Evangelism Through Social Media.

     

                            

 EVANGELISM THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA.

Benson Omole Min.

1. INTRODUCTION.

HOW HAS SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACTED EVANGELISM?

Evangelism is the system of proclaiming, and sharing the good news of God's love for humanity and inviting others to accept the gospel faith and believe in Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection. 1Cor. 15:1-4; Rom 5:2; Galatians 1:11; Ro 1:16; 1Co 1:21.

How many times have you heard the comment, “There are two sides to every coin”?  That would be a good way to define how social media has impacted evangelism.

Social media are interactive technologies that allow the creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. (Wikipedia) They are websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

Social media is a computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and information through the building of virtual networks and communities. By design, social media is Internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content.

It is one of the fastest ways to get the gospel of grace to people and on a larger scale. Within moments you can declare to the whole world, “Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead.”

We are now in a World were social media plays a vast role in the field of communication. We were given this opportunity to widen the scope of churches and mission agencies in the field of evangelism and discipleship. It has a rich potential in reaching out both members and non-members of the church. With the use of these tools, audiences cannot just read, listen and watch, they have the opportunity to interact and discuss topics with each other. There are lots of testimonies from people all around the world on the great benefits of sharing the gospel online. Everyone can be a part of this global change by doing their part. Let us be motivated in sharing the good news of salvation. Isa. 52:10; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38-39; Romans 10:18; Col. 1:23

The message of the New Testament is commanded to be preached to every creature, under heaven. Reading the Scripture, you will see the distinct expression that believers must tell people the best news they could ever hear. That is one reason the emphasis in the New Testament is on message to the people, and not on any method. It is as though God is saying, “Look! Just get the word out. Tell anybody and everybody through any means you can, that I have paid the price of their sin through my death and resurrection. Through personal trust in Me to save them, they can live forever in my presence.”

What faster way to do that than through social media? The same time you are sharing the message with the neighbour next door, you can be shouting the message to a person halfway around the world.

2. EVANGELISM THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA: ADVANTAGES.

CONFIDENCE.

One of the advantages is that for the believer, evangelizing through social media can be less intimidating. I do not necessarily see the frown on your face if you dislike what I am sharing. The fear of rejection lessens because even if the recipient of my message presses “delete” I have not personally felt the impact of that. Since fear of rejection is one of the biggest fears we face in evangelism, through social media I can tell people what I find more difficult to share one on one.

VISUAL OPTIONS

Still another advantage is the way you can add images, videos, diagrams to your presentation of the gospel. Since we are often talking to a very visual generation, that has all kinds of pluses.

BOUNTIFUL OPPORTUNITIES

In this pandemic period of COVID-19, opportunities are flourishing, through the social media to share the gospel in the midst of the difficult times we find ourselves in today. While we all need to heed social distancing guidelines, the digital realm opens for us a whole new world of opportunities to reach friends, co-workers, and loved ones with the only gospel that saves. The opportunities are limitless, and bountiful. 2Tim. 4:2-5.

EXPANSIVE REACH

The wider range and extent of the social media is almost limitless, and extensive.

One could reach the whole wide world at a time!

 

3. EVANGELISM THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA: DISADVANTAGES.

DISTANCED COMMUNICATION

However, social media has some drawbacks in relation to sharing your faith as well. For some, it can become an excuse for not talking to people. We too quickly say, “Well I said something on Facebook, Twitter, or through another channel.” Although that is well and good, there are times God wants us to ask Him for the boldness to clearly talk to a non-Christian about his salvation face to face (even if it is via a Zoom call). Social media should be an extension of our witness, not an excuse for avoiding preaching in a personal conversation, and interaction.

INTERACTION CUES.

A second disadvantage is when unbelievers object to the gospel, they may not be telling you their real problem. Instead, they are expressing something that is a cover up for their real problem.  We can discern this by interacting with them physically, watching their facial expressions, observing their emotions, and asking them questions. Social media has its limitations when it comes to listening and seeing how people respond in a way that allows you to address their real concerns and needs. Non-verbal cues are good tools to identify the thoughts of the mind of Man.

FOLLOW-UP

A third disadvantage is in follow-up. Dawson Trotman, founder of the “Navigators” once said, “Follow-up is not done by something, it is done by Someone.” He could not have said it any better. There is no greater way to follow-up with a new Prospect than by meeting on face-to-face, hopefully to help him get started in his Christian growth. It allows him to share questions, express feelings and see or hear the caring response expressed through your demeanour. Paul (in 1Thessalonians chapter 2) talks about caring for his new converts the way a Nursing Mother takes care of her Baby and a Father takes care of his Son. Social media does not allow you to do that, the way your presence would.

