Christian Prison Guard Drives Gay Son to Mass Murder - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

No, that's not a headline from today's New York Times. But it was a major plot point from last night's episode of one my favorite TV shows: Criminal Minds.

You've no doubt heard of this epidemic of bigoted Christian parents pushing their homosexual children to become serial killers. What's that? You haven't so much as read a single story or seen a lone sociological study about this pandemic of hate-filled parenting? Then why would the writers for a hit show put forth such an outlandish story line?

Group think.

Group think is the boneheaded thoughts and actions that result from a group of people working as one, with no outside influence. Left unchecked, group think allows us to commit intellectual suicide and it can cause massive problems for your ministry or business.

Unfortunately for the Criminal Minds writing staff, what is accepted reality in the entertainment community, is known to be a laughable farce by most folks living beyond the gates of Studio City.

Don't suffer the same fate.

Ask reliable people you don't know about their perceptions of your ministry or business. And use your website to generate real feedback. Yes, you'll have to sift through a mountain of garbage comments. But the resulting insights will help you overcome the group think typical of nearly every ministry and business.

Another proven method of fighting off group think is maintaining relationships with the low men and women on the totem pole within your organization.

Are you a ministry leader or business executive? Why aren't you meeting regularly with those on the front lines of your work? Scary as it may be for your fragile ego, your underlings may have thought of better ways of doing things and may have spotted significant organizational failures. But you'd never know it, because you're too busy asking your fellow execs how to get things done. After all, the cream rises to the top. Right?

Of course, at its core, the unbiblical and fundamentally ridiculous Criminal Minds story line mentioned above, springs from mankind's utterly sinful nature, inherent hatred for the things of God, and desire to prop up all that is wicked, in order to distract from and justify one's own sin. (see Romans 1) But the inane shared worldview of hit TV show writers also teaches us about group think and serves as a warning to all bent on true success in ministry and binistry (business that's your God-given ministry).

Don't let group think kill your effectiveness, innovation, and purpose. Pray about and actively seek opportunities to think originally, for God's glory. And maybe Google search potential plot points before you script hit TV shows.