If you are unaware of #thedress…here’s a quick rundown. There’s a photo of a dress circulating around the Internet that looks either black and blue, or white and gold. Depending on your individual brain or the way you look on it (I’m still unsure what makes it change colors), the dress looks different.
It’s become an instant social media community event. Everyone’s chiming in with their thoughts and debating on the true color of the dress. (It’s black and blue if you haven’t discovered yet.)
The color illusion is weird. But what’s fascinating to me is that it became such a viral success over night. And I believe there’s some key social science at play here:?People want to feel part of a community.[quote]People want to feel part of a community.[/quote]
In a world divided on issues like ISIS, Net Neutrality, gun control, etc… People are longing for common ground. And even though people are debating back and forth on what color the dress actually is, it’s all in an attempt to discover the truth. We’re wanting to discover the truth as a community.
Seem familiar? Isn’t that what a church is all about?
So for those who think people don’t want the church anymore… People want the truth. People want to discover it in community. We often just get in the way of that with our traditions, squabbles, or lack of love.[quote]People want the truth. People want to discover it in community.[/quote]
If anything, #thedress entertained me for a few minutes. But beyond that, it’s given me renewed hope that the church is not dying. The Church is the ultimately community in search of the truth. And we have found the Truth. Let’s present it in love and let people join in on the conversation.
