Would Jesus Twitter?
john posted on May 7, 2009
I was speaking on a panel at Idea Camp last month and someone asked me, “Do you think Jesus would Twitter?” Interesting question…
Time Magazine recently wrote an article “Twittering in Church, with the Pastor’s OK“. In the article, Bonnie writes, “There’s a time and place for technology, and most houses of worship still say it’s not at morning Mass.”
I don’t know how valid that statement is, but I suspect it’s more valid than not. In fact, I would take it a step further and say that most churches think technology, specifically online/internet technology, is not important not only on Sunday mornings, but just in general.
Compare this to a recent study that found that out of all the discretionary items, broadband internet was the last thing a consumer would give up. The list included furniture, organic groceries, mobile phone, landline phone, personal care/toilertries and others. In other words, according to this study, people would rather use the newspaper for toilet paper rather than give up their broadband internet! (ok, maybe I’m extrapolating a little too far, but you get the point.)
The internet is an intergral part of people’s lives, especially with the younger generation. There is no distinction between online and offline. We live in an integrated world… reading the paper in the morning, checking e-mail at work, shopping online at lunch time, listening to the radio on the drive home, watching tv at home, interacting on social networks at night. And if we don’t bring the gospel – the church – Jesus online, then we’ve lost touch with the next generation.
Working at Google, I get exposed to all the latest internet technologies, trends and fads – interal and external. Did you know that the second largest search site is not Yahoo? It’s Youtube. There are more searches done on Youtube than there are on Yahoo. A recent study reveals that for the 15 and younger crowd, they spend 3x more minutes on social networks vs. e-mail as a form of communication. That means that e-mail is an archaic form of communication for our youth today. (I can vouch for this – my teenager nephew never responds to my e-mails, but replies instantly to my message on his facebook wall.)
The days of just having an informational website as your church’s technology strategy are over. Youtube, Facebook, Twitter. The Time article gets it. “If worship is about creating community, Twitter is an undeniably useful tool.” ChurchExecutive recently wrote in an article, “While the youth group has a website, [the youth pastor] decided instead of spending time and effort to get people to visit the site, he would meet them where they already were – on Facebook.”
I love what the United Methodist Church denomination recently did. They recognized they needed to “rethink church” and just released their new website – 10thousanddoors.org and asked the question, “What if church wasn’t just a building, but thousands of doors? Each of them opening up to a different concept or experience of church – and a journey that could change our world. Would you come?”
I think a lot of times churches just don’t know where to start. Start with what God’s given you. Just like you reach out and recruit worship leaders to help lead worship, reach out and recruit people to help with your online strategy and execution. Make an intential decision to invest — your time and resources. Just as you invest in physical spaces, invest in online spaces.
How about your church? your ministry? Come join me on this discussion thread on our community site on what’s worked for your church and what has not. What questions do you have? What recommendations do you have? Let’s figure this out together…
BTW, would Jesus Twitter? My answer: absolutely! What’s your answer?
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Well, if Christ was mostly homeless during his ministry, would he be homeless nowadays? Do many homeless people use Twitter these days? Or even care about Twitter?
df
Enlightening contemplations and inviting questions John!
Yes, Twitter is another medium that has become a part of our culture and the way we communicate, among many other tools. Is Twitter a channel for our current context or a prelude to some new textures for how we share, connect, and exchange life experiences?
You’re right Furtney – there will be people who will have no need for Twitter. Whomever and however Jesus calls us to love, we want to tap into the best and most appropriate resources we’re given, in innovative, simple, and effective ways.
Jesus shared meals with close friends in intimate, dinner table settings. With some who were sick, he physically touched and healed with very few words. Using large bodies of water to carry his voice, Jesus also spoke to large gatherings of people while standing in a boat. Flow with God. Adapt. Be water.
Thanks Khoi. Yes, I agree, it’s not about the technology, but about meeting people where they are and interacting with them the way they do in everyday life. “It’s a huge responsibility of a church to leverage whatever’s going on in the broader culture, to connect people to God and to each other.” (Todd Hahn)
I agree Furtney, some people are never going to care about twitter or facebook or youtube. But others, especially the younger generation do care and use it every day and are spending more and more time with it as one of their key methods of communication. I think, we as the church, need to meet them there.
BTW, Dave cross-posted this to his blog and there’s some interesting comments there on his site. http://davegibbons.tv/?p=258#comments
I think Jesus was about building social networks. Look at his disciples and what they created/did after Jesus returned to heaven. They built a large social network, first in Jerusalem and then to the end of the earth. Would Jesus Twitter? I think He would use whatever resources were available to Him to reach those who were being drawn to Him.
The negative with current social networking sites is that you can remain superficial with your relationships. Jesus wouldn’t remain on a superficial level, but would dig to deeper levels of relationship with those in His circle.
Great post, John! Agree with comments on this and Dave Gibbons post that it’s not about technology, but reaching people. Where are they gathering? What captivates them? Where do they spend their time?
Well, the study confirms what we thought, right? And it’s not just the younger generation. The avg age of Facebook users continues to climb. Our staff talked about whether internet ministry would suffer from the economic stress in the country…but again, the study shows – people will do without other things, but hang onto tech and it’s costs. That’s how integrated we are with technology.
On Dave’s post, one commenter suggests that not only would Jesus twitter, he’d have prostitutes and sinners on his profile. That’s something I’m personally making a goal for my twitter/fb reach…at least trying to break the holy huddle it grew into. Talk about it here http://bit.ly/5a94D .
Thanks for starting the discussion.
Yes. Homeless people are using many of the most current social media tools to put a public and personal face to poverty in the US. Check out http://invisiblepeople.com http://twitter.com/hardlynormal for more info.
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