It’s great to be back writing a blog post again for the first time in almost a year and a half. Sorry that I let life and ministry crowd out this ministry. I have updated the photos and a couple of the sections on this blog. Hopefully, I can do a better job with updates and connecting with people in this way. Thanks for reading! Now on to the blog post…
“To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22, NASB95)
This verse came to my mind this morning as I looked at the stats for our Lakeside Facebook page. The Lord never changes. The gospel never changes. The faith once delivered to the saints never changes. The Word of God never changes. However, the means by which we deliver the gospel and the Word of God changes constantly. In reading a biography of Martin Luther this week, I learned it was the invention of the printing press that helped pave the way for so many to return to Biblical truth during the Protestant Reformation. I am typing this post on my MacBook Pro and pasted the scripture quotation from Logos Bible Software. The means change. In 1 Corinthians 9:22, the Apostle Paul clearly states that we should use all means available to us in order to reach more people. Keeping up with the times isn’t bad if you are keeping up with the times in order to reach people for Christ.
Social media arose in earnest only about ten years ago – coinciding with the rise of smart phones in every purse and pocket. In a few short years, social media became far more than just a neat way to keep up with old high school friends and post pictures of the kids. As more and more people engaged on social media, it became where people connected and a powerful force in the world. If you want to go where people are, then you have to go to social media.
This fact brings me to our upcoming Easter services at Lakeside. For years, Lakeside has joined many other churches in spending big bucks to mail out a card to our neighbors inviting them to our Easter services. This year, we learned an interesting fact: there are 400,000+ people on Facebook who live within a 10-mile radius of our church facilities. Take a moment and think about the incredible implications of that fact alone. So, we decided to try leveraging the power of social media to get the word out.
A few days ago, we rolled out a Facebook video ad that simply gives the times of our Easter services and points them to our church website where we have more details. As of this morning, that ad has reached 35,250 people and the video has been viewed 4532 times already. Oh, I forgot to tell you: the overwhelming majority of those people are within that pool of 400,000+ who live around our church.
We tried another experiment this week. I shot the first of three short video devotional messages promoting our Easter services and we posted the video to our church Facebook page. This video was posted yesterday morning – 23 hours ago. As of this writing, that video has been viewed 740 times. As a pastor, I have connected with 740 people in a personal way, and it cost no money and only a few minutes of time. As a pastor who is old enough to remember pastors and evangelists encouraging people to “buy the tapes” and having done that myself, I am amazed at the possibilities that are available with social media.
Yes, I know the problems of social media. I know the negative impacts it has and the inherent issues with it. However, social media isn’t going away. It’s where people are. I am praying that the Lord will help me use it in order to reach more people. It’s a tool. It’s a means.
Finally, I don’t know if we will have a single new guest at our Easter services due to this social media strategy. I am praying that we have many. Speaking of praying, social media is no substitute for prayer. I am still going to invite people personally. I am still going to believe that the Lord is going to send us people we have never met before and who haven’t been touched by our social media. At the end of the day, I am leveraging the power of social media, but I am totally depending on the power of the Holy Spirit.
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