1. Effective Evangelism, Everyone Is There.
Now as Christians, we know that the path that leads to righteousness is not always going to be wide and free with easy access, in fact the bible says quite the opposite. However, when sharing the gospel, as commanded to, we are commissioned to GO to where the people are. Jesus was a great example – He was always found among the masses and the mixed multitude preaching the message. Paul picked up this mandate as he also went around; becoming all things to all people that he might reach a few.
The love and death of Jesus was for the WHOLE world (John 3:16), not just the Christians or those who visit church on a Sunday. If we are to be the light of the world, then ultimately we have to go out to the dark places that our light may shine bright. Social media is the number 1 evangelism tool and most effective means reported in our time (46.1% of churches) outperforming the traditional knocking doors (24.7%), newspaper ads (14.3%), radio (9.1%) and TV (5.8%). (Source: Buzzplant)
Everyone is on Social Media, well about 58% of the world’s population is on one form of Social Media or the other and much more than that online, so why wouldn’t your ministry be there?
2. It’s Quick, Easy & Instant
Getting online today is easy peasy. It takes less than 5 minutes to create a social media account. No longer do you have to wait for a web designer to get a presence online. It’s easy enough for you to create one with the WYSIWYG sites like Weebly and Wix. Better still many of these tools are free and will only cost you your time.
This is reflective of the day and age in which we live in. Technology is king (with a small k) and the next generation (well more than that) are active and vibrant there.
Let’s not forget that the majority of people have a mobile device and more and more people are engaging via their mobile device as opposed to their desktop; this makes it easy for you to get online and for other people to find you.
So if you don’t have an online presence and moreso one or two social media platforms, you might have missed a trick or two. Don’t be left behind, we are not called to share the gospel to one or two, or to small conforming groups but the opposite.
3. People Are Looking For Your Ministry There.
After moving to a new area, I found that the distance to the church I had been attending was too far for me to travel with two little children. I persevered for a few weeks, driving about 20 miles to get to church, but the children got agitated, I got frustrated and in as much as church was a warm and welcoming environment, things didn’t work out because we’d get to church stressed and return home stressed. It was time for a new church, and the first place I took to was the internet (well Google to be precise). I found my present church there along with many other churches that I visited.
This means that any church that wasn’t online wasn’t going to have me as a member. This was about 12 years ago now, and having a presence online has become even more important. Back then, my church didn’t have a website (Ministers Desk has since sorted that out), but was part of an online directory of churches identified and searchable by postcode.
Not only do potential church members look for churches, and ministries online, but they also conduct reviews via this media platform. What are people saying about the church? What is the vision and goal of the church? And so on and so on…. The same is true of gospel ministers and other Christian ministries. If you’re my friend and you’re launching your album, I might just buy a copy to support you and that’s it…but how can I encourage my friend to buy your album and help you achieve substantial organic reach? If you’re not on at least one of the social media platforms you have seriously limited your reach.
4. It’s A Great Way To Be Social
Yep! You read that right. It’s a good way to interact, to connect and engage with family, friends and fans. Some churches have multiple services which makes fellowship after church difficult. Some ministers are in high demand, or have a tiring itinerary and therefore unable to engage with the people after ministration. An online presence breaks down those walls and makes it easier to relate with other people whilst strengthening new and existing friendships. It provides “instant” access to people you would have struggled to reach in the past and even gives you access to your friend’s friend which helps you expand your reach (especially when they share).
5. Increases Your Reach And Saves You Time
Our first point touched briefly on the increased and organic reach of having an online presence. When managed effectively that reach can be exponential, if you are creative with your content and the platforms utilised to share the message. Not only can people help by sharing content and by starting the viral engine, but instant and live platforms (Periscope, YouTube & Facebook Live) brings the reality of your ministry to the forefront of people’s homes and literally in their hands which means that the people can choose how and when to interact/respond, be it in real time (benefits of instant interaction) or at an elongated timeframe (at their choosing). You save time not only by outsourcing this function to an organisation that can repurpose your content and blast across the virtual hemisphere, but there are powerful automation tools that make the job easier by promoting and distributing that content even whilst you sleep.
Let’s not forget that all people then have a recourse for review, retention and reflection with the ability to visit your content over and over again at their leisure, and if done correctly share the message across the world with people from all walks of life.
Technology means that people are no longer tied to a desk to engage with your content, but can easily do so with their mobile devices and apps. Effective management puts you ahead of the “game”, ensuring that you understand the latest social online meet up and where the digital immigrants are and the digital natives are likely to be.
