Welcome back to my Weekly Digest series. Last week I shared one article and gave some suggestions about how we should respond. This week, I’ve got three pieces of content for you.
4 Social Media Shifts The Church Should Know About
Austin Gravely and Ian Harber
I read this article from Baptist Press a couple weeks ago and I've been tossing it around in my mind ever since. All four shifts mentioned are important, but I'll only focus on one for now: an idea Austin Gravely calls "the influencer evangelist."
Most people will see a church’s online presence the same way they see brands. They aren’t personal. They are self-serving, focusing primarily on pushing out church events and information, not helping or engaging the social media consumer. People are going to look for and care about your church online less and less. They don’t go to the internet to find a brand; they go to the internet to find a person.
While Christians should reject the celebrity aspect of “influencer,” they may do well to embrace the personal aspect. The truth is that the internet is a mission field, and we need digital missionaries who create content for specific niches to reach people with the Gospel.
Think about your social media feeds. I'm sure they're full of "influencers" that you feel like you know, right? Maybe some of them are believers that proudly make their faith part of what they do, and maybe not. Now think about the potential of discipling those influencers so that they use their platforms to build Christ's Kingdom here on earth. Think about what could happen if we discipled people in our local churches to do something similar, albeit on a much smaller scale, in the various online communities they're a part of, the same way we teach them to disciple others where they live and work...
I've already started working on the first edition of my Essays series, in which I'm going to explore this topic more. You'll be able to read it right here when it's published.
Why Are You Speaking?
This is where I recommend another Substack publication called Theofuturism. It's published by Pr0ph3t, who writes in a truly unique fashion. This week, he experimented with a different post format, but what he had to say was important. I'm linking to the podcast episode, found here on Substack, so what I'm sharing will be a paraphrase.
Anyone can share opinions, but few people have actual thoughts. Firing off an opinion on social media or in your newsletter or podcast is easy. Presenting something you've ruminated on enough to determine what you really think is much more difficult.
I find this especially helpful as someone just starting to publish what I think in a way that honors Christ. Do I really think what I'm sending you each week or is it only an opinion I feel the necessity to share just for the sake of saying I published something? Pr0ph3t's insight applies to everyone, even if you don't publish a newsletter. It's basically the principle James teaches: "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." (James 1:19)
7 Hard Steps Reformed Evangelicals Must Take To Win In 2023
Jared Longshore
I struggle with the title of this essay because it applies to Christians, period... Nonetheless, here are the parts of Jared's argument I find most pressing.
If you want the evil to go away, then you have to get to fixing things. You have to restore the damage. You can’t just renounce it, abhor it, complain about it, whine about it, get all poutsy poutsy, and tee up another doctrinal watchdog YouTube clip.
One of the main reasons that we have not done the word is because it is flat terrifying to do so. We sanitize the story in our dream world. “By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing wither he went” (Hebrews 11:8).
“Amen,” we say. Amen huh?
Us: Here am I send me, Lord!
The LORD: OK, go.
Us: Go where?
The LORD: That way.
Us: Anything else?
The LORD: No.
Us: But where am I going, LORD?
The LORD: I told you. That way.
Us: And LORD, where might I end up?
The LORD: Reread Hebrews 11:8.
The truth is that the knowledge we so often seek only comes after we have got on with obeying Christ… If you will get on with obeying Jesus, then you will get the flow of things. But feeling the rhythm (and feeling the rhyme for that matter) comes after you’ve stepped out in the direction God said to go, after you’ve enfleshed the word.
What is it the Lord is calling you to do? It's probably a little scary. I'm sure Abraham was scared, too. But he did it anyway. Once you start stepping out in faith, God will give you more information.
ChatBLG
If you made it this far, I hope you found this helpful.
This week I introduced ChatBLG, an opportunity for weekly discussion about the ideas I'm writing. My goal is to create community around what I'm doing here, and the first one went a little better than I anticipated.
Along these lines, I've turned off the commenting and likes features of my posts. In their place, I welcome participation in the discussion threads or submitting "letters to the editor" by emailing me here anytime.
Thanks for reading. See you next week!