By now, everyone is aware of the tragic earthquake that struck Haiti on January 13. Many of you know that at Grace, we responded in a big way. First, we scrapped the weekend services to speak to the crisis in Haiti and the questions “Why?” and “What now?” This allowed us to present to the congregation our response plan, which included a special offering, potential short-term relief trips, meal packaging, orphan care, and support of organizations on the ground in Haiti.

When I say Grace responded in a big way, that’s a bit of an understatement. The special offering brought in close to $240,000. Thousands responded when Safe Families (one of Grace’s Frontline ministries) sought homes for orphans potentially coming to Indy. People signed up to prepare meal packages through Kids Against Hunger faster than I could close registration (we had to open a second packing date). Medical teams are forming right now to travel to Haiti in the coming weeks with Nehemiah Vision Ministries to treat quake victims.

This leads me to a question I’ve been thinking about lately: How do people get compelled? In other words, what type of catalysts spark people to go “all-in” for a cause?

I hate to use this recent example of Haiti to analyze how people are persuaded to get involved, but we’ve seen such a huge response, and I’m trying to understand what led people to respond how they did. We certainly do not try to manipulate people in order for them to get involved, but there are a few ways, when presented well, I believe cause people to respond.

Our weekend services on January 16-17 tapped into 3 different types of response triggers that resulted in thousands becoming compelled for the sake of Haiti.

Rational Appeal

We shared staggering facts about Haiti’s reality pre-earthquake including stats about population density, poverty, and lack of resources. Most were unaware of the magnitude of Haiti’s destitution before the earthquake, and imagining all those factors coupled with an enormous natural disaster prompted many people to respond.

Emotional Appeal

Having taken a few philosophy courses in college, I know that most do not consider appeals to emotion as valid means of persuading others. Not only was our appeal to emotions justified, but I believe it was necessary. It’s easy to watch image after image on television of broken buildings and broken people and stay emotionally detached from the situation. We shared stories of people we met, including a few heart wrenching stories of children who lived in an orphanage in Chambrun. Sure, these stories were emotionally charged, but they needed to be shared; if people don’t know the reality of a situation, why should we expect them to respond? Engaging people’s emotions is sometimes necessary to break through people’s hard exteriors so they can empathize with the pain of others.

Spiritual Appeal

I honestly think we would have had a massive response if we would have stopped after rational and emotional appeals, but the most important thing that caused people to respond was a spiritual appeal. Dave responded to one inappropriate response based on really bad theology by a prominent evangelical leader that basically said Haitians got what they deserved (to listen to the message, click here). The sad part is that lots of Christians respond this way after major disasters. I heard prominent and everyday Christians say the same type of thing after 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina. It’s important to correct this bad theology and look at God’s commands to help those in need, especially when we have an overabundance of resources and have the ability to meet both physical and spiritual needs of these victims.

_____

Let me add that in order to get someone else compelled, you shouldn’t have to try very hard…when you do, you sound like a marketer or salesperson. Your cause should speak for itself, using stories and facts that are fueled by an unmistakable passion for what you’re doing.

I realize this isn’t an exhaustive list of ways to trigger all-in responses, but these three ways wove themselves into a strong cord a few weeks ago at Grace, and people are still responding.

(By the way, these aren’t new ideas. Aristotle originally came up with three different ways to persuade people: ethos, pathos, and logos. Read more about these persuasive appeals here.)