough draft of ideas that will continue to be refined over time and with the input of others. At least that’s what I’m hoping.

What are your thoughts on teaching people to really care and love?

How do we create movements instead of mobs?

Is the cross or the sword your weapon of choice?

We tend to place different levels of significance based on our proximity to important events when they happened.

Where we were on 9/11…

When an earthquake killed 200,000 people in 30 seconds in Haiti…

While hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast…

As revolution rocked Tahir Square in Egypt…

Being one of the “lucky ones” to have a seat in the courtroom when Casey Anthony was acquitted…

If you weren’t close to any major events, then the hunt is on to find the stories of those who were.

Even if it’s by proxy, we desire to be connected to the epicenter. We have a need to be near the action.

I’ve often wondered what it was like to be Malchus, the slave to the high priest, who for whatever reason ended up on the military detail sent to arrest Jesus.

As the drama of the disciples’ sleeping through prayer meeting, Judas’ betrayal and Jesus’ impending rigged trial was building, an obscure event happened that no doubt left a man changed.

Call it being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Malchus gets his ear cut off by an over-zealous Peter who is feeling the need to prove himself. Instead, Jesus temporarily shuts down the arrest party, puts Malchus’s ear back on, and tells Peter, “Put your sword away…those who live by the sword will die by the sword.”

The rest of the story plays out, ending with Jesus allowing what his followers considered unthinkable: the cross.

If you search the life of Jesus, you’ll notice that Malchus’s story isn’t necessarily unique. Again and again people came to Jesus for one thing, but came away with what they actually needed.

Why?

Because Jesus engaged them.

He asked them questions, He spent time in their homes, He cared for their needs, He saw past the mess of their lives, He didn’t write them off. He invited them to be a part of the center of things.

He gave them a front row seat to a movement that has turned the world upside-down.

Words are important, but our actions always reveal just how much stock our lives have invested in what we say. We will not always live what we profess, but we will always live what we believe.

What Jesus SAID to Peter was, “Those who live by the sword die by the sword.”

What Jesus SHOWED Peter was, “Those who die by the cross will live.”

For me, it’s easy to say I will carry the cross, but when it comes to actually living, the sword is much easier to grab. It’s lighter, cuts faster. Puts more pressure on others. Certainly easier to carry.

And although I do enjoy a friendly swashbuckling match from time to time, when I say sword, I’m speaking figuratively…as in the way we wield our words and actions.

When I discipline my children. When I work through a tough issue with my wife. When I engage people around me (especially those who don’t see things as I do).

The sword forces others to sacrifice. The cross asks me to instead.

The sword is coercion. The cross is an invitation.

The sword breaks someone else. The cross breaks me.

The sword wounds. The cross heals.

On the night of His arrest, Jesus tells Peter to put down his sword, but just a few chapters earlier, Jesus had told his disciples to take up the cross.

There is never a reason to be sorry we carried the cross instead of the sword when we head out the door every morning into the mosh pit of society.

If you want to be near the epicenter of everything, then live near the cross.

Because it’s the cross…not the sword…that changes the world.

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Do you live in the tension of the cross and the sword in your own life?

Does the way you engage people around you change depending on which one you carry?

More to come.

A dirty diaper almost ruined my plans

The longer I live, the more (painfully) aware I become at how easy it is for even really well designed plans to be completely derailed.

In fact, launching my blog when I had planned to almost didn’t happen because my two year old twins (Eden and Marceau) decided to pull off an incredible feat of disaster-laden wizardry.

And I figure, if two year olds can foil my plans, there must be something bigger happening that I should learn how to see.

So here’s the story…

It was literally 10 minutes before the link to my very first post was supposed to go live online. Now, I’m still new at this whole “internet orchestration” thing, but after a several days of scheming, I had everything “ready to go” (ha).

Suddenly, from the playroom, my wife yells, “Oh no! What are you guys doing?!”

**NOTE TO MEN: Your wife is designed to be able to handle a massive amount of child-related stress, but when she yells “oh no” … you better get there quick.

Anywho, up until that moment, the twins had been playing quietly. And, for some reason, a parenting lesson I’m still struggling to completely grasp is that when your children are too quiet…something sinister is happening around 99% of the time.

I rushed to the doorway to see what catastrophe had occurred, but much to my horror I could actually smell it before I could see it.

My wife and I have five kids, and I’d like to believe that we’re fairly seasoned vets when it comes to facing the regular ambushes of parenting, but mark my words: nothing ever prepares you for when your two-year-old twins strip off their diapers just before they decide to carry out stink-bombing mission.

No, I’m don’t feel the need to describe it in any more detail than that. Yes, it was as bad as you are imagining. Many of their toys are now going through trauma counseling.

In the end, the mess was cleaned up, my blog still made it online and now we’re considering using diapers with padlocks to avoid that ever happening again.

Plans are a funny thing. It seems we even use axioms like, “God laughs at my plans”, when everything goes wrong to try and mask publicly the huge disappointment and frustration we feel underneath.

But, to be honest, I don’t think God laughs at our plans. I don’t think He ever laughs at us at all. I do believe God has an incredible sense of humor, but He doesn’t get his jollies at the expense of His children.

The reality is, plans change…plans fall apart…plans get completely wrecked. Even well designed ones. Even ones I think are impossible to screw up. (Maybe even ESPECIALLY ones I think are impossible to screw up.)

So no matter how well you’ve drawn up your plans, make sure to keep a blank page close by for when everything changes. Because everything always changes.

What I’ve written about in this post is a very surface example of plans changing that we’ve experienced. Our list is actually a mile long – and includes moments where we wept and wondered if there would ever be peace, happiness, joy or normalcy again.

And I know you’ve been there too. Maybe you’re there now.

But it’s not about what we do when our plans happen to work out, it’s about how we respond when they don’t.

I’ll leave you with this:

Isaiah 43 — “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you…because you are precious to me…and I love you.”

The wizards of plan-derailment

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Have you ever experienced a change of plans in your life that you weren’t ready for?

What happened?

How did you deal with it?