Evangelizing through social media does have two sides. Should it be used? Most definitely. But recognize its advantages and disadvantages and make any adjustments to empower it to be as effective as possible.

4.  EVANGELISM THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA: PERSONAL ADVICE

1. BE FOCUSED, AND RELATABLE.

Ask yourself: Is what I’m sharing relatable to nonbelievers? Note that every post needs to point to the gospel faith, and the practice of the faith, but think seriously about the message you are telling.

Social media is powerful. Some journalists recently lost their jobs because of their reckless use of words on social media. I have watched Church leaders bring pain to people by posting their opinions on social media—not understanding the weight of the conversation they entered or the hashtag they used.

As believers, we are called to be a light. It is so important that we think before we post. Don’t lose Christian values over a hashtag or a flippant tweet. Ask yourself, “Is this for the good of others, or am I just venting?” Delete the vent, but post the goodnews of salvation of souls.

I encourage all of us to use social media as a tool to share our faith. Be relatable. Share the Bible faith. Think before you post—because someone is always listening, waiting to be saved!

2. POST THE PAINS ALSO.

Don’t be afraid to share those “less-than-perfect” moments of life, especially the ones when you personally need God to show up.

Christians suffer. Nonbelievers suffer. Pain and sufferings are a universal experience. Do not project Christianity as a problem-free experience.

A few weeks ago, I was diagnosed for Malaria, and I headed to the hospital. I shared my pain and asked for prayers. At 3 a.m., the fever became very serious. Then, what I thought would be a few-days recovery, turned into weeks, with multiple posts saying things still aren’t working as anticipated.

When we shared updates on social media, both our Christian and non-Christian friends reached out, letting us know we were in their thoughts and prayers. And when we shared the good news that we are well, and healed, both our Christian and non-Christian friends celebrated with us. When we do this, we build up concerned community of friends and families.

Be humble and human. Share the “less-than-perfect” moments of life. Our weaknesses are the perfect platform for God’s strength. Share those stories!

3. REMEMBER THAT SOMEONE IS ALWAYS LISTENING.

The apostle Paul wrote, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ —but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others” (1Corinthians 10:23-24).

Yes, we have the right to vent our emotions on social media. But is that beneficial?

Yes, we can post criticisms and opinions on some Biblical believes, but are these things, constructive, and beneficial to the younger minds in the faith of Christ?

5. EVANGELISM THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA: STRUCTURED WEBSITE

The first and most effective way in using social media as a means of evangelism and witnessing is by creating a website. A structured website should have all other networking tools linked such as YouTube, Blogs, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and other tools you may find useful. You can also make your own evangelizing videos and post it on your site and update it consequently to educate your audience about the Gospel. This will draw and get their attention to be more interested in the messages you are sharing and to make them look forward for the next post.

As one of the most updated channels in the world of social media, it can be an effective tool in evangelizing people outside of the church especially those who are living in countries where the practice of Christianity is forbidden. This strategy is called “Out-reach Evangelism.”

YOUTUBE.

Churches and Mission Agencies can materialize social media in sharing new and fresh messages from well-known preachers to your local churches. You can have this viewed before or after the service. This is called “In-reach Evangelism”. You can do this by having videos presented through YouTube.

PERSONAL WITNESSING.

Another networking tool I found relevant is the use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram page, etc. wherein one can share gospel messages, status post, church/event update and even videos containing Godly messages. This is an effective way in conveying messages knowing that almost everyone can be drawn to these networking sites.

CAN WE USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR EVANGELISM?

The church is struggling to adjust to its new environment in the technological advances of the twenty-first century—we are no longer even in a postmodern age but something indescribably beyond even that. Along with all other large institutions the church seems to be losing its hold and authority. Into this we can insert the charge to all Christians, and particularly to the Church leaders, to ‘proclaim the gospel afresh in each generation.’

I am what might be described as an ‘early adopter’; I embraced with enthusiasm social media in all its forms when it emerged in the middle of the last decade. I have also always had a passion for evangelism and for finding new ways to share the faith that I hold so dear. This study seeks to understand something of the world in which we now live, where connection to the internet is seen by some to be a human right, and where it is an integral part of a lot of people’s lives and how this connects to our calling as Christians to become involved in the mission of God, in the world.

This is an important task. Because of the fast pace of change, we must be careful not to sleepwalk into a new paradigm without taking the time to reflect theologically.

