When people experience God’s working in their lives, they want to tell others – as many as possible and through whatever means are available.
An Example | The Lion King (Daniel 6:25-27)
The following passage takes place after King Darius learns that God delivered Daniel from the lions’ den:
25 Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth:
“May you prosper greatly!
26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.
“For he is the living God
and he endures forever;
his kingdom will not be destroyed,
his dominion will never end.
27 He rescues and he saves;
he performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
Three Principles | Exalt God by Encouraging Others
To whom did King Darius write? All the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth sounds like social media, right?! Our reach today is greater than a king’s back then. Let’s take advantage of that fact.
How did he start? May you prosper greatly! It’s a lot easier to win friends and influence people for Christ when using your social media accounts to build up others (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
What was his focus? The living God endures…rescues…saves…performs signs and wonders… Proclaiming the power of God will do more good in and for this world than ____________ (cute cat videos, advocating for your political viewpoint, cheering on your favorite team, etc.).
As Jonathan Smith states it in his article, Actually, Social Media Really Is Rocket Science,
What has impressed me the most is the passion NASA has to share its message, and it makes me wonder if the church has the same passion about its message? Does the church even know what its message is, and does it know how to effectively use social media to communicate that message? (7)
While we can’t “issue a decree” like King Darius (nor would we want to :-), following are some ideas that can help those who want to truly use social media for Go(o)d.
Two Suggestions | Loving Leadership
Share how the Lord is working in your life. The Psalmist put it like this: “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD” (Psalm 40:3). Share a scripture passage, a YouTube video of a worship song, or a picture from your child’s baptism. Let others hear/see your new song so that your friends and family can see and fear and trust in the Lord.
Invite others to join you at church and church-related events. As events are posted on our church’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, share those on your timeline/feed – but don’t forget to include a personal note that explains why that event is important to you.
Remember, it’s your relationship with the Lord and with those individuals that will help encourage them in their search for faith and/or in their own walk of faith, not just the fact that an event is available. [Also, whenever possible put a call-to-action at the end of a post, especially an Instagram post: e.g., “Link in bio for our service times.”]
Getting Started
Need help getting started? Use this Fall Readiness Toolkit by downloading the images and then creating your own posts with calls to action:
Click through on the following screenshots (used with permission) to see some good examples of these types of posts from some of our Faith Church family members:
