As a church, we need to get on board with the social media tech trends the rest of the world is operating under. I’ve been attending Social Media Week Chicago, which has given me a plethora of insightful and inspiring information when it come to marketing and utilizing social media.

There was ONE faith based session. This was my moment. My the-skies-are-opening-and-I-see-the-light moment. But then the digital tech pastor speaking said, “We paid for 1 post. One. And it didn’t make a difference, so we don’t pay for anything.”

I might have publicly guffawed a little bit.

WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY?

Every question she answered, every moment she had the opportunity to talk about the position of the church, how to utilize social media for relationships, how to invite people into the community in a more wide-spread and meaningful way, she dropped it. Every. Single. One.

You guys. Where is our presence here? Why do we have ONE session, and that one session is totally lacking? Why aren’t WE the ones innovating, and offering solutions?

WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

Yes, Coca-Cola and Nissan and ESPN have big budgets and resources. But WHEN did that stop the church from being on the forefront of cultural change? Did Jesus ever stop and say, “Well, the temple of Artemis has more money than us, so we can’t influence as many people as them”

H-TO-THE-NO.

Jesus built relationships, preached from (free) mountaintops and changed people’s lives.

Sure, the millions of dollars would be great for data analytics, and marketing opportunities, but even if I had that to spend, I don’t know that I would. Because we have something that Coca-Cola and Nissan and ESPN DON’T have, and that’s LIFE CHANGE and a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. You can’t beat that. You can’t squelch that. People will forget a trending hashtag, but they won’t forget a story that drew them closer to Jesus.

So let’s educate ourselves in how to do this thing. Let’s become the experts on how to reach people online (because that’s where people are, you guys). Let’s win awards for social media strategy, and show the world how to impact people because THAT’S WHAT WE DO.

And it’s not for dollars or donations or publicity. It’s for relationships. If your motivation for jumping on twitter is to convert people to tithing, then you’re not a part of the same mission.

We’re here to be authentic, real, and reachable. This is where it gets messy, and it’s right where we’re supposed to be.

So how are you utilizing the tools so readily available to draw people closer to Jesus? This is our mission field, our people group. The church has been behind the times of being culturally relevant for far too long.

Here I am, Lord. Use me.

P.S. There ARE some great resources out there. If you want to learn more about it, check out That Church Conference and ChurchMarketingSucks.com