Alan Hirsch discussed doing church like a virus during Verge Conference’s 2nd session. Here is what he said:

Viruses can teach us a lot of things. You can be infected by an idea.

In 11 iterations of a U.S. Christian discipling 3 people then them doing the same, you’d pretty much cover all of America. What if each church committed to plant 3 churches in its lifetime?

If we want to reproduce, we need to have something that is reproducible. If it can’t be easily passed on to another, then you shouldn’t do it.

Big budgeted churches are clunky and not easily reproduced. Paul planted a church in 9 days. If your concept of leadership takes 7 years of seminary, it is too complicated.

Alan Hirsch discussed fear of failure at Catalyst’s second lab. Here is what he said:

Victor Turner is a cultural anthropologist that studied the rituals and rites of passage for young African boys into manhood. The ordeal the boys would endure through their rite of passage created a bond deeper that community. It created communitas (takes community to the next level and allows the whole of the community to share a common experience, usually through a rite of passage).

Journeys of adventure can change you significantly.

One of the most profound sense of communitas in the US was 9/11.

In the Bible, when David was in the cave with his band of warriors, communitas was created. When Moses and the Israelites wandered the wilderness for 40 years, communitas was created. The exile formed communitas. Jesus and the 12 disciples were a journey of communitas, so was the group of 70.

The Church in the west is in big, big trouble. The Church is fine in the east. The early church and the Chinese church grew exponentially (BOOM!) despite their persecution. Mission is risky. If you create a community that avoids all risk, the people are stifled.

In trying to reach men particularly, we can learn from this. We can journey together. C.S. Lewis says, “Women are face-to-face creatures, and men are side-by-side creatures.” There is something about a bonding experience that we can learn from, experiences like Habitat for Humanity.

Creating artificial environments at church do not prepare people to cope with the rest of the week. Middle class has an obsession with safety and security. The problem is that we undermine our ability to engage the real world. No wonder we form religious enclaves. We easily forget the good things that God has done for us when we are in a safe zone.

Take some journeys. You can change the world.