Outbreak: Creating a Contagious Youth Ministry Through Viral Evangelism - Hardcover

Stier, Greg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802417914 ISBN 13: 9780802417916

Publisher: Moody Publishers, 2002

Synopsis

Youth leaders today are frustrated. Their once-burning desire to see souls and lives changed is flickering. But gifted youth leader and evangelist Greg Stier offers hope. In Outbreak he draws on the example of 'viral marketing' in business to illustrate the idea of 'viral evangelism.' According to Stier, teens are desperate to do something radical. If we equip them to be contagious, unstoppable Christians like those in the book of Acts, a major revival is sure to follow.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Outbreak

Creating a Contagious Youth Ministry Through Viral EvangelismBy Greg Stier

Moody Publishers

Copyright © 2002 Greg Stier
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780802417916

Chapter One

BAD MONKEY!

"The single biggest threat to man's continued dominance of the planet is the virus." Joshua Lederberg, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate

What does the word outbreak make you think of? Probably nothing good. You may think about the Black Plague, the AIDS virus, pandemics, or perhaps just a bad case of the flu spreading around the office.

Maybe the word conjures up memories of the now decade old movie with Rene Russo and Dustin Hoffman in virus-proof suits doing the dangerous work of seeking to contain the deadly Ebola virus. In this movie, appropriately titled Outbreak, African monkeys are captured and taken to America to be sold as pets. Unbeknownst to the monkey trappers, one animal is a carrier of the lethal Ebola virus.

The plot of the movie is pretty simple from there: Monkey goes to America. Monkey scratches man. Man kisses girlfriend. And so on, and so on, and so on until an entire community is infected. The rest of the movie is a battle between viral scientists (epidemiologists) and military strategists over whether or not the contaminated community should be simply contained or completely destroyed. Bad monkey!

There are two key scenes in the movie that show the velocity of the virus once an outbreak begins. One scene involves a military strategist explaining to his superiors the dangers of the virus's being unleashed upon the general populace. A computer-generated map of the United States stands behind him with a single red dot on one location. The red dot represents the point of infection. Showing how much more of the map will be engulfed with each passing hour, the military man says, "In twelve hours it will spread this far (the red dot gets bigger). In twenty-four hours it will spread this far (bigger). In thirty-six hours this far (bigger). In seventy two hours this far." By that point the map has turned completely red. The virus has become a nation killer and is well on its way to becoming a world killer. In that one short, cinematic scene, the exponential power of the virus becomes clear. It can be an unstoppable epidemic.

The next key scene depicts a man in a movie theater sneezing. The camera follows the virus out of his nose across rows and rows of packed theater seats into the open, laughing mouth of an unsuspecting movie watcher. It's kind of gross, but it makes the point. All it takes is close contact with the right person at the right time and bam! You're infected.

Throughout this book when you read the words red dot and sneezers, you will know I am referring to those two scenes.

EVANGELISM EPIDEMIC?

The word epidemic is usually used in a negative sense. It is associated with words like death, plague, sickness, catastrophe, germ warfare, and pestilence. But what if epidemic were used in a totally different context? What if the context were not death but life? What if the context were spiritual revival, not physical illness?

When you hear the word outbreak you probably don't think of a great, student-led, evangelistic revival spreading throughout your youth group into your adult congregation, the surrounding campuses, and the community. But that is about to change.

My premise is simple. Early Christianity was viral. It spread like an epidemic. It infected the general populace so quickly that no one was safe. In just a few years, the known world was infected by the epidemic of evangelism. It hasn't been the same since.

Today the virus has been trapped within the walls of our quarantined churches. According to George Barna, "of the 77 million American adults who are churched, born-again Christians:

The typical churched believer will die without leading a single person to a lifesaving knowledge of and relationship with Jesus Christ.

At any given time, a majority of believers do not have a specific person in mind for whom they are praying in the hope that the person will be saved.

Most churched Christians believe that since they are not gifted in evangelism, such outreach is not a significant responsibility of theirs."

WHY A VIRUS ANALOGY?

