There’s no substitute for the power of gathering in person. I firmly believe that digital platforms are not in competition with the church; they are a tool for the church. We know Jesus used boats and mountain sides. He used dinner tables to reach people where they were. And now we use live streams, Instagram reels, TikTok, webinars, podcasts—it’s the same message but a different method.
One of the core values of our church is the phrase “same message, different language.” We want to communicate the gospel with love in a way that people can understand. Sometimes that means we have to be willing to change our methods or to find new methods. When it comes to digital media, it’s simply a new method to preach the same message.
What I’ve noticed is most of the criticism that comes about online ministry usually comes from people wanting depth or wanting to force people to gather in person. I see digital media as the new window of the church. It’s where people peak inside. Many of our first-time guests tell us that they drove by several times before they visited Rock Church. Then they say, “Then I started watching online. I’ve been watching online for weeks, months and I decided to give it a chance and step inside.” Sometimes they’ve seen a clip of me on TikTok or Instagram just throwing out a heap of hope, speaking to people’s pain, and eventually it connects with them. So social media is a digital on-ramp.
Start With Value, Not Just Visibility
Digital ministry is not just about pushing content; it’s about connecting, which is what pastoring is all about. It’s about connecting with people through empathy, seeing them, in a sense, right where they are. Hearing them. Valuing them.
I believe people who are receiving ministry online are looking for three things:
1. Authenticity. They don’t need polished; they need real. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be professional. We should. But we have to be willing to be vulnerable. So whether it’s a message, a reel, a story, if we’re vulnerable and real, we’re going to build trust
2. Hope. In a world full of noise and negativity, people are looking for something that’s going to encourage them, something that’s going to lift them up. It goes beyond information for them. I think sometimes I’ve been guilty of just throwing out information, information, information instead of communicating to the person who’s scrolling, to give them the hope that I have. The gospel is good news!
3. Accessibility. Whether it’s a single mom watching in the middle of the night or somebody sitting in their truck on their lunch break, they want truth delivered in a way that’s relatable. I think bite-sized info is more effective and makes it easy for people to engage with us. Rick Warren said, “If you will speak to people’s pain, you’re always going to connect with somebody because everybody’s either in a storm, getting ready to go into a storm, or coming out of a storm.”
It’s important not to view online ministry as a side hustle; it’s a front-line outreach. Use your platform. Use your voice because you have something to share and people need it.
Engage More Than You Broadcast
Content gets attention. Connection builds trust. Consistency changes lives. Start with value, not just visibility. We don’t post to post. We share something that’s going to help people, whether it’s hope, truth, encouragement, or clarity. When somebody who’s scrolling feels seen or helped by what you post, they’ll lean in and want more.
And engage more than you broadcast. I have been guilty of doing the opposite of that. Sometimes I’m just trying to post every day to post every day. I’ve had to slow down and make sure that I am taking the time to connect with people, to respond to comments and direct messages. I want to take the time to message them back, especially when they’re hurting or broken.
I do a live TikTok Bible study every Thursday night from 9 to 10 PM. I have a co-host and one of our pastors to help monitor and engage. We’ve become a community, and obviously we want to lead people to find and connect with a local church and to gather in person so they can have a support system that’s near them, but some of these people haven’t done that. They’re just scrolling, lying in bed or sitting in their living room. A couple months ago, we had the opportunity to lead somebody to Jesus during our Bible study time. That’s why it’s important to engage, not just broadcast, and use storytelling. Jesus did this.
Be Present and Personal
You don’t need the best camera to start speaking into people’s lives through social media. You can use your phone. I use mine! I built my TikTok audience significantly, up to close to 100,000 followers, simply by posting hope regularly, and I used my iPhone a lot of the time! You don’t have to have any equipment but your phone. That’s really all you need. There are some apps that can help make things easier, but ultimately it’s just setting up your phone, talking to somebody, and giving them hope. Obviously, we have the best news that anybody can have. And people respond to it! In fact, there have been people in my community who have watched my videos and come to our church.
Our online presence increases traction in our community and multiplies connection in our church. What do I mean by this?
1. Increases Traction. Because I want to be approachable, I don’t preach at people; I talk to them. I use language that feels real, not pastoral, if that makes sense. I let people know that I see them, and then they open up. I stay consistent even when life and ministry get busy. Why? Because I want to keep showing up.
Practical Tips
Some online content coaches will say that you need to post three to five times a day. I don’t think anybody has time for that! My goal was to post once a day Monday through Friday at least. I wasn’t always posting on the weekends, but I think if somebody is posting three to five times a week, that’s a good place to start.
Not every post takes a long time to prepare. Some are done on the fly. Sometimes a verse will pop into my head or I will hear or see something and write it down. When it comes to TikTok and Instagram, one-to-two-minute reels work best. Now YouTube has shorts. I keep them under three minutes as well so I don’t lose people with longer posts. With Tik Tok you can go up to 10 minutes but you usually lose people with longer posts. Most pastors or leaders can take a scripture and talk about it for 60 seconds. It’s just a matter of taking the time to set up your phone and record it, and then you can edit. CapCut is a great, practical tool. I would recommend CapCut for adding captions to your videos. I found when I add captions, it seems to extend your reach a little bit because there are a lot of times when people will lie in bed with their phone muted and read captions. If you have captions, they’re not going to skip over yours. I can record, edit and post a video within ten to fifteen minutes tops. The time is worth it to help people, to engage and build community, to develop a relationship with somebody who may be in your area.
