A friend of mine sent me an automated message this past weekend. It invited me to become one of his “connections” on a networking website.

I had registered on the site a year or more ago at the invitation of a guy in the last city I lived in. But I didn’t give it much thought or attention at the time. However, when the recent invitation came I decided to “connect” again.

The LinkedIn website is based on the concept of 6 degrees of separation. According to a Wikipedia, this small world idea was first floated in 1929 by a Hungarian named Frigyes Karinthy. Since then mathematicians and sociologists have conducted numerous experiments in network theory, including whether any two people on the planet could be connected through six relationships.

Truly, when I looked at how many people I’m linked to through my 6 measly LinkedIn connections, I’m blown away by the potential for influence we each have. That is one of the reasons that I think it is so tragic to hear about churches with hundreds of people who have quit growing.

Don’t they think about all the people they potentially connect to?