A virus is probably one of the most efficient forces under heaven. It is a powerful infection machine. Medical researchers are constantly studying viruses in hopes that we will soon be able to understand them better. "But fighting viruses is like fighting an enemy who keeps up with every new advancement in weapons technology; the more time they have, the more precocious and powerful they become."

A virus analogy of the gospel of Jesus Christ is not meant to be disrespectful or even come close to teetering on the brink of sacrilege. In this book I am highlighting not the destructive force of a virus but its power, efficiency, and velocity. In that respect, the gospel is viral. The only thing that this virus seeks to destroy is the power of darkness. In every other aspect it is a constructive, even transformational force. It has power to change, not only individual lives but entire societies also.

THE GOSPEL AS AN IDEAVIRUS

Great ideas, under the right circumstances, with the right carriers, spread like an epidemic. These ideaviruses will transform the way we do business, according to many marketing experts. Seth Godin, author of Unleashing the Ideavirus and highly esteemed marketing guru, nails the power of an ideavirus when it comes to making money in the secular world in the twenty-first century:

The first 100 years of our country's history were about who could build the biggest, most efficient farms. And the second century focused on the race to build factories. Welcome to the third century, folks. The third century is about ideas. Alas, nobody has a clue how to build a farm for ideas, or even a factory for ideas. Ideas are driving the economy, ideas are making people rich and, most important, ideas are changing the world.... An idea that just sits there is worthless. But an idea that moves, grows, and infects everyone it touches ... that's an ideavirus.

As I read that, I couldn't help but ask several questions. What better "carriers" than youth pastors? What better "sneezers" than students? What better "red dots" than our youth group meetings? But more than any other question, I asked what better ideavirus to infect our culture than the gospel of Jesus Christ?

The "idea" of the gospel came straight from the mind of God Himself. It is awesome, unimaginable, and amazing. After contemplating the idea of the gospel of Jesus Christ for several chapters in the book of Romans, the apostle Paul takes a break to sing with his pen in a moment of sheer worship, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 'Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?' 'Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?' For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen" (Romans 11:33-36).

In the hidden councils of the Trinity in eternity past, a conspiracy of love was born. A people would be the object of God's infinite affection. They would rebel. Instead of sending them straight to hell, He would send them His own Son to live with them, teach them, and die for them. His death on the cross would provide the path for reconciliation and forgiveness, heaven and hope. All who simply trusted in Him would be restored to Him. Talk about an ideavirus that should catch on like an epidemic-the gospel is it! No idea ever conceived in the mind of man comes close to this divine conspiracy!

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VIRUS

The virus has two defining traits. It is fast, and it is efficient. Understanding the power of those characteristics is key to understanding how the gospel will infect our youth groups.

THE VELOCITY OF THE VIRUS

Viruses move fast and infect quickly. In the movie Outbreak the monkey was the carrier of the virus. It infected other carriers until an entire community was infected. In the movie the virus spread so fast and so far that it was barely contained. You may be thinking, Well, that's an exaggerated example of Hollywood fiction. But the viral velocity of the real thing is not fiction at all. The speed of authentic viruses is documented again and again in medical history.

Viruses spread fast. Take the common cold for example. A cold can infect every member of a household in days. It can tear through an office in no time. It can spread from the infected to the infectee via a simple handshake. I know how fast a cold can spread through our little family. Jeremy to Kailey to Mommy to Daddy in nothing fiat. Speed is the calling card of the virus. Once it tags you, you're it. And everybody who comes into contact with you becomes a potential victim of your virus.

Perhaps the most infamous example of the velocity of a virus in history was the Black Death in Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Rats, and the fleas that infested them, were the primary carriers of this dangerous virus to medieval Europeans. The crowded, unsanitary conditions of the day increased the number of rats in many populations. As a result, the virus spread so fast throughout Europe that in one year (AD 1348), 67 percent of the population died. Thirteen years later another 50 percent of the population died from the same virus.

THE EFFICIENCY OF THE VIRUS

A virus is as thorough as it is fast. It fully infects its host. Once active, the virus will not stop until its task is complete. Viruses are extremely efficient. The virus has one purpose: to infect its host and dominate it completely. "When a virus attacks and infects a vulnerable living cell, it pours its own DNA and or RNA inside. Once inside, the hereditary material begins a virtual coup d'etat. It attaches itself to the cell's existing DNA and sets up a new command system." A virus will not stop until it has complete control. It wants to be the sovereign of the cells.