Brother Bryony goes on to explore the range of responses to the rise of the internet, from those who treat it with suspicion to those who embrace it as the answer to the challenge of evangelism. But he also helpfully explores how our understanding of mission and evangelism has been changing over the last one hundred years, which has an equally important bearing on what we think we are doing online.

The great mission movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were birthed in the modern age and used techniques predicated on a modernist worldview. Many of these techniques have been imported into present times, particularly to younger people, like square pegs in round holes. We are moving from propositional evangelism, where a series of proofs are provided as to the truth claims of Christianity, to a more demonstrative evangelism where the gospel is revealed through the lives of Christians. Thomas Hawkins describes our age as ‘prefigurative,’ that is, that people are more willing than previously to live with unanswered questions. I believe that this is becoming true for both the evangelist and those with whom the gospel is shared. Brother Gallagher calls evangelization a process of ‘double conversion’ where the evangelist is changed by the encounter as well as the evangelized, something that will be interesting to explore. 

But beyond the ‘Damascus’ and the ‘Emmaus’ paradigms, Bryony notices a change in online use which is built more around relationships and friendship, leading to an ‘Athens’ kind of personal engagement.

We have seen in recent years an emphasis on friendship and on networks (or community) in approaches to evangelism. In one of the earliest books on the internet and evangelism, Careaga states, ‘Electronic evangelism is friendship evangelism via the internet. This was written way before the likes of Facebook, which take the concept even further. We are now networked with thousands of people like never before. I have friends that I only know through online interactions who are affected by what I share online. According to internet tool ‘Tweet Reach,’ I can reach 34,877 people with one tweet (given that I have 3,086 followers). Compare this with the numbers I might reach through an average Sunday service in a church! This kind of reach in networking was unimaginable even just ten years ago.

Bryony then offers the results of her own research, exploring how people talked about faith within the three paradigms of ‘Damascus’ (looking for conversion), ‘Emmaus’ (looking for a journey of realisation) and ‘Athens’ (looking for engagement in friendship). From this she then notes some key advantages that the online environment offers which we do not find elsewhere:

1. PRIVACY. It is significant that nearly half of the approaches made were via private one-to-one messaging. This reveals that people find it easy and more comfortable to ask questions about faith in a private space online. This is possibly the online equivalent of Nicodemus visiting Jesus ‘by night’ (John 3.2). People on social media are directly contactable in a way that has not previously been so easy; paradoxically there is a distance offered by the online environment akin to the screen in a confessional box. As a result, in a social media private message, proximity and distance are offered at the same time.

2. TRUST. Many of the respondents referred to the fact that trust had already built up through a prior relationship before the approach was made. Few responses were out of the blue; most described a connection with someone they knew already. Asking a question about faith requires a level of trust in the relationship. The questioner needs to feel as if their question will be respected and answered graciously. Many survey respondents (especially in the Emmaus and Athens groups) were keen to share their faith in the mix of other things online, and this built up trust amongst their friends.

3. AVAILABILITY. Connected to the themes of privacy and trust is availability. Many responded that they received the approach because everyone knew they were a Christian and they were easily accessible online. This reveals the importance of making it clear one is a Christian online; we must not hide our light under a bushel! (Matt 5.15). The online environment has made us more available and accessible than ever. People are now very likely to search not only Google for answers but search for a person that can answer their question. If they can find someone they know and trust then all the better! This raises the question of how available Christians should be to their friends on social media. What do we do about people who are not on social media? How easy is it for them to ask for help?

CONCLUSSION

The growth of the internet reminds me of Matthew 24:14 which says, “The good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.”

We are living in the last days. I am certain of this because the message of the Gospel is spreading like wildfire to every corner of the globe, especially through the social media. If there were ever a time to really get serious about telling people about Jesus, now is it. Now is the time! One public post on Facebook about Jesus and what He has done in your life can reach hundreds, thousands or even millions. Truly, the possibilities are endless!

Our mission today, is to encourage the Brethren who may not be confident about sharing Jesus with someone face-to-face, that they may try it online? There are huge opportunities whether you’re part of events like the Digital Evangelism or not. From Skypleship to Chat Ministry, there’s so much that you can be a part of to start sharing your faith with unbelievers. Even the resources are endless with apps like “yesHEis” that allow you to share Jesus online with just the tap of a button. It doesn’t get any easier than this! The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are offline. But for us, as a church, there are no more excuses. What about you? How can you start filling that gap and need, today?