Social Media Shepherd

How a pastor could use Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., etc., etc. by Matt Mitchell

I WAS PRETTY “LATE TO THE PARTY” with Facebook. Even though I had had a blog for several years and loved to use email in ministry, I wasn’t too sure about joining the world’s biggest social network. I had too many “what ifs.” What if it sucked up too much of my time? What if people wrote things on my “wall” that I didn’t want there? What if one of my flock unfriended me? What if I chose the wrong privacy settings? What if I made a social media faux pas?

I dragged my feet for years.

But then in 2010, my wife, who is a much more private and introverted person, joined up. Her mom was dying of cancer, and Facebook was what her family was using to stay connected over vast distances. Heather didn’t encounter any problems with the “what ifs” that I was so worried about, so I opened my own account.

What I discovered when I finally got there was that Facebook could be a wonderful tool for enhancing my pastoral ministry. Now, I can’t imagine trying to pastor without it.

Many pastors have some kind of online presence, but perhaps we haven’t given enough thought to how we can effectively pastor while we’re “there.”

THEN AGAIN, MAYBE NOT?

Actually, I would try to dissuade people from pastoring via social media if they’re not going to do so wisely.

When I told one of my pastoral colleagues that I was writing this article, he said, “I wish many of my pastor friends would stop using Facebook! All they do is pontificate like my other idiot friends. It’s post after post about whatever political hot-button issue is the topic of the day. That does about as much good as a bumper sticker or a yard sign, and it’s much more annoying.”

So, let’s not do that. The world has enough ranting pastors.

Of course, there are lots of other ways to shepherd poorly in the social-media universe. One is to pester people instead of pastoring them, following them around online leaving a trail of corrective comments. Another is spying on them and then passing on the gossip. Every way that pastoring can go wrong in person can also be “dehanced” by taking it online1.

And we shouldn’t engage in social media as a substitute for face-to-face ministry. The apostle John, utilizing the premier social media of his day, said, “I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete” (2 John 1:12).

Social media is good, but un-mediated social interaction is almost always better—those invaluable times spent at coffee shops, in each other’s homes or at a hospital bedside.

One more: As Solomon said, “If you find honey, eat just enough—too much of it, and you will vomit” (Proverbs 25:16). We can have too much of a good thing. We need to set limits for ourselves online or not engage at all.

I do think, however, that social media is a sweet thing and that all of these negatives can be overcome, so let me suggest six ways that pastoral ministry can be enhanced by taking it online.

NO. 1 EXTENDING OUR PASTORAL PRESENCE

Pastoring is often about being with people where they are. And many of our folks are online. The thing I like best about being on Facebook right now is knowing what’s going on in my people’s lives. A good shepherd knows his sheep, and social media is a great tool for gathering that knowledge (John 10:14).

Social media definitely expands our platform for speaking into people’s lives. But what I find most valuable is the opportunity it provides to listen. My flock is constantly reporting on what they are doing and how they are feeling. I used to have to guess at that or just receive trickles of information. Now, I get regular updates from many.

Those updates are helpful for ministry because they:

• tell me how to pray intelligently.
• give me something to talk about when I see people in person.
• provide opportunities to celebrate with my flock.
• let me know if my sermons are hitting home and also give me ideas for future messages as I learn what my friends are thinking about and struggling with.
• Pastoring is often about being with people where they are. And many of our folks are online. Social media can provide an immediacy to shepherding—not a substitute for it, but a way of extending it meaningfully.

NO. 2 CONNECTING PEOPLE TO PEOPLE

The community aspect of church should be much bigger than the relationship between the pastor and his flock. It should operate sheep to sheep as well, with the pastor enhancing those connections.

I love to introduce people in the foyer at church: “Have you met the Carters yet?” Social media can expand the digital foyer and make connections that we wouldn’t have made in other ways.

That was the part about joining Facebook that took me the longest to adjust to. I kept being surprised when I would post something and then people from different parts of my life would chime in with comments—someone from my high school in the next state over, someone I used to go to church with long ago, someone from my wife’s family out West. And there they all were, together. At first, that was disorienting, but then I realized that it was actually integrating.

What if I got intentional about connecting my church friends to each other when we were interacting online? What if community grew because I made a few introductions?

Pastors who are naturally introverts should especially take note of this strategy. It’s a great way of building community without using up limited relational energy—and you can do it asynchronously, whenever it works for you.

NO. 3 BEING OURSELVES Sometimes, we pastors can be a little intimidating just because of the gravitas of our position. I try to use my Facebook to have some fun and show that I am also a regular guy. I post self-deprecating stories about my sorry adventures as a hunter, my failed attempts as a handyman and my swooning love for bacon. I think that my online friends feel more comfortable around me because of it.

NO. 4 PROMOTING TERRIFIC RESOURCES

I’m an unabashed bibliophile. I love to read good books and to tell people about great books. Maybe half of my posts relate to books in some way. Social media is a great way of sharing things worth sharing.

And not just books. The Internet is packed with fabulous resources on just about every issue. But you have to wade through piles of junk in search results. Part of our job as pastors is to help our people discern what is valuable and what is trash. Good shepherds lead their flocks to green pastures and quiet waters (Psalm 23:2).

Post a link to the best article you read today and tell your people why!

NO. 5 REACHING OUT BEYOND OUR CHURCH COMMUNITIES

A good pastor does “the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5). The focus of this article is how we can pastor our own people online, but a good shepherd is always on the lookout for new sheep to add to the fold.

We can use social media to meet new people in our community—just like joining the gym or coaching a Little League or soccer team. Try starting a conversation with a friend of one of your friends online and see where it goes.

NO. 6 MODELING HOW A CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO LIVE ONLINE

Social media can provide an immediacy to shepherding-not a substitute for it, but a way of extending it meaningfully. Many of our people are online, but perhaps they have not thought about what they are doing there. They not only need to hear preaching that applies to this area of life, but they also need to see good examples of how to follow Jesus on social media.

• Peter told the other elders, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care … not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:2-3).
• Even if we aren’t experts in technology, we can be living illustrations of biblical principles online. From Ephesians 4 and 5:
• Do we “put off falsehood and speak truthfully to our neighbor(s)” (Ephesians 4:25)? Or do we post slanderous things about politicians, celebrities and sports stars?
• Do we let “unwholesome talk” come out of keyboards or only what “is helpful for building others up according to their needs” (Ephesians 4:29)?
• Do we post “bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” or are we “kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave” us (Ephesians 4:31-32)?
• Is there a “hint of sexual immorality” about our Facebook accounts or “any kind of impurity or greed” (Ephesians 5:3)?
• On our Facebook timelines, there shouldn’t be “obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking” because they are “out of place” for Christians (Ephesians 5:4).
• If you and I aren’t living as “children of light” in our digital interactions, where will our flocks learn how to do it (Ephesians 5:8)?

The point is to take our pastoral role seriously and think carefully and creatively about how to use the available new technologies to do what God has always called His shepherds to do: care for His sheep (John 21:16-17).