An Alternative Approach to Social Media 
“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” - 1 Corinthians 9:22

Paul knew how much this would cost. Becoming “all things to all people” meant working as a tentmaker throughout the night to fund his preaching during the day. It meant he went through physical hardship and toil to plant many churches across multiple cities, not just in Corinth. Paul knew that becoming a slave to all, a Jew to the Jews, weak to the weak and so on would cost much, but he did it so he might save some. I often find myself thinking “what does it mean for me to be all things to all people?” and “by what possible means can I do this?”. One possible means I ponder is through social media.

Social media is often looked down upon by Christians and with good reason. It’s often spoken about how social media can be unhelpful; contributing to mental illness, sometimes being a gateway to pornographic websites and causing addictions. As a university student, I got rid of my smartphone for a year knowing that was the reason why I was addicted to social media. Since then I’ve learnt to battle against that sinful tendency and realised that maybe “becoming all things to all people” includes using social media as a tool to being a witness of the good news. This could be a Christian’s alternative approach towards social media.

As of January 2024 there were 4.95 billion social media users worldwide, over 60% of the world population. That 4.95 billion includes 84% of the UK population (over 57 million people) who have social media accounts. If you don’t have any form of social media you are in the minority. Being in this minority can be something we’re proud of but surely these stats show it’s where the world is? Surely it’s where many of our non-Christian friends and family are? Surely it’s a means that we can drip feed gospel truth to the world on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, so that we might save some? The 2022 Talking Jesus Report states that 26% of the UK population will search on Google to find out about the Christian faith and 10% would look on YouTube - stats which I believe will only increase over time!

A wonderful testimony we have at City Church Sheffield is that a 17 year old boy, who had never been to a church meeting before, joined us one Sunday as a result of seeing videos about Jesus on TikTok. That Sunday he became a Christian and since he has been baptised. There are a million ways God could have spoken to him but He chose TikTok.

How can we witness about Jesus through social media?

Be full of Truth
We must be bold in declaring the truth. We believe Jesus is the truth (John 14:6) and his words are the words to eternal life (John 6:68). In every area of our lives we want to make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:16) to share this - our opportunity online is having platforms where we can share anything we like! My prayer is that as the 84% of the 
UK population are scrolling through their social media feeds, every one of them will see something of the truth of Jesus. If we see something false and dark online, the most loving thing we can do is bring the truth and light.

Be full of Grace
We must share the truth with grace (John 1:14). I believe this can be done by considering the language and tone we use as we interact with others, however even the most kindly worded sentence can still have a nasty and contentious response! If this happens we need to have the wisdom as to whether we should continue with the interaction, turning the other cheek, or leave it there. My aim in these scenarios is to take any public communication into a private chat and if possible move it from being online to in person.

Our Attitude Online
Nicky Gumbel has shared on his social media accounts the “Social Media Beatitudes”. I find these very helpful in approaching social media; not only in my battle to not fall into sin and worldly thinking, but also in how I conduct myself online. By regularly being active online in a meek, merciful, pure way, while being hungry and thirsty for righteousness, we will be a light in the darkness! The difference between us and the world is our attitude with which we enter social media.

Conclusion
There is so much more that can be spoken about on this topic. Specifically on my heart is what content we share on our church’s social media pages for church members to share, comment and like. As an individual it can be hard to produce evangelistic content and share yourself - this barrier can be broken down by the content being originally shared through our church social media accounts.

Paul says we are free to do all things, including whether we are on social media or not. Actively showing Jesus on social media will be costly to our time, energy and status amongst family and friends. Prayerfully consider how God might draw someone closer to himself through you being a witness online. I believe Jesus can save through social media.

Euangelion Evangelists Forum - 21 April 2024
On 21st April 2024 the ChristCentral Euangelion Team are pleased to announce the fourth forum for all those in UK ChristCentral churches interested in Evangelism. Our keynote speaker will be Rachael Heffer, Head of Mission at the Evangelical Alliance. To find out more about the evening click here.

By Will Pattison
Will Pattison is on staff at City church Sheffield and part of ChristCentral Churches UK Euangelion team

All articles on this website are the speakers own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the position of ChristCentral or Newfrontiers