Viral Ideas
I just finished listening to a very entertaining audio book called Meme. It’s based on the study of how ideas spread, and tells the story from the viewpoint of the idea itself. I won’t spoil it, but we follow this idea’s progress from germination to widespread consideration.
It’s an interesting story that indicates the huge potential power of one simple, profound idea that captures a single motivated person. To me, it’s a rather ironic side-note that the concept of a meme was advanced by the British scientist and atheist Richard Dawkins; because I see the book (which is not connected with Dawkins) as a wake-up call for every Christian on how simple evangelism can be. We see one person, with few friends and almost no circle of influence, begin a movement that affects the world.
It started when he found guiding principles for his life that he committed to living, and thought he’d tell others about those principles. He wasn’t really an evangelist, in that he wasn’t necessarily trying to persuade others to adopt those principles. He just thought they should be aware of them, so they could decide for themselves. So he diligently went about spreading the message in ways that you and I could easily do today—and it went viral, reaching the world.
Is there any greater message than the gospel of Jesus Christ? So why does it seem so few of us are actively spreading the message—in simple, unoffensive ways. As the band Casting Crowns sings, “If we are the body, why aren’t his feet going?”
