In Malcom Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, he makes reference to what is known as the social channel capacity. The social channel capacity is the maximum number of people with whom we can have a genuine social relationship.[1] The idea is that we can only handle so many relationships, because together they can get quite complex, requiring much energy and brainpower.
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar has done a lot of research on this. He looked at the maximum social capacities for monkeys, chimps, baboons, and people. He discovered that humans socialize in the largest groups. He believes the reason why we’re able is because our brains are large enough to handle it. More specifically it is the neo cortex, which handles complex thought and reasoning.[2]
Dunbar actually created an equation in which he puts in the size of the neo cortex in relation to the size of the brain. The idea is that the bigger the neo cortex the bigger the maximum social capacity. He did this for humans and came up with the number 150. 150 seems to represent, according to his research, the maximum number of people one person can have a genuine social connection. This is the kind of relationship that would allow you to enjoy a meal together if you met on accident at a restaurant.[3]
What’s more interesting is that our military has limited the size of fighting units to no larger than 200 men. Even in a day and age when communication is at our fingertips, it’s still 200 men. Dunbar writes, “…planners have discovered, by trial and error over the centuries, that it is hard to get more than this number of men sufficiently familiar with each other so that they can work together as a unit.”[4]
Also, the religious group, the Hutterites, who have lived together in colonies for hundreds of years, have a limit to this day on the size of their colonies. That number is 150. Once they grow past 150 they begin to make plans to start a new colony.[5]
What can we take away from this research that will help our churches grow? I’m convinced that it is God’s will for the church to grow. Healthy organisms grow naturally.
I think the main issue for churches stuck at or below 150 is that the pastor has maxed out his social capacity. God has put limitations on the amount of social information we can manage. Our neo cortex is only so big. So, what’s the answer?
I think the answer is found in Carl George’s illustration of the sheepherder and the rancher. The sheepherder knows all the sheep. He knows their names, their problems, their concerns. He visits them in the hospital. He marries and buries them. He’s the shepherd. Scientific research seems to tell us that the average shepherd maxes out at about 150.
The answer is to become a rancher. A rancher is a shepherd of shepherds. George writes, “You must shift from doing the caring, which usually means you do it yourself, to seeing to it that people get cared for, which means you develop and manage a system of care giving that will include as many of your church’s lay leaders as possible.” Becoming a rancher is tough but it will lead to exponential growth for the Kingdom of God.[6]
God help raise up more shepherds to care for the great people in our church!
[1] Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point : : How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, 1st Back Bay pbk. ed. ed.(Boston: Little Brown, 2002), 178.
[2] Ibid., 179.
[3] Ibid., 180.
[4] Ibid., 181.
[5] Ibid.
[6]Carl F. George and Warren Bird, How to Break Growth Barriers : Capturing Overlooked Opportunities for Church Growth(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1993), 19.
