I’ve been reading this book called “The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University”. It’s by a guy named Kevin Roose and he was a journalism student at Brown who transferred to Liberty University for a semester. The book is for the part of my practicum that is focused on American Christian College/University students. It’s actually a really interesting ethnography. He says, “The more I read, the more I began to realize the importance of knowing about my Christian peers. This isn’t a fringe culture, after all. According to the Barna Group, an evangelical polling firm, a full one-third of America’s teenagers self-identify as born-again Christians”.
The book goes through his journey of life at Liberty University, which was started and maintained by the late Jerry Falwell, however at the time of this writing, Falwell was alive and kicking. Roose describes a good majority of Christian college life, including classes, dating, dorm conversations and more. He wrestles with issues like the Christian response to homosexuality, environmentalism, dating before marriage, missionary work, evangelism, and the like.
One of the interesting thing he notes is the idea of the “collective effervescence” that comes within the Christian College experience. This “collective effervescence” comes from a French sociologist and describes the special type of energy that forms around mass gatherings, things like concerts, political rallies, and apparently, the Christian college. Roose believes that the Christian college, more than any other setting, generates collective effervescence with ease. “It’s the sensation you get when your mind is swallowed by a sort of group mind, when the hundred-decibel worship music and the laser light shows and the people jumping and screaming and hollering all around you combine to form a social organism that takes on a life of its own”.
I think this phenomenon could also be applied to mission teams. The mission team experience is a chance to get together with a group of seemingly random people that are united with one goal and one mission: changing lives. The collective works together to change the lives of those they are serving, as well as working to change their own life through their missionary experience. Roose says, “Most of all, I’ve learned that faith, worn correctly, can be amazing and life-changing. Having met Liberty students who use their faith to improve their lives and the lives of the people around them, I can say with relative certainty that although I don’t always believe in God, I believe in belief”. This idea of a collective effervescence can be a very powerful motivator, especially in the Christian community. How do we use this as a platform for moving the spirit of Christ? Could we label this effervescence as the Holy Spirit? I am sure there are times when it is very spirit-led and very spirit-filled. How can we use this effervescence as a community builder, rather than using it as a “Who’s in, who’s out” kind of thing? How can we capitalize on this phenomenon from a short-term perspective to make it transition into a long-term idea? Is that even possible? Just a few thoughts…