Your faith only makes sense within the context of your life.
The Gospel isn’t something written about in a book and faith isn’t something that only happens on Sunday morning. For those of us who have experienced the life changing power of the Gospel, faith has found its way into every corner of our lives. It changes the way we think, the way we act, and guides us through life’s toughest challenges. In order to meaningfully share our faith through social media, we need to share our entire lives.
Faith is found where you may least expect it.
As a follower of Jesus, I’m connected to a lot of fellow believers through Facebook, Twitter and Google +. I’ll regularly see bible verses and links to sermons in my social streams. These are great, but are only the beginning. People need to see faith in action. It’s not what we say about Jesus, it’s how our lives are being transformed by His message. By sharing the details of our lives, we offer people a window into what it means to have faith in our time. Through our posts and updates, we open doors for people learn about faith and have some great conversations.
In the middle of our own daily grind, struggles, and joys, people can find hope and inspiration that ultimately points them to Jesus.
What should Christians share on Social Media?
The answer is a little different for everyone. To discover what you should be sharing on social media, I recommend that you go through the following two exercises:
1. Map out where you spend your time. These are the areas of your life where you have influence or a unique role.
Write them down.
For me, this is my family, Wevival (my company), The Journey (my church), Tuesday Journey Group (my bible study), Westminster (where I live), Chamber of Commerce (local organization), and Michael Hyatt’s Blog (I’m a community leader there).
Chances are you will find me spending time with and investing in one of the items above. This list is a jumping off point for what you should be talking about on social media. You should be sharing about your job, your church, community organizations, causes, projects, etc.
2. What are your passions or interests? These are the things that you love.
Write them down.
For me it is marketing, the web, the church, entrepreneurship, leadership, hobby farming, cooking, politics, and health and wellness.
I share articles, photos, links, and thoughts about each of these. After I cook an amazing meal or read an enlightening article, I take the time to share it. It’s simple. You just share stuff you like with people you like.
Putting it all together.
Take a look at your two lists. These are the things that you need to be sharing about on social media. Everyday we need to be intentional about sharing our experiences, thoughts and activities. Collectively, these posts, photos, links, videos and updates tell the story of our lives.
If you make a commitment to share your life everyday two things are going to happen. First, you will be opening up your life to people and building deeper relationships. People will be able to see what you are doing and what you are thinking about and I bet they will want to chime in. You may not immediately see the impact, but you can bet people are watching. Second, you will be holding yourself accountable. You are sure to think more deeply about your life and how you spend your time. Is God being glorified? Are you spending your time wisely? Are you living a life worthy of your calling?
Next up, I’ll be taking a deeper dive into Facebook, Twitter, and Google +. I hope to provide you more specific information about how you can share your life on these platforms.
Photo compliments of Maury McCown.
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