I’ve started blogging and tweeting. I even have a FaceBook page. Why in the world would I start adding things like that to my plate? Isn’t pastoring a multi-campus church in South Florida enough to keep me busy? The answer to that question is definitely YES. But I’m always looking for ways to help me improve and develop as a Pastor.
When I started tweeting and blogging, I kept wondering if it was a waste of time. The learning curve took me a while to see any kind of value. But now that I’ve used Twitter for about 8 months and blogged for 3 months I’ve come to the conclusion that both have added greatly to my effectiveness as a pastor. I have been amazed at the feedback.
Here’s the bottom line. Transparency and authenticity are more than current buzzwords. People want to know if what they hear from their pastor is for real. They want to believe what they’re taught from the Bible, but it’s hard when they don’t see examples of people actually living out these truths. Tweeting and Blogging are great ways to demonstrate the daily practicalities of Biblical Truth. It’s like supplementing the weekly sermon with daily illustrations from your life. The pastor gets to actually model it. Sometimes as a good example; and sometimes not.
Pastors need to be true to their calling and preach and teach the Bible. But we also need to find ways to practically demonstrate through our lives those things we preach and teach. Tweeting (using Twitter) a few times a day helps others see how we interact with our circumstances and the people we meet. It’s like adding a living commentary to the things you’ve been teaching. What a great way to apply personally, for others to see, the Biblical truths you and I believe. Some would call that MENTORING.
Warning though! You don’t want to just tweet whatever thoughts come to your mind. You want to use discretion, be wise, and constructive. Never forget that you are modeling behavior that you would want others to learn from or imitate. Be sure to keep asking yourself, “How can what I just saw or thought apply to a Biblical principle I’ve learned?” or “Am I speaking the truth in love?” or “Would this really help somebody?”
I think if this technology was available to the Apostle Paul, he would have used it. That’s one thing I think he was saying in his letter to the church at Philippi.
“Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.” Phil 3:17 (HCSB)
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7 comments:
Love it!!!! Thanks Living the Life in a real way others can see! It speaks loudly!
Mike, I would second this. I have found twittering and blogging have not only introduced to other leaders who have some great ideas, but have also made me think of biblical truths in practical ways, and how everything in life can teach me in my walk with Christ, love the blog
I'm new to the whole twitter/facebook thing. It's already making quite an impact on my life. Once I learned to have all updates sent to my phone I was hooked. I love being able to hear from my Pastors through out the day. It helps keep me focused and know it's all "fur real".
Something else I've learned, speaking to all the introverts out there, is how connected I began to feel. It is just to easy to get cocooned these days. My answering machine is a screening machine and I sort my mail over the trash, not really expecting to hear from anyone I might actually care about!
With twitter I really feel as if I'm involved with the people I care about. What a difference this makes from seeing my church family just twice a week. It fills in the middle parts of life between friends and family, church family especially, that are so important and easily overlooked.
Now I think everyone should also have a blackberry or smart phone. This goes hand n hand with the twitter and the facebook....like milk and cereal, but that's just me.
This is a great post that shows the examples of "moderation" and "focus". These tools are great, but I wouldn't want a "robo-pastor" :)
Great post!
Awesome. I need to show this to my wife so she will know why I twitter/blog/facebook. lol.
thanks for the comments. I'm learning with you and look forward to hearing from you about taking it to the next level when it comes to pastoring, leading, shepherding.
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