From Social Media to Social Ministryናሙና

The mission of The Church as defined by Jesus is found in Matthew 28:19-20. It says, “Now therefore stand and wait for people to come to your building, then give them a great sermon to hold them over until next Sunday.” I’m sorry, what? What is that you say? That’s not what your Bible says? Oh, you must have an old translation. The new translations say that pretty clearly. At least they must since that seems to be the way “church” is done nowadays. A healthy percentage of the budgets of every church is assigned to producing and improving weekend services. But there’s one problem—well, actually, 360,000 problems.

Every year more than 360,000 people search Google for “church online.” That’s 30,000 people per month. If we just broke that down evenly across four Sundays, that’s 7,500 people every week. How many seats would you have in your building if another 7,500 people decided to show up on Sunday? How well staffed is your pastoral team to care for the needs of another 30,000 people every month? These questions matter because, all jokes aside, Matthew 28:19 doesn’t say, “stand and wait for people to come to the building;” it says, “go and make disciples of all nations.” If 30,000 people are actively searching for Jesus online every month, how many more need Him, but aren’t looking? 

There are four key directives in Matthew 28:19-20 that define biblical discipleship: Go. Make Disciples. Teach. All Nations.

Go

Many church leaders evaluate their effectiveness in ministry by how many people “come” to their building for weekend services. Social ministry understands there is a harvest field of people on social media who will never step foot in your building.  Still, they are as in need of Jesus as the people you see there every Sunday. When your heart burns as passionately for the souls of people you will never sit in a pew as it does for people in your local community, you will have understood the meaning of “go” in the spirit Jesus commanded it.

Make Disciples

The Bible tells us to “make disciples,” but what does that mean? The word discipline is derived from the word disciple. Discipleship is the process of having a more mature, disciplined person come alongside a less experienced, less disciplined person to help them succeed. While it’s a word we primarily use in the church, it’s applicable across sectors. In fitness, discipleship happens by having a personal trainer put their client through a specially-designed workout that helps them lose weight and build muscle. Trainers also consult on nutrition to ensure their client gets the most out of the workouts. What makes a personal trainer so effective is not just the workouts; rather, it’s being a consistent presence and accountability partner to their client—a person who would much rather be at home eating chips and drinking soda than being at the gym.

Teach

Discipleship isn’t what happens when you toss content at people. Discipleship is what happens when you teach people to apply the content in a way that changes their lives. I’m not an educator by training, but I have many friends who are and one of the things they often say is you can’t learn by osmosis. In other words, putting information into the atmosphere doesn’t make it get absorbed and understood. Teaching happens when you come alongside others, assess their mode of learning, and meet them where they are with the information they need in the way they receive it best. Teaching is more than sharing content; it’s fostering understanding.

All Nations

Before October 2018, I had never gone on an international mission trip. Yet, through the work I’ve done to equip churches to build online communities in Africa, Germany, Australia, Asia, South America, and the UK, I realized I was doing missions work without ever leaving the United States. In this way, the ministry God allowed me to have was reaching people around the world digitally. And this is what we have been called to do. There are 2.3 billion Christians in a world of 8 billion people, so the math clearly shows that the nations still need Jesus.

How can you use your social presence as a lever to fulfill the Great Commission?