I thought you did. You thought I did?

This is an excerpt from the book "The Tipping Point".

"The 1964 stabbing death of a young Queens woman by the name of Kitty Genovese. Genovese was chased by her assailant and attacked three times on the street, over the course of half an hour, as thirty-eight witnesses called the police. The case provoked rounds of self-recrimination. It became symbolic of the cold and dehumanizing effects of urban life."

Many thought that these people did not care. "The anonymity and alienation of big-city life makes people hard and unfeeling." This explanation made sense to me, however, Gladwell then points to a study by two psychologists (John Darley & Bib Latane) who sought to understand the "Bystander problem". They found that "the one factor above all else that predicted helping behavior was how many witnesses there were to the event."

"When people are in a group responsibility for acting is difused."

The lesson learned was this "Not that no one called despite the fact that thirty-eight people heard her scream; it's that no one called because thirty-eight people heard her scream."

This is what hit me in the tub this morning. In a large church congregation you have hundreds or even thousands of "witnesses." How does this effect the dispersion of resposibility. "Feed my sheep." Who will go? The great commision?

Also think about this. In a "christian" nation how does this effect our behavior with specific emphasis on sharing our beliefs.

Perhaps this is why the home church and small group movements are being characterized by such prolific growth. Perhaps the people within them are more responsible. More accountable. More likely to participate in "helping behavior". Eveyone can use a little help.

Doug said something in regards to MIU that I really thought was awesome. He went in for a meeting to decide the structure of MIU. Whether or not he would pastor so on and so on. I called him later to find out what happened and I asked him "Are you still the man?" his response was something like this--"I'm the man more than ever, but the great thing is that they are the TEAM!" He went on to talk about searching out the future while we cultivate the present...I love that guy.

love matt.