This Thursday I’ll be speaking at the LeadNow ’09 conference and I’ve been working a lot on my talk.  A number of months ago I wrote the following post on my old blog and it inspired my talk for this Thursday.  I’m posting it again to give you a sneak preview of what’s to come when I talk this Thursday.  Enjoy!

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Every neighborhood is like an Ecosystem.  Every home in a neighborhood has a positive or negative impact on that ecosystem.  Therefore, every small group in a neighborhood has a positive or negative impact on that ecosystem as well.

So what kind of impact is your small group having?  When we ask that question of our groups we naturally start to look for the really positive impact we’re having.  Sometimes that’s hard so we comfort ourselves by thinking “our impact is neutral”.  There is no neutral.  Groups who think they’re having a neutral effect on the neighborhood, are actually having a negative one!

Here’s what the neighbors think of groups who are having a “neutral” effect:

• “Why are these people here every Wednesday night?”
• “Are they having some kind of party?”
• “Must be a boring party…it’s always over around 8:30.”
• “Oh, now I get it. They’re religious. Their cars have Christian bumper stickers and little silver fish stuck on them. Religious people ARE boring. Even worse, they’re annoying.”
• “These people take over the street every week.”
• “They block my mailbox, and park to close to my driveway.”
• “These people are getting on my nerves every week for a dull church meeting.”
• “Stinkin’ churchified-Christian-types.”

If even one neighbor is having those thoughts (and I promise there’s at least one) then the group is having a negative effect and pushing people away from Christ.  NEUTRAL IS NEGATIVE.

Here’s what the neighbors think of groups who are having a positive effect:

• “There’s that car with the silver fish blocking my mailbox again, but I guess that’s okay.”
• “Letting them park there is the least I can do after all they’ve done for the neighborhood.”
• “Why are those people always so generous? I don’t get it, but I’m sure glad they’re here.”
• “They pick up trash, collect food for the hungry, wash people’s cars, take care of the old lady on the corner, and they pray for me.”
• “I know they pray for me because they’ve asked me how they can pray and then they ask how things are going later on.”
• “Those people are actually pretty cool for church-types.”
• “Maybe one week I’ll go over and see what they’re doing and ask why they are so different.”

Neutral is Negative, but the good news is Positive is Positive!  Let’s get out there and have a positive impact…people’s neighborhood ecosystems, social ecosystems, and eternal ecosystems depend on it!