A Birmingham church just lost its lease, and was banned from providing medical services at local housing projects, all because its pastor liked a few common-sense tweets. I write with fear in our effeminate age that many ministers will take this as call to scale back on social media. But that would be a serious mistake. I write as a minister to my brothers and fathers in the gospel, today in a time of increasing persecution, it is urgent that we increase our public witness. Here I make to you an urgent plea: Pastors, lift up your voice online.
The Principles
The propriety of this plea rests on a few points of truth that should be clear to every Christian thinker.
First, the internet is today’s most important public forum. The size and wealth of Amazon, Facebook, and Google should prove this fact conclusively. Newspapers and magazines have all gone online. Our President tweets aggressively. In our age of cars and computers, social media is our public forum, our modern marketplace. If Paul were alive today, I have little doubt he would be on Facebook disputing daily (Acts 17:17).
Second, the internet is an unprecedented opportunity for widespread witness. With a few clicks of a button this article became available to every person on the planet with access to the internet. It is potentially sitting in the pocket of every one of this world’s 3.5 billion smartphone owners. Dozens of wealthy and powerful companies—Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, YouTube, Vimeo—devote their resources to get your content before the eyes of the entire world. Our contemporary technological-industrial-government-entertainment complex, for all its obvious faults, has brought you an unimaginably powerful means to reach the world for Christ. It’s as if man has now invented a megaphone able to be heard around the globe, has handed it to you, and said, “Pastor, want to share a word?” How could you pass up such an opportunity?
Third, as Christ’s minister, you are appointed to be his public witness. Therefore not just by circumstances, but by calling, you ought to be doing all you can to go public for God’s glory. God says so to his servants: to Isaiah, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet” (Isa. 58:1); to the seventy, “Say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you”; to the apostles and all their successors, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). And the ministers we see in Scripture do this very thing. John was “the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness” (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3). Paul reasoned in the market and the debaters’ forum (Acts 17:17, 19). Christ preached not only in the synagogues (Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:39), but throughout the countryside (e.g. Matt. 5:1; Luke 6:17). To say therefore that your duty is all done by preaching in your own pulpit makes no sense of these examples from the desert, the street, the mountaintop. Nor is your ministry limited to the audible word alone, for to what purpose then did God move holy men to write his holy Scriptures, and Paul to exercise an abundant ministry of letters? Your calling as described in Scripture is that of a visible and public witness for King Jesus. It is hard to argue that being quiet on the internet is compatible with such a calling.
Fourth, the absence of such public witness will bring damnation, corruption, and tyranny. The proof of this is all over our news feeds. When our city streets are overrun by Marxist warlords, a good question to ask is, Where were the preachers? In a nation so full of Christianity, the maxim is especially true:
When nations are to perish in their sins,
‘Tis in the Church the leprosy begins.
(Quoted from the title page of Anarchy in Worship, by James Begg)
I want to explain this one a bit more. A lack of public Christian witness first brings damnation. Remember Paul’s series of questions concerning preaching, which applies to other public gospel witness in its proper place: How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? (Rom. 10:14). It’s not too much to say, that if your Facebook friends die and go to hell, and you never witnessed on your wall to Christ, or against their sins, then you are in part to blame. On the other hand, if you have made such a witness, you have one more reason to say to them, with Paul, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean.” (Acts 18:6).
A lack of public Christian witness also brings corruption. We forget that one reason God appointed the preaching of his Word, and especially of his law, was to restrain wickedness (cf. Isa. 1:16–20; Ps. 32:9). Ministers ought to serve in their city as a sort of spiritual police, a public conscience. And they ought to expect such civic service to result in at least some civic righteousness. For the wicked in their hearts are cowards (Prov. 28:1), and though they play the bully, sometimes all it takes is a little word from God’s brave servant to send them cowering back home (John 8:9; 1 Kings 21:27). Let’s not forget, when Martin Luther broke the power of the Pope, and John Knox won Scotland for King Jesus, this was not because most people they preached to were converted. God’s grace saved some eternally, but that same grace caused others, still in their sins, nonetheless to give some outward homage to the King, when they heard the awful roaring of his lionhearted heralds. When those heralds stop their crying in the public square, no wonder when the wicked crawl out from their holes and begin to take the city back.
