Off To The Side

Paul Graham wrote an essay last year titled The Power of the Marginal in which he discussed how people or organizations that are outside the mainstream often have more power to make revolutionary changes than those who are part of the established system.

I think Paul is really onto something here. Even though he discusses this primarily from a business perspective, I think many things in life do hinge on the margins simply because they don't receive the scrutiny of the 'main' things. For example, I know very few people who would put their mortgage payment down on a roulette table at the nearest casino, but plenty who would swipe a credit card for designer coffee in the morning and McDonald's at lunch. Statistics show that the vast majority of millionaires in America accumulated their wealth slowly and persistently, by living in nice but modest homes, driving reliable vehicles paid for with cash, and by choosing to save a marginal amount out of every paycheck instead of spending it on something they didn't need.

In the same way, the Bible talks about a remnant -- a relatively small percentage of faithful believers who steadily and persistently choose to invest their lives into others and walk in God's way. Just the way that the landscape of business is periodically re-shaped by a couple of college dropouts in a garage (e.g. Google in 1998), the landscape of America is being transformed by small groups of Christians faithfully praying and believing that God still wants to be Lord of our nation.