Diffusion of Innovation

For some reason last week's blog didn't publish so I'll do it over. 

Everett Rogers in 1962 wrote Diffusion of Innovation.  The chart that goes with his work looks like this --



I actually remember a tail-end group opposite the innovators called "never-adopters."  Real quick explanation of it all.  There are those to the left, innovators, who are adventurous and think up new things.  Then there are movers and shakers called early adopters who try new things.  A forward leaning part of the general population will follow them.  They are the early majority.  The momentum is going so that even the more skeptic are feeling like they are missing the boat and or that the new thing is going well enough for them, the late majority, to join in.  The reluctant to change, hard to persuade, slowly adopt or adapt.  Then, like I said, there are die-hards who won't, won't, won't. 

Here's the question from this study for any organization including the church -- can you really hold all these people together?  If you cater to the late half, will the early half really have the patience to stick around?  Will they have their creative candle put out?  If you cater to the early half, will the late half feel dispossessed or scandalized and go someplace else? 

Next question for the church -- where are churches generally?  Who do we cater to generally?  When we talk in 2012 about trying to get the church into the 1970's or 80's, what does that belie about all this?  When we say, "We can't make so and so unhappy," who are we generally saying that about?

The church tries so hard to hold everyone together and maybe it just can't be done.  For the future of the organization, if you had to lose one group, which is the group to lose?  Okay, we don't want to lose any and I get that.  But if for survival, you had to pick ... if for health, you had to pick ... which? 

And what kind of guy was Jesus?  change agent or establishment?

And did he hold everyone together?  did he let some go?  throw out others?

What did he mean about shaking the dust off the feet? 

Can pastoral care for a few mean lack of stewardship of the whole, of the future, of those who are bypassing the church? 

Speaking of stewardshp, in the parable about three guys given talents and one makes a bunch and the other puts it in the ground, where is that on the chart?