Archive for Strategy
Leonard Sweet, evangelism professor at Drew University, recently wrote an article entitled, “Twitter Theology: 5 Ways Twitter Has Changed My Life and helped me be a better Disciple of Jesus.” He has shared some very intriguing personal reflections on his use of twitter.
First of all, Len has rightly turned twitter on its head…an approach all Christians should take in their use of social media. He has redefined the application of the tool. Len writes, “In twitter’s ethic of followership, I am constantly reframing reality in ways that are more Jesus….In my ongoing battle with self-transcendence over self-absorption, twitter has helped me become more others-focused.” Rather than indulging himself in the self-proclamatory nature of twitter, Len tweets with the purpose of encouraging others in their followship of Christ, not in the followship of himself. This is the Christian ethic of social media.
Twitter asks, “What are you doing?” Facebook asks, “What’s on Your Mind?” LinkedIn asks, “What are you working on now?” Facebook tells you to ‘Broadcast Yourself’ and the list goes on. As Christians, these technologies are not evil or even bad. These websites are mere tools. They can be used for good or bad. They are amoral. However, it is the morals of those who use them that determine their value for us as individuals and for the church. Don’t let the presuppositions of those who created them (as indicated by the self-proclamatory inquiries) deter you from using these tools for the Kingdom of God.
Don’t underestimate the difference you can make with 140 characters. As Len describes them, tweets are sound bytes that bite. He writes, “No one was better at tweets than Jesus. Jesus was a master at sound bytes that bite with terseness and immediacy.” More than likely, your favorite Bible verse is a case in point.
Third in Len’s twitter theology is the principle of ‘surface.’ He writes, “Life is not just about the depths. Life is also about the surfaces. I spend large parts of my life with academics who spend their careers exploring the depths. Many seldom come up. You come up for the air of communication and relationship, and when you spend all your time in the depths you find yourself talking only to yourself.” I can certainly see the applicability of this for those in theological academia, but for others such as myself, the danger is not the lack of surfaces, but the lack of depths. May all of us stay anchored in the depths of God’s Word as we seek to encourage others in Christ both online and off.
My thanks to Professor Sweet for sharing his thoughts. It is important for us as Christians to consider the implications of these tools and use them rightly–with a Christian ethic that seeks to encourage others to follow Christ rather than seeking to be followed.
Balancing High Touch and High Tech
Posted by: |Matt Miller, our evangelism pastor at our Cypress Campus distributed some great reminders to our staff. He gives some best practices on interacting with guests and visitors to the church. Certainly, email and other tools are not high tech as my title may imply, but you get the point….
When Calling Prospects I have found that…
- if the prospect leaves a number its because they want to be called or they are saying its okay to call me
- its important to know something personal about the prospect before you call them….Imis!!! (do they have kids, where do they live, place of work, did they attend bible study, are they single/divorced/married, etc.)
- your best tool is to ask questions that will draw feedback and get a response from them (did you enjoy service? How did you kids like bible study? How did you hear about us? What part of the service did you enjoy the most? Have you and your husband tried a bible study? (have a bible study in mind to suggest to them before the call)
- if you follow up the call with an e-mail of thanks and/or with information about the next weeks service and a link to our website it finishes off the follow-up with a little class… and typically the prospect will respond to the e-mail
When Sending Notes I have found that…
- notes are the most effective tool in prospects returning to service and bible study!
- a hand written note from a staff member screams I care enough about you to write a note. Anyone can send a bulk email to visitors and its convenient to pick the phone up and say thanks and then hang up.
- a handwritten note to anyone 50 years and up they will hunt you down on Sunday just to say thank-you
- when someone has found me to say thanks for a note they almost always say “I can’t remember the last time someone sent me a handwritten note”
When Sending Emails I have found that…
- its key to compose the email in a way that does not scream “BULK MAIL OUT”
- its important to pull something personal from imis that gives the personal touch (their kids names, the class name they visited, the date they visited, etc)
- when I ask a question in the e-mail that seeks a response…. The prospect typically responds back with feedback (when you allow someone to give feedback they feel that their opinions mean something) Everyone likes it when their opinions are pursued and they are welcomed!
- E-mail is a great and preferred tool of the younger generation 40 years and below