Viruses can be irritating like a cold, dangerous like the plague, or life changing like the gospel. But there is no doubt about it: every virus is powerful and quick.

VIRAL EVANGELISM

Viral evangelism is the type of evangelism that we see again and again in the book of Acts. What are the immediate and obvious results of the unleashed virus? The first is velocity.

Did you know that every person living in the province of Asia was exposed to the virus within only two years (Acts 19:8-I0)? Did you know that the gospel had infected almost the entire Roman Empire within about thirty years of Christ's resurrection? Did you know that Christianity had become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire within three hundred years?

What we see in the book of Acts and the pages of early church history is an unstoppable ideavirus that infected large groups of people at a time. It spread from person to person, life to life, mouth to ear. It spread quickly. But it was not only fast-it was efficient.

Remember that the goal of the virus is to set up a new command system in the center of the cell. Jesus desires to be sovereign of the cells, so to speak. He wants every aspect of every Christian life to be completely under His control, and He won't stop until that happens.

The process of "infection" begins at salvation and doesn't stop until the "victim" is completely under Christ's control. Philippians 1:6 demonstrates the process from beginning to end with these words: "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you [the initial infection] will carry it on to completion [the new command system] until the day of Christ Jesus."

SAUL TO PAUL

Take Saul for example. Ardent Pharisee, young idealist, strict legalist-those are just a few of his monikers. This focused visionary made it his goal to stop the spread of the virus of the gospel message. From his vantage point, it had already infected too many of his fellow Jews. Making it his goal to contain and destroy the virus, he went to Damascus to seek and destroy the Christian carriers. But something happened while he was on the road plotting and planning his virus-killing strategy. He himself became infected. In a split second he was transformed from virus killer to virus victim. He was so thoroughly infected that his life changed forever-as did his name. He was suddenly transformed from the esteemed Pharisee of legalistic Judaism named Saul to the despised nemesis of the kingdom of Satan named Paul. He became the primary carrier of the gospel message to the Jews and Gentiles all across the early world. Decades later, he was finally executed for spreading the virus that he once sought to kill.

Viral evangelism is the type of evangelism Paul employed. It is also the type of evangelism demonstrated again and again throughout the early New Testament church. It is fast. It is efficient. It is powerful. But these are mere descriptions. Let's get more specific with our definition.

Viral evangelism has three crucial elements: a courageous carrier, an infectious sneeze, and a contagious virus. Philippians 1:12-18 captures all three of these elements in a few short verses:

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

In that passage we clearly see all three elements of viral evangelism:

1. A CARRIER THAT IS COURAGEOUS

Paul was a courageous carrier. He trusted the Lord and crossed the barriers in spite of overwhelming odds. He was driven to get the gospel out, no matter what the cost. In every town he entered, he unleashed it. Inevitably, a pattern developed. First, a large number of people would get infected. Then the virus killers (i.e., legalistic Jews) would have Paul arrested, beaten, imprisoned, or chased out of town. Finally, he would move on to another host, and the proclamation plague would start all over again.

Sometimes we forget what courage it took for Paul to continue to share the gospel aggressively in that often volatile and violent culture. In one painfully honest passage Paul removes his shirt and shows his scars to the Corinthians, saying, "I have ... been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned" (2 Corinthians 11:23-25). But he would not be stopped. He would run through barriers courageously with the message of truth and hope.

"So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation" (Romans 15: 19-20).

Paul was driven to accomplish the mission. Push him down, and he'd get back up and continue to share the gospel. Throw him overboard, and he'd swim to shore and start a church service around a campfire. Stone him, and he'd rise from the rocks and use the pile of stones as a pulpit. Lock him in a Roman prison, and he'd share the gospel with the soldiers until the whole palace guard had heard the message of Jesus Christ. He was a courageous carrier.

Continues...

Excerpted from Outbreakby Greg Stier Copyright © 2002 by Greg Stier. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Moody Publishers
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802417914
• ISBN 13: 9780802417916
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 265