There was a famous captain of a battle carrier group that had an odd habit of every morning sitting at his desk, pulling out a drawer that contained a small paper note. He would read the note, look at the ceiling, and mumble something, then close the drawer and go about his leadership tasks. His executive officer witnessed this behavior for a long time and puzzled over what this captain was doing and what was on the note. When the captain was retiring, his executive officer got the courage to ask the captain about this odd behavior. “Sir, please help me learn what is written on the paper that gives you such leadership clarity?” The captain responded: “Sure, come see for yourself.” Pulling out the drawer, he handed his executive officer the note where he had scribbled these words: “Port is left side, Starboard is right side.”
One key element for Media to Movement leaders is to keep the most basic principle of our work clear in our thinking.
Media to Movements strategy is built on the principle that at least 2 ½ percent of any population is open for religious change and a media strategy can identify these seekers. Training modules used to prepare Media to Movements teams to launch their initiative are tethered to this principle of identifying the 2 ½ percent seeker population.
Paul did a similar thing in Acts 17:1-4. Paul’s calling from God was to bring the gospel to the Greeks. Yet we read that Paul arrived in “Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures…” Why did Paul, called to reach the Greeks, make it his custom to spend time in a Jewish synagogue reasoning with attendees from the scriptures? The answer to this question can be found in verse 4: “Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks.” There we have it. God fearing Greeks who attended the Synagogue were most open to respond to Paul’s message. These were Greeks who were seekers of the true God, and Paul’s communication channel to find them was synagogues in leading Greek cities. Paul’s custom was to identify God-fearing Greeks. Then these Greek seekers became the first disciples where a church plant was launched.
The 2 ½ percent population figure is not static, but an ongoing chain of seekers whom God is calling to create an ongoing and expanding gospel presence among our target audience. John Wesley’s outreach strategy was designed to reach “receptive people while they are receptive, lest we miss the day of their visitation.” Our media products and response strategies are part of an ongoing church planting effort that starts with finding our open 2 ½ percent seeker population when they are receptive.
My goal in this next series of blogs is to guide Media to Movements leaders with what happens next after you find your seekers. We will discuss a range of things like group formation, leadership development, and structures that can create repeating patterns of healthy growth. All these are to help you reach your mission and vision for your target population.
Like the captain in the story above, make yourself a scribbled note that you can review everyday with something like my media strategy is to identify the 2 ½ percent of seekers among my target population.” Keep your port side and starboard side clear. You will need this when you are in the heat of the battle.
If you want more information on the 2 ½% principle, please write to me at frank.h@mediatomovements.org.
Reflections Question:
- If the goal of your Filterers was to identify seekers only - and not share the gospel, how would that change the way you train your filterers.
- Looking at those that respond to your MTM campaigns, are you mostly reaching the 2 ½% who are open for religious change or the 97.5% who are not interested. Discuss with your media team campaign ideas that could better identify the 2 ½% who are open for religious change.
