Social Media is Not a Ministry Imperative

Friends, I’m going to try to thread a difficult needle. I may or may not do it successfully but– here goes: I believe the next step in detoxing from the era of the attractional church model is to critically evaluate what motivates our use and reliance on social media platforms as arms of ministry.

Now, before all of my pro-social media friends begin coming for me, let me preface what I’m about to say with this: I admit it. I am biased. I’m known among my colleagues as being– at best, ambivalent towards social media. I also readily admit that I regularly use various social media platforms to publish and advertise various ministry initiatives, and don’t have any plans to abandon them in a self-righteous huff. Social media is a tool I engage in, and I will concede it has some positive uses.  

Let me also say the irony of my argument is not lost on me. My intention is not to be glib or to come across as ungrateful towards you who support this substack, or our podcast, or Firebrand with your subscriptions. Nor do I mean to devalue what we create through those mediums. The encouragement and kindness of people who share their experiences of listening, and reading is humbling and often helps me keep my motives for continuing in those endeavors centered on Christ and what he says is beneficial to his body. 

However… We all know not everything put on a screen or published in print is equally beneficial. And most of us are also aware of the documented downsides of social media. Despite these pitfalls we in the ministry landscape usually wrestle a bit with the pros and cons of the social media conundrum, but ultimately we don’t tend to see a practical way around the pervasiveness of its use. We may justify our decisions by pointing to the giants of 20th century TV evangelism and try to convince ourselves that we’re following in their footsteps when we livestream our church services, or host online campuses for our churches. I would argue the success of people like Billy Graham and Bishop Fulton Sheen in engaging the then new medium of television was at least in some part due to the fact that they were, first and foremost, actually called by God to be evangelists. That calling became manifest through them, and other evangelists of the time, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Because of God’s anointing and favor they knew just how to communicate the gospel using that medium, and among the people to whom they were called to preach. Billy Graham was quoted, saying of his ministry, “Many people have come to Christ as a result of my participation in presenting the Gospel to them. It’s all the work of the Holy Spirit.”  This has implications for the rest of us who likely built our social media ministry platforms without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and without much forethought beyond the assumption that of course we would use social media because that’s just what we do now. 

But here are some thoughts worth considering: our culture is saturated with visual images, talking heads and media influencers. The comparatively sleepy-media-era of Billy Graham and Bishop Fulton Sheen and the impact they had as they were beamed into the living rooms of Americans is long gone. Ministry leaders who engage social media as part of ministry must accept that we are competing for attention on a global playing field where there are, by the world’s standards, far more compelling and tantalizing options than ours. Following Jesus is a practice in self-sacrifice and self diminishment. We must decrease so he can increase. If pouring time, energy and resources into online ministry doesn’t bear fruit– don’t do it. It’s as simple as that. We may find our energy is more faithfully directed by pouring our love and time into the people in immediate proximity to us, rather than worrying about cultivating the number of online followers we have. 

This brings me back to my (possibly controversial) statement at the beginning of this post. The attractional church model, however well-intentioned it began, inevitably devolved into an endless cycle of assumptive fad-chasing. In a similar way, I think we have treated the inclusion of online ministry as a forgone conclusion as if it is an obvious and necessary fixture of all ministry models today. I don’t think this is true.  Despite my personal ambivalence towards social media I’m not universally opposed to it. I am however opposed to habits of the presumption that unintentionally cut out the process of discerning God’s heart and desire for how ministry is executed in a particular body of believers, especially when it comes to a medium that can so quickly become a vehicle for self-glorification. 

On this point I turn to Paul’s words to the church at Corinth:

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor: 26-31)

God simply does not need us to be well known in order for his will to come to pass. The question about what makes ministry effective will never be about what the world deems culturally relevant. It will always be about whether we are following the instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

May those who are called to evangelize using the mediums and platforms of this age be blessed with wisdom and protection. As for the rest of us: Lord, give us the courage to do only the work you put before us, as you lead.