A lack of public Christian witness also brings tyranny, oppressive governmental wickedness which is a common result of popular corruption. A form of tyranny of particular concern to Christians is persecution, when the civil magistrate, God’s minister appointed for the church’s good (Rom. 13:4; Isa. 49:23), turns instead to do her evil. God forbid that persecution would come to our land and no one take a stand against it. Men, start witnessing against the tyranny you already see, lest much more follow soon. Carve out a space for public Christian witness today, so that one will remain tomorrow. God forbid that one day when you and your chuch members are carted to a labor camp, they turn to you and say, “I’m sad you didn’t speak against this years ago.”
Fifth, our Triune God is worthy of such public glory. This should be every minister’s greatest motivation, that when we speak the truth, even if men mock, and no one seems to benefit, the Lord was glorified. God is worthy of such glory, and he will reward it though no one else has noticed. Christ stood for Stephen when Stephen stood for him, though men stoned him to death (Acts 7:56). I am happy to be decreased, if it means that Christ is increased (John 3:30).
Sixth and finally, God’s people rejoice to see his truth proclaimed and defended. I’ve recently had to write some strong words online, and I did receive a bit of opposition. But the overwhelming majority of responses which I heard were positive and encouraging. Godly men rejoice in godly telling of the truth. To me the sweetness of such a success far outweighs any cost I may have to pay. Think about this from your own experience. If you are on social media, doesn’t it give you a holy pleasure when you see a man risk his reputation to proclaim the truth of God? If it does not, I cannot help you. But if it does, then for God’s glory, keep the golden rule, and go and give that same pleasure to someone else.
The Practice
If from the principles above you are convinced to enter the online fray, some practical advice can help you wage your warfare well.
First, build on what you are already doing. When you preach next Sunday morning, record the sermon on your smartphone, or on an inexpensive voice recorder, post the file on your church website, then post a link on Facebook or Twitter. Spending a few minutes to do so will be worth it if even one or two more people hear the Word. If you want a wider reach, use SermonAudio. My little church of sixty members uses it, and last month we had over five hundred sermon downloads, from listeners in a dozen countries. Even before Coronavirus, far more people heard our sermons online than have ever sat in our pews. You can do these same things to share your Sunday school class, and your Sunday evening worship (which you ought to have), and your midweek prayer meeting (which you also ought to have). Once you’re comfortable with audio, add video. If your church building has internet, then a smartphone, charging cord, and cheap tripod is enough to broadcast free on Facebook Live, which after you are finished saves a video, to which a link can then be posted anywhere.
There are also small steps you can take to move from the spoken to the written word. While doing your devotions, or preparing sermons, share a moving passage or striking truth as a post or tweet. Help yourself be ready to preach, and your people ready to hear, by summarizing your own message on social media the day before. Even better, use it as an advertisement for your friends to come and hear in person.
Another easy step to increase your online Christian presence is, if you already spend some time on social media, start speaking up a little more. So many users are mere consumers. Make up your mind instead to go online not to be served, but to serve (Matt. 20:28). When a brother posts a salient truth from Scripture, don’t just pass it by, or merely like it, but comment or reshare. When a friend is taking heat for righteousness in a debate, don’t just observe, but weigh in with a message from the Lord. When you see words that are particularly clear and brave, don’t just applaud them, but go and write some of your own.
Beginning in these ways, the next step is to start producing longer written content. But again, build on what you are already doing. Sermons can be transcribed or summarized, after preaching, or even before for preparation, and published. This adds permanence and accessibility to the sermon, and reaches people who have time to skim or read but not to listen. Important theological and practical questions only touched on in the pulpit can be expanded into articles. Letters from the pastor can be sent to the congregation and posted on the church website. The possibilities are endless. According to your ability and time, you can even start a blog, whether for yourself or for your church. Many poke fun at the pretensions of bloggers, but if anyone can write a blog worth reading, it ought to be a seminary-trained servant of the Word of God.
Second, seek assistance. If some of the above seems overwhelming, ask the tech-savvy in your congregation to help. This may prove one of the most useful things some of your millennial members can do for the gospel cause. Ask them to help you join Facebook or Twitter, to set up a SermonAudio account, to purchase cameras and cords, to edit and post recordings. If you find a person that is particularly keen and trustworthy, make him your part-time social media assistant, and perhaps even pay him. You provide the content, and he can proofread, publish, and promote it. If he has skill in graphic design, all the better, but beware, some churches are notorious for looking unprofessional. Better to have simple text-only posts than to make the gospel appear gaudy.
