I’ve now heard several times “I don’t get Twitter. It just seems to just be a website that displays your Facebook status updates”.

If Twitter was just a place to display Facebook status updates, I can assure you, I wouldn’t be mildly interested! After all, if I just wanted Facebook updates, wouldn’t I just use Facebook?

However, to be fair, these comments are usually made out of ignorance. People haven’t used [insert technology/website/web application], but have already decided they know what it’s about, and have made up their mind that it’s no good. This doesn’t make sense to me.

* If you told me that North African food was no good, but that you had never tried it, I’d tell you to go to Kazbah in Balmain and then give me your opinion on North African food.
* If you told me that take-away coffee was no good, but that you’d never tried it, I’d tell you to go to Campos in Newtown and then give me your opinion on coffee.

You see, to write something off without even trying it is just nonsensical. Particularly when others can testify to the goodness of what you have written-off.

So here’s my challenge for tech-knockers. Give it a go before critiquing it!

* Try out Twitter for three months. See how others use it for ministry. Put your brain to work to consider all the ways you could exploit Twitter for ministry and to make Jesus name known. If, after three months, you think Twitter has little usage for your ministry - that’s ok! But at least you can say that you gave it a go, did an honest appraisal and came to an educated conclusion that it’s not for you.
* Try an online calendar for three months (read first ‘10 reasons to throw out your paper diary’ !) Experiment with it. Persevere with it. Hit the bottom of the learning curve and pedal hard until you reach the top. If, after three months, you think a paper diary is going to best suit your needs - great! But at least you can say that you tried both, and settled on the best option for you.

What’s the moral of the story? Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!