Creating Movements or Creating Disciples that Create Movements?

I ran across this post on a Y Gen website I found intriguing and very applicable to the Church today:

Is Giving Away Free Ford Fiestas Really A Movement?
Posted by anastasia
Brands using young ambassadors to help get the word out about a new product is not new. Student rep programs have been around for a while, and there are agencies that specialize in setting up these types of programs for brands. Over the weekend Ford Fiesta announced that it was going to create a "movement" around the launch of its new small car by giving 100 lucky millennials a free Fiesta in exchange for chronicling their driving adventures (and promoting Ford Fiesta) on "social media" sites. The company told MediaPost (reg. required) they have over 1,500 applications already.The article also mentioned that the key to making this effort work is finding the right young people -- you want young people who have extensive social networks and are comfortable with writing, tweeting, creating videos, taking photos, etc. But you want the content to be fun, compelling and offer something of value vs. Ford gave me a free car so I'm holding up my end of the deal and writing about it.What bugs me is Ford's use of the word "movement." Maybe it's the high school/college activist in me, but I find brands co-opting the word movement to be slightly distasteful, especially when there really is nothing pro-social about what they're selling - I mean I guess a Fiesta is better than an Explorer in terms of environmental impact, but it's still a new car. Pepsi tried to do this with its Obama-like marketing and "Yes we can" messaging. Yes we can, do what? Change the world one sugary Pepsi at a time? Giving 100 young people free cars to drive in order to promote your brand is not a movement either - it's a marketing campaign orchestrated by a huge brand. Maybe it will be effective. Maybe it won't.I don't doubt that young people have emotional relationships with certain brands, but it feels creepy to me for Ford to describe this as being a movement. Especially when movements tend to happen from the bottom up, i.e. they spring up organically in a grassroots way. If there were already a group of young, hard core Ford enthusiasts who were so excited about the Fiesta they began (on their own) organizing Fiesta launch parties, or making their own Fiesta ads or art - that might be more of a movement, no? If that doesn't exist at all, then will Ford's attempt to artificially stimulate it with free cars come across as "delivering authentic and genuine messages across a broad spectrum of media"? What do you think?For more coverage of youth marketing, check out the Ypulse Youth Marketing Channel sponsored by Youth Marketing Connection.


The part that I found applicable to the Church was the line that said “…it feels creepy to me for Ford (the big institution) to describe this as being a movement. Especially when movements tend to happen from the bottom up, i.e. they spring up organically in a grassroots way. If there were already a group of young, hard core Ford enthusiasts who were so excited about the Fiesta they began (on their own) organizing Fiesta launch parties, or making their own Fiesta ads or art – that might be more of a movement, no?”
As churches, and particularly as church leaders, we have a desire to start “movements” within the Church (the big institution): getting people to attend our events or participate in our life-changing courses on evangelism and discipleship. We hope that people, through our self-created programs, will be motivated to join our movement. But, the fact is, a movement DOES tend to happen from the bottom up and not from the “leaders” of the institution, which we are perceived as being. It begins when a group of individuals (a Bible Study class or men’s group or youth ministry or single mother of two kids) catch a vision for ministry and become the driving force behind it. As leaders, we should be spending less time developing movements, and instead, encouraging our people to fall in love with their Savior and being obedient to His calling on their lives. Only then can a movement truly happen that is organic and grassroots in its foundation. The institution can’t make that happen; individuals do.

I Love Jesus, but I Wanna be Like Gladys a Little Bit

I was engaging my Facebook addiction the other day when I stumbled across this video that someone had posted on their Facebook profile. Intrigued, both at the title of the video and the fact that it mentioned Jesus and Ellen Degeneres, curiosity got the better of me and I watched.

I cried!

I hurt with laughter.

It was the funniest thing that I'd seen in a long time.

It made me uncomfortable.

Let me explain.

