It’s easy to reach everyone now. If you have enough money, you can advertise to everybody. Take the latest attempt at this with the He Gets Us campaign. Massive amount of exposure with a massive budget. Super Bowl ads, billboards, big social media campaigns, and more. I’m not saying this is bad, it’s tough to put a price on a saved soul, but I am wondering if this is the right direction for Christian evangelism or outreach.
Admittedly I am biased. I was raised in the tradition of Young Life, an incarnational ministry with a focus on relationships and going where kids are. I continue to work for this ministry that has had a huge impact on my life and care deeply for the kids in my town.
But as we continue to “go where kids are at”, we need to reckon with the fact that kids are now spending more and more time in their digital spaces. This doesn’t mean that they don’t do things in person, but it does mean that they see less and less of a distinction between online and offline (to use some crude words GenZ would never use). To them, it’s all life.
This is tough for us Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers. Growing up without social media at some point in our lives has left us with a distinct feeling of our “real” life and our “online” life. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or even texting, we would like to separate these things from what we deem as real-world interactions.
Gen Z (and most likely future generations) on the other hand just don’t see any distinction. This brings some unique flavor to youth culture that if we aren’t careful, we will miss.
So what does this mean for ministry?
Two Options
One option is that we can be angry, frustrated, or even afraid. And frankly, I understand all of these emotions when it comes to social media. We see the potential and often very real, damage that social media is causing. Division, lack of attention, jumping from issue to issue, not to mention pornography, drug and alcohol glorification, and even sex trafficking make it tough to look at this medium of communication and say “Yay God!”
Option two is that we see this for what it actually is, a tool that can be used by anyone for anything. My friend Nick once told me that social media isn’t a dark place, there really aren’t very many of those, but it is a neutral place with dark people using it. So why on earth wouldn’t we do our best to use this as a tool to bring the Kingdom down to earth?
Music comes to mind as an apt metaphor. Music can be bad, really bad lately, but what I mean is that music can have a negative impact on people listening. Whether it’s the lyrics glorifying sinful behavior or musicians inviting us into a culture of destruction in some form or another, it can be damaging. There are plenty of well-meaning Christians who have decided to abandon all but the oldest hymns in an effort to keep themselves and their families away from the dangers of pop music. The other option though, one that most of us take for granted now, is to either create our music (Christian or not) that is focused on Good, or to decide to be conscious in our listening and watch what our kids listen to.
If Christians aren’t moving into these new spaces we are willingly giving them up to darker forces than Christ. I’m not saying everyone needs to do this, but I am saying that I am.
The question is how?
My contention here is this: We need to stop focusing on how far we can reach and start focusing on how we can reach our neighbors (or in my case, kids) that are in my scope the Lord has given me. I want to use the tool of Instagram to start relationships with those around me that lead to in-person (offline) interactions, inviting them into our community.
Kids (and adults) are widely addicted to social media for some very good reasons. They are all looking for community, something outside themselves, and often, hope. The issue is that they aren’t going to find that online, they are going to find it in Jesus.
