An audience and an army are two very different groups of people. It is pretty obvious that an audience sits, listens, and doesn't engage. It's not their responsibility or better yet, it's not their duty. An army on the other hand is 180 degrees different than an audience. The differences are many, but it boils down to the army has skin in the game. In other words, they are not kicking the tires, they have bought the car. They are the committed. They have answered the call and they are ready, willing, and able to serve and in the case of a military army, they are willing to fight and die for the cause if need be.
When I talk about an army, I can't help but think of the men and women who serve in all of our United States military branches. Those men and women who have volunteered, put themselves in harms way to provide a place of freedom for those who live in the United States and to help other countries fight for freedom around the world. Those men and women are committed and are a team, a family if you will. They share a common bond.
This metaphor/analogy can be taken and used in many realms of life. Whether it is the church setting, other NPO, or through social media marketing, an army is always, always, always better than an audience. An audience will sit and do much of nothing else with the exception of petrifying or preserving. An army will understand the mission/vision and execute the needed orders to make sure that mission is a one hundred percent success. The army will go to battle and fight until the mission is complete. The audience will listen and go home. That audience can be turned into an army and that should be the goal. Never abandon the audience in search of an army. Learn how to turn that audience into an army and that group will do life together and fight together.
Which group of people would you rather be part of or if you are a leader, which group would you rather lead? I have some bad news. Sometimes an audience is made of, well, an audience because the audience wants to be an audience and the leader wants to be a talking head. An army is an army because the soldiers want to be soldiers and the commander wants to lead an army to make a difference. Make sense?
Ideas on moving an audience to an army:
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Craft A Well Defined Mission/Vision
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Create A Plan To Carry Out That Mission/Vision
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Cast The Reason For The Mission/Vision
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Engage The Audience With A Job And Let Them Do It
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Equip The Audience With The Tools To Become An Army
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Release The Army Into Battle
Much of turning an audience into an army is about giving the audience the opportunity to have skin in the game. It is about the ability to craft a vision, cast that vision, and let the army carry that vision. If you ideas or your vision does not compel people to change, to move forward, and to take new ground, you will always be part of, or be leading an audience.
