In an article published in The New Yorker on the proliferation of school shootings, journalist Malcolm Gladwell examined how group dynamics influence individual decisions. Gladwell looked at the work of Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter. Forty years ago, Granovetter published an essay that addressed the paradox of: “situations where outcomes do not seem intuitively consistent with the underlying individual preferences.” He was curious why people make decisions that are out of alignment with their preferences, beliefs, and values. In short, Granovetter concluded that our individual decisions are significantly influenced by the decisions of others. A very benign example would be that we’ve all changed our mind about what to order at a restaurant as a result of what others ordered.

As a result of our connection through the church, my faith and life are intimately connected to the decisions that you make in your faith and life. This potential is neither good not bad, but can be life-giving and transformational, or devastatingly destructive. In order to help our interconnectedness be positive and life-giving we need structures that lead us toward healthy and positive connections, that also protect us from negative or destructive connections. While organizational structures seem to be the least spiritual aspect of church life, they may in fact be the most important part of our spiritual life together.