This past week, I’ve had multiple people ask me, “how should Christians use social media?” Whew. Now that’s a big question! In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” As a Jesus follower, I believe that it is our duty to shine a light - even on social media.

Social media is a place for community. Facebook even says that their mission is to “bring the world closer together.” As Christians, our heart should be to love everyone around us and shine a light. I fully believe that we can glorify God through our social media!

We live in a day and age that social media is a part of most everyone’s day to day lives. Americans alone watch over 1.2 online videos a day!

With that being said, as we are embarking on this new message series, Ripple Effect, I think we can use social media to go WIDE to help expand the Kingdom. Here are some helpful tips for going wide on social media.

1. Use it.

Luke 5:31-32, “Jesus answered them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'”

When Jesus was on the earth, he didn’t hang out with the most righteous people, but instead he got knee deep in the dirty grime of the least of these. To modernize that idea in the social media age, I believe that if we want to reach our friends and family for Christ, we actually have to meet them where they are: social media. That means the obvious of actually having social media accounts, but you also have to use it how it was intended - to stay connected. Post your own photos and engage with your friend’s posts. It’s okay to post things that aren’t always about church - people want to know YOU so post about your life, family, and friends. You never know what a comment or a like might mean to someone, especially if you are using it to encourage and uplift them.

2. Share your story.

Psalm 71:15-16, “My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long … I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.”

You have a story to share! The Lord wants us to share what He is doing in our lives, and so we should do that in every area of our lives -  social media included. If God has impacted your life, share it with your social media friends. This could be done through a photo, a long post, a song, or honestly anything. I would just encourage you to share out of the love you have for Jesus, not for the attention or a like. God wants us to be excited for what He’s done in our lives as well as what he is doing in our lives!

3. Be encouraging!

1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Let’s be honest, we all have internet friends who love to get into the social media drama. People use social media because they want to know that they are seen and that their opinions are heard, but because people are sharing their opinions and are passionate about what they believe and how they believe it, it’s easy for conflict to arise. Can we just make a commitment to stay out of that drama? Let’s encourage the people we know and love and yes, even those who are a little harder to love!

4. Stay Connected and Engaged.

Proverbs 27:9, “The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.”

It’s okay to not engage with all 550 of your friends on a daily, but it’s important to stay connected with the people who you have the most connection with and those who you can have the greatest impact on. I can’t message all of my 550 friends when they post about having a rough week, but if see that it was my neighbor who I’ve been trying to get to come to church for the past 7 months, it may be a good idea to say something and then follow through by checking in or giving them some extra love! You could mow their lawn, make them a batch of cookies, or invite them over for barbecue.

5. Follow The Vineyard Church.

I know, this might feel cheesy, but our communications team spends a lot of time articulating posts to spread the light of Jesus. This can be especially helpful if you don’t know what to post!  By following Vineyard’s social media accounts, you like and comment on your church family and continually build community. You can also share posts that truly impact you, and then shine a light to your friends and family that follow you!

I hope that these five tips are helpful for you. I now encourage you all to be a LIGHT through social media!

  Anna Earl is the Assistant Director of Communications. In this role, she leads the Photography and Videography teams as well as manage Vineyard’s social presence which includes the website and social media.  She is also married to the amazing Nate Earl and together they live in South Bend.

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