Stonewashed Bootcut Gospel?

There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t love the fit of an old pair of jeans. Let’s be honest, it isn’t just women who will search high and low for the perfect pair. Now according to an article in Tech Today, there is a body scanner that will tell you your exact size for a perfect fit. Once you have been scanned, you will be able to shop virtually knowing everything recommended to you is a guaranteed perfect fit. This is marketing at it’s finest. Meeting people right at their point of need.

What if we took this same approach to evangelism? No, we are not “selling Jesus.” But we DO want to meet people in their point of need. As Annie, our intern, pointed out this summer “God made everyone different … and He relates to us all differently. God is always and forever the same, but while consistent He’s also dynamic.“ Her point was God is the same, but he relates to us each differently because we are different. He fits everyone like a perfect pair of jeans.  So, as online evangelists, we need to use the tools available to us to see what people need so that we can present the gospel in the most relatable way possible. When we really focus in of the  key terms we write into our blogs, the questions we ask on facebook, what trends we look to respond to in twitter we are being more effective at presenting a Jesus who is real to people.

Photo Jeans by Petr Kratochvil

Future Evangelism Trends Pt 2

Trends are trendy. People love them. We study them. And, depending on the trend, we follow them. Yesterday I addressed Thom Rainer, the CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources,’s article “5 Major Trends for Churches in America” by looking at how social media can help in sharing the gospel with the Millennial generation. Today Let’s look at another trend he noted:

The Boomer generation will actually be more receptive to the gospel.

They have been there and tried that, and it left them feeling empty. For the Boomer generation, who will not  ”accept their senior status“, they will continue to ride the technology trends of their children and grandchildren. We are reaching the place where everyone has a facebook. Even my  grandmother (I mean that literally). In light of this, we can not give up on a generation who once gave up on the gospel. They are more ready and open now than ever before. The more important trend or online missions to the Boomer generation is simply to be present where they are. They will use their smart phones, we should have apps available. They are on facebook, twitter, and other social sites, let’s engage them in a conversation.

As Thom Rainer pointed out, these two generations can not be ignored. They are the two largest generations in American history. Take a moment to realize that we are talking about real people with real spiritual needs. We can not afford be indifferent about this. We must engage these generations online!

Future Evangelism Trends

As humans, we love trends. We love knowing what will be “in,” marketable, and profitable. We want to know where to put our money, time, and talent. Where can we get the biggest return for our investment. While we might not be hopping on trends like watching bad reality TV, there are others that we don’t want to miss out on. Investors want to know what would be a wise investment of money. Parents want to be aware of what trend their kids think is “cool” (especially to know if running interference is necessary). And the church wants to know what is the best way to share the gospel with people.

In a recent article, Thom Rainer, the CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, lays out “5 Major Trends for Churches in America“. Two in particular stand out as important to consider for the future of online evangelism.

The Millennial generation will be indifferent toward Christianity. 

The very opposite of acceptance is indifference. Some people might be tempted to think it is hate. But if someone hates, they still have emotion and thoughts for a subject or person. If they are indifferent, they simply don’t care. Questions like “where will you go when you die” or “why are you here on earth” are dismissed with “I don’t care.” If someone doesn’t care, there can’t even be a conversation.

While people might become indifferent toward Christianity, they STILL care about their relationships. It is this relationship that will open the doors to conversation.  They are the first generation to share so much personal information online. And though it is less likely that they will live in the same town they grew up in, they will continue to be connected online. Social media then becomes all the more important mode of sharing the gospel.  The key to riding the social media trend is to remain authentic. The Millennial generation wants to know that you REALLY care. They want to engage with a REAL person. Therefore Christians need to continue to build a personal authentic social presence to connect and stay connected with people in their lives. Social media can’t be used just to throw christian ideas out there. The Millennial generation already “doesn’t care” about another idea. The most rewarding evangelism trend will be to build authentic relationships online so that they might be granted the privilege of sharing the gospel.

Join us tomorrow as we discover what the second trend is, and how we can address it…

iReform

A few weeks ago, some of our staff were having lunch together and brainstorming some ways to have fun. Someone remarked that we should do something for Reformation Day (This is the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church, thus igniting the Protestant Reformation.)

“But we aren’t trying to reform church policy,” someone pointed out.

“Yes,” said another, “But we ARE trying to reform the digital age for Jesus!”

Thus this crazy idea was hatched. A group of digital reformers we on a mission to spark a digital formation.

So, today we donned our iReform gear to revolutionize the digital mission!

While Luther had the Diet of Worms, we had web spiders. (nerd joke)

Read the 31.7 “Tweetheses” one reformer came up with. (He chose that number because it is 3x faster than 95).

Join us on twitter as we repost these and come up with some of our own. What theses would you add to the digital reformation? use #iReform to tag it!

While we chose to have a bit of fun celebrating a bit of church history today, we are serious when it comes to believing that God can and wants to transform lives in the digital space. 494 years ago, God used Martin Luther’s ideas and work to spark a reformation in people’s hearts. God is inviting us to do the same today.

We want to hear from you… what ways do you want to change the digital space to promote the gospel??