The Ice Bucket Challenge got cold (pun intended) and as one may have predicted, Christians started creating their Gospel-centered alternative.
No complaints here.
As a matter of fact, I was called out on a new challenge which allowed me to experiment, yet again, with another angle on personal evangelism using Facebook.
And with pretty good results.
Now, I’ve been saying over and over that social media is not an evangelism strategy.
Am I changing my position on that?
Not at all.
Social media — including Facebook — functions as an enhancement to every other outreach strategy.
So, my example in this post is a tactic to enhance the Personal Evangelism strategy for evangelism.
Pastor Chris Pritchett of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Bowman, GA, called me out on the “Know That You Know Challenge.”
Basically, the challenged one (in this case, me, and yes, I’m used to being called that) is supposed to give the reason that they “know that they know that they know” they’re saved/redeemed/going to heaven/you-get-the-idea.
So I responded by grabbing my smartphone, going outside in good light, and recording a short testimonial Gospel presentation.
You can view the actual video below.
Whether or not you like (or got tired of) the “challenge” sort of thing, there are some observations worth noting regarding Facebook as a personal evangelism platform.
I made for you this video update, below, where I go over the viral results after 48 hours of the video being posted:
As you can see, pretty powerful.
We live in the BEST time in history to share the Gospel. Every believer with a social media account can reach around the world with the message of Christ.
How To Reproduce This Result For Each Member Of Your Church Who Uses Social Media
Our people will share the Gospel if we give them the tools… and a clear plan. What could happen if the viral video testimonial tactic “went viral” IN YOUR CHURCH?
Here’s how to give it a nudge…
1. On a Sunday morning, share the power of putting one’s personal testimony on Facebook and how many could actually be reached with the Gospel.
Share some of these stats:
- Worldwide, there are over 1.71 billion monthly active Facebook users (MAUs) which is a 15 percent increase year over year.
- 1.13 billion people log onto Facebook daily (DAU) for March 2016, which represents a 16% increase year over year.
- Average time spent per Facebook visit is 20 minutes.
- 50% of 18-24 year-olds go on Facebook when they wake up.
- 4.75 billion pieces of content shared daily as of May 2013 which is a 94 percent increase from August 2012.
- Every 60 seconds on Facebook: 510 comments are posted, 293,000 statuses are updated, and 136,000 photos are uploaded.
Source: https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/
Facebook is a platform we can’t ignore if we care about getting the Gospel out. (Challenge them to think about all the things Christians are posting DAILY that have NOTHING to do with the Gospel at all.
2. Announce a “challenge” of sorts and that you will be posting your own testimony video and challenging three church members in your video.
OR, just announce that you’ll be creating a testimony video and posting to Facebook and suggest they do the same — you can leave the “challenge” thing out altogether if you wish.
You may wish to show a sample video that was made using the tips in #3, next.
3. Share these tips:
a. Make sure the Gospel is clear.
b. Keep it centered on the Gospel. Avoid tangential/controversial/political/trendy references.
c. Keep it short. A long video won’t get watched.
d. Make sure it’s personal. Tell how you came to Christ and the different it’s made. (I could have done better on this. Non-preachers will tend to be more personal by nature.)
e. Talk in language people understand. Don’t use “churchy” words. Remember your audience and who you’re trying to reach.
f. Always give a call-to-action at the end of the video. Here are a few…
“If you agree with what I said in this video and think it’s something people should hear, please share it. And if you want to know how to make sure your sins are forgiven and you’re on your way to Heaven, private message me.”
“If you agree with what I said in this video and think it’s something people should hear, please share it. Or, if you’d like to know about the Jesus of Scripture, go to www.yourchurchsite.com/gospel” [or whatever link your church site may have set up] right now.”
“Our church, [name of church] has a class about this very topic every Tuesday night at 6:30. Join us next week and bring your questions and we’ll try to get them answered together. Either way, if you agree with what I said in this video and think it’s something people should hear, please share it.”
Another idea: Grab each member’s video you can find and embed them all on one page of your church web site.
Powerful.
So there you go. A simple way to mobilize your people to do personal evangelism on Facebook. Don’t just be a reader though… be a DOER and reap some more of this harvest.