The Bible says there is a voice of one calling in the wilderness… “Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3) The phrase, “A voice crying in the wilderness” conjures up images of a man standing in a densely populated forest….thick, tall tress surrounding him, light filtering in from way atop the highest branches, green, creeping vines spreading around trunks and onto the ground, dead, broken branches blocking his way. He shouts and shouts and shouts…..trying to share the message of God…..to seemingly no one and yet to everyone. There is a voice crying in the wilderness, “Make way, make straight, God is coming!”
Do you sometimes feel like you are shouting in the wilderness—a social media wilderness? Are you surrounded by a forest of social media outlets…a vast array of information resources that seemingly fight against you, and block your way? Are the tweets, posts, photos, and videos, the constant barrage of noise and mental clutter chocking out your message? Are you shouting louder, louder and louder still, and is your message drifting into the noise of a thousand other voices?
The message of Christ is as significant today as it was 1,000 years ago when messages traveled by foot, by camel, horses and boat. The message still matters……maybe more urgently in these seemingly desperate times. And so, how do you know what to say and more urgently, how to say it? How do we sort through the forest of resources, outlets and clutter?
We know that God is NOT the author of confusion, and so we know His plan for our lives and our ministries is ordered, clear and sensible. Our first priority in sorting all of this out is to quiet our spirits, discern, decipher and lay out a plan…and to remember….we are not alone. There are thousands of other ministers, churches and church communicators trying to do the exact same thing….and I suspect they feel as if they too are standing in a wilderness trying to share the Good News and are feeling unheard.
I ran across an article this weekend shared by Neal Fischer, a church communications expert, via our #CHSOCM twitter group. This article discusses the concern we are all feeling–a concern that the message of Christ is going unheard–and this article offers a few suggestions to help all of us. I suggest you read it and use the resources and information to help you on your social media journey!
“Is the Church Losing Its Voice in a Media Driven World?”
Blessings on this day.
Katy D.