You see, as a Jesus lover and a member of the the body of Christ, I have been raised on the Truths of scripture. I take my lead from God's Word. When it says "don't gossip", I take that to mean that I'm not suppose to gossip - it angers God. When it calls a lying tongue something that God hates, I'm pretty sure that He doesn't approve of us NOT telling the truth. Pretty cut and dried. Therefore, I don't question when God calls homosexuality an "abomination". I see no where in the Scriptures where God gives props to having a sexual relationship with someone who is not your spouse, not to mention having sexual relationships with people of the same gender as you.

Add to this the constant onslaught of the general media trying to convince me that homosexuality is right, good, acceptable and normal. Every show has a token "gay" person. "It's everywhere and normal" they say to us "so, get used to it." We had this same onslaught of "divorced" couples that hit us back in the 70's to convince us that divorce was the most logical options for couples who couldn't get along. By the eighties, they began working on men, particularly fathers. Whether it was Married with Children or Home Improvement or Everybody Loves Raymond, dads and/or husbands were total idiots, incapable of communicating with their wives, unable to properly raise children and generally imbeciles when it came to making decisions. Media loves to take our "sin" and normalize it. It may seem I'm digressing, but I'm simply making a point to make a point. Point number one is the fact that no matter what the world says, homosexuality is a sin that we are not to partake of.

Point number one is made.

Now, on to point number two...the video in question and the subsequent uncomfortableness I'm feeling.

In this video, Gladys, the wonderful "Jesus-loving" senior adult amuses us with her quick wit and simplistic lifestyle. She's quick to deter any phone solicitors, she's open and honest in her constructive criticism of misplaced plants, and lives within her circle of influence, never veering off too far from home. (although I hear that she did take Ellen up on her offer to visit the show.) In the midst of these endearing displays of humor and simplicity, I was caught off-guard by the sheer unconditional love of Gladys for Ellen. She was sincerely thankful for Ellen and the way she made people laugh-simply bringing joy to people's lives. She loved Ellen and was enboldened to tell her so. She was also more than happy to connect with Ellen anytime and looked forward to spending more time with her.

So, why am I uncomfortable? Simply because I can't get over the fact that Ellen is gay.

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. My own sin is my source of uncomfortableness.

My sin? Well, it's not gossip. I work hard at telling the truth. Divorce is not an option for me. I am the spiritual leader of my home and want to be a great and wise father to my daughters and a loving, helpful and protective husband of my wife. I believe the Bible is God's Word and I seek to live my life according to it's laws. So, here's the sin: I'm a conditional lover.

Gladys, in her Jesus-loving nature has been able to look beyond the glaring sin of Ellen Degeneres' life and simply love her; to honestly want to be friends with her. To watch her show, affirm her and even say to her "I love you" - no strings attached. Wow. I can't do that. All I see is a homosexual. I'm thinking about how disgusting homosexuality is when, in fact, God is staring me down in disgust at my lack of love for people, particularly sinners.

Gladys loves Ellen. The awesome thing about this is Ellen's response: She loves Gladys! She actually wants to be around Gladys and is willing to do whatever it takes to get Gladys on her show. I'm reminded then, at this point, of Acts 5:12-13:

"Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem."

You see, the lost world surrounding the early church was a bit freaked out by the Christ followers during this time. But, the attitude they had toward them was one of admiration. I can't help but think that this is what was rolling through the mind of Ellen. Could it be that Gladys' simple love for Ellen could be the catalyst for Ellen to discover God's love for her?

You might be thinking that I'm making too many assumptions here. But, since it's my blog, I can say what I want. My conviction was real. I don't love people like I should; I judge them, grow impatient with them and turn the other direction when they come near. That makes me a hypocrit, a Pharisee. That is the one thing that ticked Jesus off more than anything he encountered while on earth. Jesus had choice words for people like that and he would tell it to their face while the whole time sitting around a table with tax collectors, prostitutes and "sinners".

Gladys, thank you for the revelation. Thank you for loving Ellen and thank you for reminding me that I am called to love simply and to simply...love.