We spend money on our website and some advertising on facebook and google. Really our plan is consistent and intentional saturation. We blog, we tweet, we facebook. I think there are a couple of ways in which we do this. We do it from a personal standpoint, meaning we tweet and blog and facebook to help people have an understanding of who we are and what we do. I know it is terribly disconnected from a personal, life-on-life standpoint, but it helps to answer the question, “What does a pastor do all day?” The answer is that we have real lives and think about a lot of the same things other people do. The second way we use it is to show people that we as people and pastors are constantly thinking about the life of Christ as it relates to all of life. We tweet verses that are meaningful to us. We tweet quotes from authors who are mentoring us. We blog about issues in our church. It is amazing how many face to face conversations about biblical ideas take place because of what was posted on facebook or twitter. I think the beauty of this strategy is that it doesn’t cost a lot of money, just a little time and thought. I hope that answered your question.

I think it is great that your church is focused on spreading the word through the digital space. Many of the counter-arguments used to using social media sound a lot like the arguments used for avoiding contemporary worship. (It isn’t real worship, the technology gets in the way of conveying the message, people only come to see the “shiny objects”, etc.) We have seen over the past 20 years that it not the case and it should not keep us from digital marketing today.

At the end of the day, a number of people confuse MEDIUM with MESSAGE. The unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ is just as our even more meaningful in today’s world as it was 2,000 years ago. The changes in technology allow us to carry that message faster and more interactively across the globe. Sorry, but I don’t see an issue there.

I can truly respect Rodney’s point of view that the spiritual community is essential to growth. God made us inherently social beings and community helps instruct, correct and lift us up in our spiritual faith. But…cannot these same things be done in an on-line way? The technology today collapses distance as we think about it and allows community to be only 17 inches away.

The core of Rodney’s argument was made in 1521 as well. We need learned people to be able to instruct the flock on the correct theology and keep them from straying down a bad path. Luckily, Martin Luther blew off the criticism, translated the Bible into German and along with the printing press, transformed Christianity as we know it.

While I do not even remotely suggest that social media is the same level of change, we need to be careful that we avoid technologies to help us rapidly grow the Kingdom because we are afraid of it.

You are right to point out that Paul’s letters are largely corrective and the best way to do correction and teaching is face-to-face as would have been the case when Paul sent his letters to trusted men who were able to teach. I wasn’t meaning to infer the Internet or social media or podcast as a primary way to do correction (though it might accomplish that) as much as I was intending to say that it is a connecting point or a feedback opportunity for our church, among other possibilities. (As a matter of fact, not only does our church get to ask questions via texting about the sermon for a Q and A podcast, but the following week they then go to a small group and then revisit the same text and talk about application.)

I also am concerned with the lack of biblical human interaction and accountability in local bodies and the trend of “Internet churches”. My point was simply to say that we have various Internet mediums available to us and we should use them to interact, teach, preach, etc. through the power of the Holy Spirit for the praise of His glory. I see our web presence as a (not the) front door to our body, and also as a way for our people to interact when we are a part in body.

What is concerning to me, in addition to the concerns I share with you (and perhaps it is generational or because of lack of knowledge and skill or whatever the reason may be) is that so few churches and pastors are not using the the Internet and Social media in a way that might poke and prod people to at least think about the gospel of Jesus and what it means to live biblically in all of life, even life on the Internet. Or to say it more pointedly, many leaders and churches have no strategy for leveraging social media as a medium of influence in the lives of Christians or non-believers. Is it any wonder that churches can seem so irrelevant culturally and methodologically?

You stated and then asked, “The truth needs to be out there, but how does one use the media to speak the truth (write, video, blog, photo, IM, etc.) and ensure the message is received without the one thing the media is lacking, community in action – personal face to face accountability.” Good question, but perhaps the Holy Spirit might use the strategic influence of social media as a tool to stir people toward this very thing. But unless we engage people where they are they may be content to stay there, (if they are without biblical community) without any biblical accountability.

“As a conclusion, God said through one of his prophets that his Word leaves his mouth, and will in no way return to him Void. So, if you have the God given gift, use the media to reach people for Jesus. But, don’t forget to call them to, and touch them in community.” – I agree.