Pastor, you know that in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul says, “I become all things to all people that by all possible means I might save some.” That’s why social media is a vehicle that you can’t ignore when sharing the gospel in your community and beyond. It is the only way we will reach some people, and it’s the first place some people will look to find hope for the problems and pain they’re facing. You don’t have to have it all together to get started. Use what you have, speak with authenticity, and make time to be accessible to those who respond to your posts. God will show you how social media can become a digital on-ramp to greater relationships and community reach for you and your church.
Have you noticed that once people get into their groove, they’re resistant to change? It doesn’t matter what type of personality they have. Most people just like things to remain the same.
If we want to see more people coming into the kingdom and being equipped, we as pastors need to keep sharing the vision and talking about the things the Lord is doing. If we don’t, the church will resist change, and that creates a big challenge. Only knowing the “why” will build their buy-in and cause them to become more open to change.
As pastors, we are called to be spiritual parents. This is an important part of our role in the church because we all need people who love and care for us and believe the best for us. A spiritual father has the ability to come alongside others and see their situation from a higher perspective, to speak life and minister to them. Unfortunately, pastors can become so entrenched in what they’re doing they don’t realize they need to be spiritual parents.
Right now, one of my greatest joys is spending time with pastors, encouraging them, listening to them. We had our pastor’s breakfast recently, and about thirty from our community were present. Three stayed after to talk about the issues they’re facing, and I was able to encourage them. It helps to have someone who can make you laugh, see from a different perspective, and put some fuel in your joy tank so you can finish strong.
Today, I want to share with you four ways to overcome resistance to change in your church:
- Prayer. Prayer is where you settle your own life. It’s where you come to a place of knowing who you are, hearing the voice of God, and knowing the direction of where you’re taking the church, what you need to speak upon and all that type of stuff. You’re stewarding this church; you don’t own it. If you don’t hear the assignment from the Lord and why you’re doing it, you’re just coming up with good ideas. Good ideas are great, but you need God-ideas and His anointing upon them, and then you will be able to communicate it so people grab hold of it. Jesus spent much time alone in prayer. Wouldn’t you have loved to have snuck up on Him when He was praying to the Father and heard what He was talking about? He’d hear the assignment and then be able to know exactly what to do.
- Partnership. Partnership is more than just assigning a task to someone, then micromanaging it. That’s not real partnership. When you’re assigning something to someone in the church or your community, they need to have some ownership in it where you can celebrate together what the Lord is doing with some authority. For many pastors, that sparks insecurity because it’s hard to let go of things. But if you really want to see the church advance and penetrate your region and then the world, you’ve got to have partners with whom you develop trust and communication. When pastors keep things so close that nothing happens without their direct involvement, it’s an insecurity or lack of desire at play. That hurts the ministry.
You know, the disciples were upset when another group was going around baptizing and doing things in the name of Jesus. They rebuked them because they weren’t counted among the disciples. Jesus said, “Don’t stop them, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterwards speak evil of Me, for he who is not against us, he’s on our side.” Can you recognize what God is doing with someone of a different personality, different denomination, different leadership style within your church? If they’ve got fire in their bones, if you can harness that and point them in the right direction, you’re expanding the kingdom. - Priorities. Knowing your priorities as a leader is really important. You need to know what tasks are easy for you and difficult for you. You need to know your giftings. You need to know what you do that matters the most to other people. You need to know what you’d delegate away if you could. Then you can start looking for the people who can free you up to best attend to your priorities by empowering them and handing things off as they prove themselves faithful.
One of my leaders, Chris, came to us in his early 20s. We brought him in to work with maintenance, then our college and career group. He did a great job. When he got married, we shifted his priorities to the young married group. They worked together to develop classes and such. I added him to our preaching rotation. He’s a preacher with an evangelistic call on his life, which is a complement to me because I’m more of a teacher, and the two go hand-in-hand. He is committed to the house and to me, and even before we transitioned him to our primary leader, I could see the anointing growing on his life. I began having him close every service because of his gifting. And now he ministers most of the time! - Purpose. If you don’t know your purpose or you’re not secure in your purpose, you will deal with inner and external conflict. During our transition I had to realize that I’m still a minister, but I’m a child of God too. We still minister some or teach on Wednesday nights, but we’re like grandma and grandpa in the church, and people honor that. Chris always honors us, and we honor him and get up and pray or whatever is needed during services, and the people get to see us support him.
When you start supporting different ones doing the work of the Lord in the house, it brings security to people. I think a lot of ministers are afraid that if they’re not leading, they’re going to be pushed out. Maybe in some denominations it happens that way, but what I’m seeing more and more now is there’s an honoring to those who have plowed the ground, and they’re not pushed out. Man, their voice is strong. It takes on a whole different level of spiritual blessing, enablement, authority, blessing those who are taking the baton and running harder with it. I think we’re going to see more salvations and miracles with the ones who are taking the church reins now. We’re going to see a great move of God if we do this right.
Jesus prayed in John 17:20, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also might be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” So if all the world hasn’t believed yet, could it be we’re not yet one? How do we become one? I believe that as you keep growing in the Lord and your ministry keeps advancing, you’ll suddenly realize it’s not about you but about those you’re raising up. Spiritual parenting has become my greatest joy, seeing what the Lord is doing through those I’ve mentored and sent out. I am fulfilled because of what I’m seeing in them. I know you will be too, Pastor.
Stay on track with the Lord. Function from rest, not from frustration. Pray and develop partnerships. Assess your priorities and delegate as needed. Remember your purpose and be secure in it. If you will stay faithful in your mission, accept your God-given mandate, and keep intentionally pouring into others, they will take what you have to offer and multiply it.
This blog was created using content from the webinar Leveraging Online Influence.
