I am by no means an expert on Social media and the church. You will not find my name on any book telling you how you can grow your church, or on how you can use Social Media. Yet, like many people, I have come to realize that if we are truly going to live up to the potential God has for us, that we find in Acts 1:8, we need to be willing to try things. Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (NIV)" What I have becoming to realize more and more each day it that being a witness about God to others is not about the "public face" people see when they meet and interact with us. Sure, that is a great witnessing tool, and it warms ours hearts when people tells us that they can see Jesus in us and our lives. Yet, in this day and age, I think, in fact I know at least for me, being a witness for God means so much more than just the Christian me that people see daily. I have discovered some great witnessing tools in the form of text messaging, and even social media sites. That is why I believe that in order to live up to the potential of Acts 1:8, of being witnesses to the very ends of the earth, we may need to rethink how we are going to get there. As a church we cannot discount the potential of very valuable tools as Facebook, Google+, Youtube and other social media outlets. I know that I use those things on almost a daily basis just in everyday life. I feel that if the church is to stay up to date and relevant, we as the church as going to have to use them as well.
This is just my opinion, but I do think it is something that we as church leaders, and even as witnesses for God need to be thinking about. If people look at our Social Media pages do they match our "witness" like that of who we are when they meet us? Or is there a dichotomy between the Christian "us" we show to others in person, and the Social Media "us". If you hesitate to add your minister or church friends to your pages because of what you post, maybe, as a Christian, you need to be thinking twice about what you are posting. Social Media can be a great witnessing tool, but it also has the potential to undermine our witness as well.
I am excited that here at the Center of Hope Corps in San Antonio Texas, where I am the officer/pastor in charge we are gaining a stronger presence in Social Media as a witnessing tool. We have had a Facebook page for about six months, and have recently added a Google+ page. By the end of September we will also be adding podcast of our sermons, and eventually even create our own Youtube channel to upload sermons that way.
Think about how you are using your social media, and is it a witnessing tool for you.
Thanks and God bless
Captain Jennifer
