Social media has tremendous 'viral' potential. Don't be alarmed! This simply describes the potential for news/information/entertainment to spread very quickly - like a virus.
There's numerous examples of the 'viral' effect at work - from Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent (87 million views), to the Kony video last week (83 million views). As one person views and shares, they share with all their friends, who share with their friends, who share… - you get the point!
Social media has tremendous potential in the church - as Christians share with their extended networks, many of whom are yet to know Jesus. I'd still love to see a short, shareable video created that explains the gospel, that Christians can easily pass on to their friends. When the average Facebook user has 190 friends, that's a lot of potential views of a gospel video per Christian! If you'd like to make this happen, let me know.
In the meantime, there's lots of other ways that Christians can make use of social media. As we approach Easter, I've had an idea inspired by Highpoint Church. I've put together some instructions and suggestions for how people at my church can use social media to promote our Easter church services to their friends.
For example:
I'd love you to join me at church this Easter. Jesus death and resurrection changed my life forever. Let it change yours. [url=http://cbtb.org.au/easter]http://cbtb.org.au/easter[/url]
How will you be celebrating Easter this year? If in Sydney, join me at church! [url=http://cbtb.org.au/easter]http://cbtb.org.au/easter[/url]
These are very simple ways for Christians to extend a potentially life changing invitation. As a church, we're keen to make it as easy as possible for people to invite their friends - and social media provides just one of these opportunities.
You can see all of these examples on the church website.
How else can Christians use social media to make Jesus known this Easter? And speaking of social media and Easter, take a look at how the Easter story might have played out on Facebook and Twitter...
Feature photo: MDGovPics
