Malcolm Gladwell is smart. He writes books that other smart people read and learn from. His “The Tipping Point,” first published in 2000, focused on the “moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point” as it relates to how “ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do.”
Not too long ago my friend Bret (you might know him as Mav) asked me what I thought God wanted to do in/through/with midtown. That got me thinking and praying. I know that it’s not about my dream for midtown; it truly is a matter of hearing what God wants to see happen here.
I believe that God is stirring something, that it’s not a quick change, that it’s simmering. There have been hints and glimpses of a coming breakthrough, the teaser that keeps you tuned in. I don’t think it’s big or flashy. In fact, it’s probably the opposite. It involves the basics of Christianity, the simple purposes of the church: evangelism, discipleship, service, worship, prayer, community. It’s the Church Without Walls vision that Dan Nold has been talking about for years. It’s why Kim and I moved to this Valley called Happy more than 13 years ago.
The Tipping Point…it feels like we’re getting closer to the tipping point in terms of a cultural change, a shift in how we do life, church, family…I hear it in the conversations that I’m having almost every day. There’s a growing dissatisfaction with the status quo, with the way we’ve always done things. And there’s a companion hunger for the new, the real, the true.
I’m going to do some more praying and thinking on this, but I like where we’re headed.
Charlie experienced a Tipping Point of his own tonight at supper. Kim started feeding the boy peas. For cryin out loud, the kid’s only got 2 teeth, and they’re both on the bottom. He was pretty happy gumming the peas. Then he sucked one down the wrong pipe, took a little coughing fit, and hit his tipping point. Maybe we’ll wait on the peas…
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