From Social Media to Social Ministryনমুনা

If you polled a group of 50 pastors and asked them if they did “church online,” the majority would say yes . . . if they stream their service online. But, when did the definition of Church become a building-centric, Sunday morning, 90-minute production? I believe in one unchanging gospel, and I also believe that advances in communication tools provide evolving methods to share it. Why, then, has our universal approach to “Church” become so stuck in one mold? Even when new technology provides the tools to break the mold, we just reshape the mold on a digital platform? 

What if, instead of using social media to tell people about an upcoming program at a local church we viewed social media as the digital mission-field through which we could build God's Kingdom? What if, instead of sharing scriptures as selfies and enjoying people's compliments about our hairstyle, we engaged people in thoughtful conversations about how the Word of God has answers to the problems they face on a daily basis? It used to be that pastoring was a vocation that required a seminary degree and a street address at which people gathered to hear you preach. But, today, pastoring is what we all do when we give our social followers something to react to.

Have you thought of yourself as a digital pastor? Probably not, but the degree to which anyone reacts to what we say is the degree to which we are pastoring (i.e. leading, guiding, discipling) them. This verse reminds us that we are to sharpen one another; we are to make each other better. The sharpening process is not passive. Knives do not get sharpened on accident or by magic. It happens with intention, on purpose. So, when you go out into the digital mission field today, lead the people God has entrusted to your care to the cross through love, patience, wisdom, kindness, long-suffering, and peaceableness. As tempting as it is to get into fights and debates, resist the urge to do so because you have a higher calling.

You are being called from social media to social ministry.