June 10, 2014
By Phil Maynard
My first career was in Radiologic Sciences (X-ray technology). One of the basic principles in calculating x-ray intensities (or lighting in photography) is called the inverse square law:
When you double the distance, the intensity of the x-ray beam becomes one-fourth of the original intensity.
I have found this law to apply to also to the intensity of relationships the congregation has beyond the walls of the church in much the same way. Think about the vertical axis of this graph as the number of people we know and interact with outside of the congregational activities. Use the horizontal axis to reflect the number of years someone is part of the congregation.
It is my experience that the graph looks identical to the Inverse Square Law imaged above.
Within a very short time of participating in church activities, the number of people our congregational participants know and relate to in any meaningful way drops precipitously. And within a relatively short period of time these relationships simply disappear.
We (pastors and church leaders) create this dilemma. We want people