Ministers on social media

I enjoy social media. I have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, and Google Plus. I use Messenger and IM more than the several e-mail accounts I have to send information to people. In addition I have two blogs and write on two other Facebook accounts. Social media is a great way to communicate to a wide range of people and an excellent way to share information with groups of people. During this Advent season the church I'm serving will send out a daily devotional to our church family on social media.

Of course, social media can present problems. It can easily consume too much of a person's time if we don't control our usage of social media. Persons who check their FB accounts and e-mails every few minutes will not accomplish very much.

While social media can enhance relationships if used wisely it can also disrupt relationships. I've read that social media has been the cause of numerous divorces as people have reconnected with old flames. People have lost their jobs due to posting something critical of their employer on social media. Bullying has become a major problem on social media, especially among young people and has even led to some taking their lives.

While social media can be a great tool for someone in the ministry it must be used wisely. I've known pastors who held strong political viewpoints and shared those on social media. Ministers must be careful here as some within their congregations will not share those same viewpoints. While I am more than willing to share my political views in private conversations I avoid doing so on social media. It's too easy to be misunderstood when discussing things on social media. There's no sense in getting people upset due to my lack of clarity on some political issue.

Social media is also not the place to lash out at people with whom you have disagreements. I wish our current president would learn that. Disagreements are best handled privately. Public outbursts seldom accomplish anything except to make the one being attacked become defensive which only makes the problem worse. It also makes the one who wrote the post appear immature. It helps to remember that once you put something out there, it's there forever for everyone to see. Remembering that has helped me stop before I posted something I thought I might regret later.

It's also not the place to argue. I am stunned to see how some Christians attack one another on social media over political or theological issues. We need to remember that many non-Christian people may be reading the comments we are making. It sends a very negative message to them about Christianity when they read our posts attacking one another personally because we happen to disagree. I may share my perspective once, and if someone begins to argue that I just back off and refuse to respond. (It might surprise some people to learn that if they read something on social media they don't agree with that it's OK to not respond to it.)

Social media can be a great tool to help you grow your church, but it can also create problems within the church. Use it wisely to build and not to tear down.