I spent a good ten minutes tonight watching tornado videos on CNN.
It was pretty incredible, but a bit depressing.
Then, I realized, what if this technology was being used to spread joy and awesomeness instead of destruction-laden footage? And what better way than to do that than to share testimonies, victories, and all around church ministry wins? How about we use tech to testify?
“Jesus Saves? Prove it.”
Let’s get practically personal first—few things will be as affective and helpful in your church’s attempts to spread the Gospel than by showing those on the outside that what’s going on inside your church actually works. All of those testimonies that warm your heart on Sunday mornings need to be shared with the rest of the world. Sure, some won’t understand the joy and appreciation we find in even the smallest miracles, but I don’t of a better way to give God the glory for what He’s doing in your church than by letting the world know.
When You Win, We All Win!
This is a thought process that I hope catches on, and that I internalize it more and more. Putting testimonies online will definitely encourage your people and give them something worth sharing on—as discussed on the ChurchMag Podcast—but it also has the potential to encourage believers across the world. A year or so back, Mars Hill did a series of photo galleries showing people coming up out of the water at their baptism services. Included with the photos was a small testimonial. Powerful did not even begin to describe it. I was sitting at a computer, reading these testimonies, and thanking God for the work He was doing in the lives of people I will never meet. I was truly moved, and it’s been one of those projects that I’ve longed to do ever since.
Picture this just for a minute: miles, maybe oceans away, a pastor/missionary/layperson is discouraged because of the lack of results they are seeing from their witness. They sow, sow, and sow, but there is never anything to reap. They are disheartened and see no benefit to persevering…until they see the victory that God had brought to your church after similar effort, similar periods of seemingly fruitless laboring. They see that it is for them to sow, perhaps for someone else to reap, but that God will ultimately bring the increase. They were down, but a testimony simply shared lifted their spirit.
A bit melodramatic? Maybe, but I think that the more the Internet can be used to spread good news, especially the Good News, the better.
Brass Tacks
Now, how do we get started? If you’re a layperson, take it to your pastoral staff. See if they have some direction/advice in how you should proceed. For all we know now, you may be the answer to a pastoral prayer, a technical godsend with the desire and the expertise to do exactly what has been on their heart.
If you’re a pastor, take it to your tech team. Find out who knows how to do this, and who has a passion for it. It can be time consuming to design/maintain a site filled media and text that will need constant updating. For that matter, it’s also a time consuming process to edit photos and videos for such an outlet. Time consuming, but rewarding if its your passion.
Does your church currently have a way of sharing what God is doing in and through you?
[Image via SodaHead]
Chandos says
We have a ‘Share your story’ section on our website. I think it could be quite effective, but we never have much activity. The hardest part is getting people to share, unfortunately. If there were some way we could bridge that fear/anxiety/apathy of sharing, I think really powerful stuff could come out of it.
Phil Schneider says
It’s amazing how we ALL have a story to tell, but sometimes, the most meaningful ones take the most effort to share. Is there anyone on your staff or in your inner core of lay people who might be willing to “break the ice”? It usually just takes one.
So happy that your trying to do what needs to be done! Way to go!
Dan Stephens says
There was a post on here a while ago about tying the mission of church tech to the mission of the church. In the comments, the consensus was on facilitating and illustrating the church mission. This is totally in line with the illustrating part. I love it.
Phil Schneider says
Hey, Dan, thanks!