The Greatest Networker in the World

I have often wondered why Jesus was born, raised, and ministered in such a small remote corner of the world; and more curiously, at a time when communications were extremely limited. If his message was of such vital importance, why did he not live in a more central location such as Rome of his time, or a New York of our time? Other than his birth narrative, the details of his childhood up to the beginning of his adult ministry are quite sketchy. We know he spent some of this time in exile in Egypt, obviously under cover. His home of Nazareth was such a backwater, no-place, no-traffic-lights, one donkey, kind of town, one of his early close followers said of the place: “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” What an insult. Apparently the Nazareth Chamber of Commerce had its work cut out for it.

Virtually no one at that time was literate, except for the religious authorities. Mass communication, was simply word of mouth. With such an important story to tell, these things make me wonder why Jesus wouldn’t have made his debut closer to our own time, especially with all of the wonderful communication mediums we have at our disposal. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to spreading his message, to see the healings, and the miracles, live with Geraldo, Anderson Cooper or as a special guest on Oprah? And then, wouldn’t those events reach an even larger mass audience once they’ve been You Tube’d , Facebook’d, and Twittered into the cyber-sphere? Who wouldn’t become a follower if we saw these things right before our eyes? Who wouldn’t’ be sold on the mission? Doesn’t it seem like it would be a slam dunk to close the deal through this method? So, why did he do it, the way he did?

Well, I’m quite sure I don’t know, and may never know the reason for Jesus choosing to bring his message into the world, where he did, and when he did. But, maybe there are some lessons we can take from his approach to sharing his message.

Jesus mission started with close personal relationships.

In a very remote, dusty part of the expansive Roman Empire, Jesus shared his story with locals and his kinsmen. We know there was something very attractive about him, and many of those who were fortunate to see him in person, were drawn to him through his warmth and personality. Of the hundreds and thousands of folks he spoke to however, only 12 were chosen to become his most intimate friends and compatriots. Imagine that: with a mission as important as changing the world, he chose only 12 fairly common and regular guys to be part of his inner circle. It was not necessarily an exclusive club, like a secret society or closed door country club organization; but for some reason he felt like these 12 were sufficient to be the core team. He worked extra hard with these guys to fully prepare them to share and continue his mission and good works. In one instance he told them he was the vine, and they were the branches. They were all of the same plant, and eventually they were to go out and create their own branches…all the while, the entire organization, continued to feed from the same original vine.

In my business there are many times when I wish I could send out a mass email or put up a website, or post something on one of the many social media outlets to have contacts sign up left and right onto my program. But year after year I have not found this approach to be very effective. The kind of business program I offer is just an old fashioned handshake, pat on the back, “how are the kids’s doing?” kind of business. It takes time, and energy to create the personal relationships needed to go into business together. This may be Cyber-space heresy, but in some business models, to get your message out there most effectively, you’ve got to do it through the building of meaningful relationships. And in the same way, you’ve got to train those in your inner circle to go out and create their own branches through slowly building realtionships. As Jordan Adler, one of the top producers in our company, and one of the most successful business entrepreneurs I know is fond of saying: “The short way is the long way, and the long way is the short way.” …Which is to say, there are no shortcuts to building our business.

Maybe your business is that way too. If your business does not lend itself well to the mass communications era we live in, and there are many...at least we have a model to help us to continue to grow and prosper our businesses. From the one vine, we can continue to branch out, and help change the world, in our own sometimes dusty, one-mule-town, corners of the world. But, I am also reminded that in doing business this way, I have created long term lasting friendships that I otherwise would not be able to do through mass internet marketing. This blesses me with business opportunities, but also with a network of great life giving friendships.

I have four more thoughts on how Jesus was the Greatest Net-worker in the World. These will follow here in coming days.