Third, please persevere. On the internet, as in the rest of life, many start well, but few finish well. Make sure especially at first that you aren’t biting off more than you can chew, and that you count the cost. Online witness is not for the faint of heart. The few things you choose to do, do well, and stay the course. And remember to make your witness trusting in the Lord alone, and content to seek his pleasure, and not man’s. There’s a scene that replays itself online every so often, where a man under pressure from the busy pace of life, from his elders, from his family, or from his sins, announces that he’s leaving Facebook. In a few cases this is wise; in others, it’s an admission of defeat, the costly desertion of a soldier from a battle in which the godly are already far outnumbered. If you run the Christian race online, make sure to run with patience, looking unto Jesus (Heb. 12:1).
The Objections
To what I’ve said there are many objections, from many pastors. I’ve heard most all of them, have made many of them in the past myself, and am convinced they all have little weight. Let’s consider just a few.
Preaching and pastoring are more important.
Yes they are. But does that render other means of grace worthy of neglect? Consider in the past how many of Christ’s most faithful preachers and pastors were also writers. My judgment from history and experience is that the more you publicly declare God’s truth, in the more places and through the more media, the more skilled and effective you will become at declaring that same truth in your home church. And don’t forget, your people are on Facebook too. It will only help in shepherding the flock for them to see the same man who proclaims Christ in their pulpits and their homes doing the same in the online public square.
This is all the more clear when you recall that a minister’s vocation is not only to the local church. You are a servant of the omnipresent Christ, and therefore a minister also of the regional and the universal church. This is a truth that Presbyterians especially profess. Moreover, you are called not only to serve the church members that you have, but also the sheep that are not yet of Christ’s fold (John 10:16). You calling is to fish for men (Matt. 4:19), and I see no good reason that you ought not do so on the internet.
I don’t have the ability or time.
This may be true when it comes to specifics. Some men don’t have the gifts to write a blog, or are too busy to manage the church Facebook page. We ought not strive to exceed the limits God imposes. But I challenge men who quickly give this answer. With all I’ve said above, is it really an imposition to be asked to say a few more public words for Christ? Also, if you can’t do it all yourself, can’t you ask someone to help you do it? And, given that you’ve enjoyed years of careful theological study, that the church has affirmed your verbal gifts, that God has called you to teach, exhort, and do the work of an evangelist, is it really fair to say you aren’t equipped for such a task? Remember Moses. He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7:22), skilled enough with words to write the entire Pentateuch. So when he told God he simply wasn’t able to speak for him in Egypt (Ex. 3:11; 4:10), he revealed that perhaps some ministers’ excuses are not as humble as they sound.
Social media is ungodly.
Yes it is, and so are most of the people on it. Internet discourse is in general a cesspool of filth, lies, quarrels, and pride. And this is so even among some professing Christians, as Twitter especially will testify. Moreover, I will grant because of this that certain weaker Christians should avoid all social media, or severely limit their involvement.
But this is no good reason for ministers to abstain from it completely. First because outright wickedness on social media can be largely avoided through a careful choice of friends to follow and groups to join, and through an unapologetic willingness to unfollow, block, and delete whenever needed. Second because the dangers of conversation with the wicked will attend you wherever they are, even outside social media, and to avoid it altogether you would have to leave the world (1 Cor. 5:10). Third because a minister’s calling, like that of the Son of Man (Luke 19:10), is to seek and to save that which was lost. Where sinners are is our mission field. If a man of God can preach at a gay pride rally, and not be stained, you for the love of sinners can safely spend time addressing them on social media. Our world is indeed an awful sinful mess, but thank God Christ entered that mess to save our souls. His servants ought to do the same.
There will be consequences.
I am afraid this is the weightiest objection in most men’s minds. It was in mine, until I learned to kill the fear of man. Yes, men will unfriend you, they will leave your church, they will comment with the foulest language, they will threaten ecclesiastical and civil penalties, they will try to dig up dirt on you. But so what? If you have a good conscience, if you repent of all known sin, if you speak the truth in love, you have nothing to fear. The worst men can do is kill your body, but then you’ll be with Christ. Rather than fear, you have every reason to rejoice, for when reviled, you are blessed (Matt. 5:11–12; Acts 5:41; 1 Peter 4:16). Suffering for the truth of God confirms our union with our suffering Savior (Matt. 10:24–25), and to have Christ is to have everything, even if you lose it all (Phil. 3:8).
This objection should rather be considered as a great and final motivation for lifting up your voice online. For yes, there will be consequences. Sinners will be saved. Members will be added to the church. Scoffers will learn not to blaspheme. Persecution will be stayed for years, perhaps for decades. Christians will be encouraged and built up. You will learn many things yourself in having to explain and defend the truth, and in watching others do the same. For all of these good reasons, and many more, I call you, men and brethren, to the internet, to lift up your voice there for the glory of your God.