How a Movement Starts
I watched a video about a year ago that floored me (you can watch it after the jump). If you watch to the end you’ll hear a woman ask, “How did he do that?!” Isn’t that a question all of us ask from time to time? We look at a Fortune 500 company, or a large and vibrant church, and wonder how in the world did they get there? There’s a tendency to look at our current circumstances and determine that it is impossible to get from where I am to where I want to be…or where God is calling me to be. It would be like watching only the last few moments of the video, and not getting to see how it all started. What I love about this video is that it’s a perfect illustration of how we can all not only be a part of a movement, but actually start one.
1) Keep dancing even if you are the only one doing so. A movement is started by one guy/company/church crazy enough to do what absolutely nobody else is doing. Somebody has to be first, it might as well be you, but you’re going to be looked at as a nut for dancing by yourself. Don’t quit!
2) Eventually one guy had guts enough to join him. This, really, is what started the ball rolling. Most people are happy to sit around and gawk at one guy dancing by himself muttering about how silly he is, but when someone joins him, the dynamic changes. The question stops being, “What is he doing?” and becomes, “Should we do it too?” It takes a lot of courage to be the second guy, but it’s well worth it.
3) Momentum turns in to groundswell. It took quite a while for one to turn in to two. Shortly after that a third joined in, and very quickly four more jumped in. After that, people ran from everywhere to join in. This is groundswell. The movement is on!
How did he do it? By doing what he loved doing with enough passion and fanatical intensity that it intrigued a couple people to take a risk join him. After that, it was just a matter of time…
What are you passionate about? Are you dancing alone? Are you courageous enough to be the second person?
