Social Media & The Church

Yesterday’s front page of the Dallas Morning News had a great article about the Church and social media. And whether it’s Facebook or Twitter or blogs, we are definitely trying at Prestonwood and PowerPoint Ministries to reach people where they are.

But let me make this clear, social media will never replace our face-to-evangelism, our servant evangelism. We will forever be the hands and feet of God, serving in our communities and the mission fields.

Still, our mission at Prestonwood is “to glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ as Lord to as many people as possible and to develop them in Christian living using the most effective means to impact the world, making a positive difference in this generation.” And right now, social media provides us that opportunity with the majority of the country and much of the world now plugged in. We are truly left behind as the Church, if we don’t go where the people are for the sake of the Kingdom.

More than 500 million people are on Facebook, and the story notes that 47 percent of churches now use Facebook. So, just as Jesus went to the people, we are using whatever means possible to take the Gospel to our community and the world.

Now, I don’t know how many churches use Twitter, but I know it took me awhile to accept the whole idea of it because it seemed a bit self-absorbing to me. But I realized what a great tool it can be and now that I’m aboard, I want to develop it in way to reach people whether through Prestonwood or PowerPoint.

So I use personal quotes or well-known quotes that will lift a person’s day or encourage them. I may use it as a prayer request or to give a heads up on what I’m going to be preaching on Sunday or to invite people to come to church or to pray for our services. When I’m going to be at a speaking engagement, I’ll encourage those in that city to come and those here in our church to pray for us.

Twitter makes for great water cooler conversation. It gave me a chance to talk about my beloved Texas Rangers during our run to the World Series. And I can keep up with my friends and what’s on their mind and what God is saying to them in their quiet time.

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