Like it, love it, or hate it social media has become a way of life in 21st century society. Current estimates report that over 500 million people use Twitter and well over 1 billion use Facebook. That’s not to count the many others that exist, many of which have users numbering into the millions. Some are casual users, while for some it is practically a way of life.
You probably find yourself somewhere in between. You find yourself logging on multiple times a day but only for a few minutes at a time. You keep check on close friends, classmates, coworkers, and particularly family. At times you share some things you’re doing, post a picture or two, and keep up with some particular interests you have. But that’s about it. Social media is often limited to casual socializing and little more; but it has so much more potential.
With the advent of social media has come our ability to, unlike ever before, promote a message to untold numbers of people all at once. We’re able to put things in front of people’s eyes in a way that is inconvenient for them to avoid. Social media is a tool we can use to promote the message of the gospel and help in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19).
But you may ask “How?” How can we take a toy like social media and use it as a tool to accomplish the purpose of God? I have a few suggestions that I’d like to make and I hope that at the bottom you will comment and make some suggestions of your own.
- Use social media to share inspirational or instructive scripture based thoughts. Some are more talented with this than others because this demands some brevity (not one of my strong suits). The key is to write something that is meaningful but short. Anything too long and your friends/followers will scroll right past it. But the beautiful thing about this possibility is that even if you are not particularly talented in thinking up your own you can post thoughts you’ve read elsewhere (giving proper credit, of course) or share the thoughts that others have posted.
- Post links to particular articles, videos, podcasts, or websites that you find helpful or encouraging. It is not uncommon for me to read 5-10 blog posts or be directed to many different websites every day just by following the links I see in social media. A key to encouraging folks to actually take the time to follow the link you post is by including a good lead-in statement explaining what is contained in the article or on the website. If a person isn’t drawn in by the lead-in statement they are not likely to follow the link or read the article, regardless of how well it may be written.
- Create group pages for your congregation or based on particular interests where you can share more direct information. A congregation’s social media pages are not just a way to get information directly to members, but it is a way to gauge particular interest from folks in your community. If people not affiliated with your congregation (or with the church in general) go to the effort to join your page or follow your feed there is an interest there that can be nurtured. Group pages designed around a particular interest can help in spreading a more pointed message. While some are designed more particularly with Christians in mind, this is something that can be and is being used to widen an audience of non-Christians as well. Remember that joining or following your page equals interest, but use it well.
- Share church events and post regular reminders leading up to the scheduled date. Facebook is probably better designed for this than most because it gives you the ability to create event pages. Every major event we have at Phillips Street gets an events page that allows me to invite particular people that I know live in our area (or anybody in the world through our live stream). Design these pages well with pictures/graphics and re-share the page every few days leading up to the event to provide regular reminders of what’s coming up. It’s a free way to get your information into far more homes than you’ve ever been able to before.
- Use social media to share positive news about the church. Are there negative things going on among Christians? Far more than there should be. But there is no need to air that dirty laundry among non-Christians en masse. There is a time and a place to discuss problems that need to be resolved but plastering it all over social media is not it. There is enough negativity in the world pertaining to the church. We need to be using social media as a platform to promote what is right with the church and Christianity to leave the best impression on people as we possibly can.
- Offer reminders about regular meeting times at your local congregation. I’m not as consistent with this as I need to be but every Sunday and Wednesday about an hour before any service I try to post a reminder about our Bible class/worship service that is coming up and offer an invitation. With ours I try to also post a link to our live-stream and find that on the days I do our number of viewers is up. We are obviously not interested in encouraging people to only join us by viewing online (we specify that it is intended for those shut-in, sick, or who otherwise cannot worship in person with a local congregation), but we also recognize that our online broadcast can serve as a portal to non-Christians hesitant of visiting with a new church without knowing what a typical service is like. These reminders can help them build interest to maybe move them from sitting in from of the computer to sitting in a pew.
I’m not going to pretend that these six suggestions even touch the hem of the garment of the possibilities social media offers in promoting Christianity in our world, but they are a good start for anybody wanting to jump in right now. Above all, in social media as in any other area of life just try to be a Christian in everything you write, post, and share. That will go a long way itself in helping to promote the greatest cause on earth – New Testament Christianity.
-Andy Brewer
QUESTION: What other ways do you or your congregation use social media to get the gospel message out into the world?
Good thoughts! I wrote this article for Alive with Christ, kind of fits what you are talking about here. http://alivewithchrist.com/cybersaints/