The Power of Crowds

Last week, I talked about the Power of Relationships. This week, I want to take the conversation a bit further and talk about the Power of Crowds.

Culture is an amazing thing. When a belief, lifestyle, or action becomes accepted by a large enough percentage of the population, a tipping point occurs. People who were previously against an idea begin to adopt it. You can see this happen with clothing styles, hair styles, music choices, language usage, and more.

For instance, I remember when Leonardo DiCaprio showed up at an awards show with messy hair. It was obvious the hairstyle was intentional, yet it was ridiculed by many. However, within weeks and months, TONS of guys sported hairstyles that looked like they had just gotten out of bed.

This power of culture can be both a good thing and a bad thing. When thousands upon thousands of Germans got caught up in the cultural sweep of Hitler in the 1940s, hypnotized by his powerful speeches and rhetoric, they committed horrendous atrocities that we still shake our heads at in disbelief. This is an obvious example of when culture produced something evil.

Yet imagine if this power of culture were harnessed for the gospel? Where the weapons wielded were love, grace, kindness, and truth?

When a group of people commit together to create a culture of honor and respect toward humans because they recognize that humans are made in the image of God, yet they also know that the image in man has been distorted by sin, amazing things can happen! This is when life change occurs. It affects our actions. It deepens our prayers. It increases our hearts.

This is why you are needed at Riverwood! This is the type of culture we want to create. But to create a culture requires people - just like you:

• People who will worship together on Sundays because of what Jesus did on a cross.
• People who will serve in the community because Jesus first served us.
• People who will gather in groups to discuss how to be more like Jesus.1

My hope is that if Riverwood ever had to call it quits and cease to exist, Waverly and Bremer County would mourn the loss. But the only way that will happen is if we have a group of people committed to loving like Jesus loved and living like Jesus lived.

So let's build this culture together! Let us leverage the Power of Crowds to help people see the majesty of Jesus!