As a guy who has embraced the nerd within I sometimes enjoy my numbers. As I write this in 2016 I am entering a year of significant numbers. At the beginning of February I will celebrate 20 years since I was pastor of my first church. On Valentine’s Day it will be 20 years since I asked Jennie to marry me. A week later I will celebrate my 40th birthday.
But the number for this post that I want you to think about that has a powerful impact on your life is 40,000. I love the stories of the great awakenings that have happened in history. Even more interesting would be to be a part of the next great move of God. 40,000
One of fun stories of God’s activity in the last couple hundred years was something known as the Welsh Revival. God’s activity that started in this movement is still having ripple effects around the world. Wouldn’t it be fun to be a part of something that God starts which impacts the world 100 years from now? A number for you to think about is 40,000.
What is the significance of that number and what does that have to do with your ability to personally be the spark for that next great move of God? Well hang with this nerd for a moment and you will see. I asked one of my professors from college, who has studied the history of revival, about the numbers of the Welsh Revival. She told me that the numbers are all over the place. Some say 30,000 conversions in a couple months and others say 100,000 in 6 months. But for our purposes I want us to think about the number 40,000.
40,000 is a number that is important for a much more modern reason. Even a simple search will tell you that most people on Twitter have about 200 followers. Most people on Facebook have about 200 friends. If we use that as a baseline number math becomes our friend. If you share a post with your 200 friends and they share it with their 200 friends it could impact 40,000 people. Your tweet that is retweeted with their followers could impact 40,000 people. In the math of a revival that is enough people to start something that could have the impact on the world.
Tweet ThisImagine trying to touch 40,000 people in other time periods. It would be near impossible. We live in an time in history where a person with an internet connection can make a difference.
The key to this working is the activity of God in your own heart. Start by saying, “God start something in my heart that is worth sharing.” Then tweet by tweet and post by post share the goodness of God. Over time I think we will be surprised by our impact.
Your impact maybe won’t be seen till heaven. Or maybe someone will light a spark, one tweet/post/video/hashtag at a time, that will start the greatest move of God this world has ever seen. Will you be that person?