This is a Guest Post by Paul Steinbrueck, who is the CEO of OurChurch.Com and primary author of the Christian Web Trends blog.
Thanks to John for the opportunity to guest post here on ChurchCrunch and piggy back off his The ‘Pastor’ Effect in Social Media post on Monday.
My family background is German. And while I don’t speak a lick of German, my wife and I have hosted an Oktoberfest at our house every year for the last 11 years. We invite our friends from church, our neighbors, guys I play soccer with, people from all walks of life.
It’s a great time with food and games and yes, beer.
Most years my senior pastor stops by for a little while, and an interesting thing happens.
When people from the church notice the pastor there, some of them start casually walking away from their beer bottles or place them strategically behind other objects. I also noticed that while there is some occasional swearing during the ‘fest I never seem to hear any when in earshot of the pastor.
Our church believes drinking in moderation is ok, but it’s interesting how some people feel the impulse to put on their best behavior around the pastor.
John asked if when a pastor adopts a social media tool if that can cause a mass-adoption to occur. But I also wonder if when a pastor steps into a social networking space if that might cause people to alter their behavior.
If your pastor was your Facebook friend, would you still post pics from girls night out or guys poker night? Would you think twice about your tweets and status updates? Would people in your church be less authentic online?
If your pastor has jumped into social networking, what effect has it had?
[Image from PaulLew]
AndyCats says
Perhaps we should all consider Jesus as our Facebook friend and act accordingly. Authenticity is only a virtue when grounded in growth toward Christ-likeness.
human3rror says
great point here… but I can imagine one consider that “hyperspiritual”. eh.
Paul Steinbrueck says
Good point, Andy. We probably should all consider Jesus as our FB friend. However, I want to be real with people and for them to be real with me both online and offline. That doesn't mean sharing every gory detail of their lives, but I would hate to see people put the "happy mask" on in FB, Twitter, etc the way many do at church
Ancoti says
If you alter your behavior because of the presence of someone else, you have the problem, no them. There must be some conviction in your action to alter your behavior, a level of personal discomfort. Character is how you act when no one is watching.
human3rror says
ancoti always brings it home.
Ancoti says
You always make it easy by putting it out there to comment on. Good post.
Jim says
preach it
Jim says
i don't do many beer posts…i'm a coffee-guy
Graham Brenna says
I hear what you're saying. I've been at backyard parties with my senior pastor/boss before. He's handed me a beer at them. I accept… we're cool on that subject. Goodness…
AndyCats says
Paul and human3rror. I agree with both of you in principle, but how is hyperspiritualuality or putting on the "happy mask" acting in accordance with living with Jesus as our audience? I'd say it's the polar opposite.
I find that when I'm putting on masks, it's precisely because I'm more concerned with how I appear to others than how I AM before the Lord. That's a constant struggle that I can only overcome through my intending to conform to Christ. (spiritual disciplines are key here).
human3rror says
andy,
great thoughts here. thanks for sharing. i think it is definitely a struggle and there's no “answer” to it.
thanks!