Social-Media is About My Purpose

One of the things that really scared me when I took some time in December to evaluate my use of social-media was just how random my communication was.  It had gotten to the point where I would share whatever thought popped into my head [1].

It wasn’t really the randomness that bothered me (we are all random sometimes) the true problem was how little online communication fit with my calling or purpose.

The Bible clearly teaches that God has a special purpose for each one of us that we were created specifically for. He also equips us to accomplish that purpose with a love for doing it, a burden (emotional connection with those we minister to), abilities that fit with that purpose, and determination to finish it.

This means our responsibility is

1.  To discover our purpose
2. Accomplish it with God’s help

My purpose for instance is to be a Missionary [2] to Melbourne Australia, but it’s actually more specific than that.

1. I am called to share the Gospel with Australians through ministries that meet their physical or emotional needs instead of relying on a “Church based outreach” [3].
2. In a deeper sense my calling is to share the Gospel with children who don’t know Christ [4] through mentoring or tutoring ministries
3. Using these ministries I will explain the Gospel in everyday conversation so that they can see their need of Christ

Basically my purpose would look something like this: “Reaching children and their families with ministries that meet their needs while explaining the Gospel.

Before moving on just let me clarify my calling doesn’t make me more important than others who aren’t called to full-time Christian ministry. In fact I sometimes find myself envious of those who have a regular job or focus on caring for their children, since it allows them to spend more time with a specific group of individuals [5] and have a deeper influence in their life.

The thing that bothered me in December was nobody would think my purpose to life was “reaching children with the Gospel” by looking at my Facebook page.

Instead they would probably think my purpose was running, sports (NFL in particular), or just making people laugh.
Of course there’s nothing really wrong with these kinds of things, but they don’t fit in with the perfect plan of God for my life.

So I decided to become purposeful about my communication online…not because I’m better than everyone else, but because I want every part of my life to fit into the purpose of God.

More than anything else this means thinking about what I’m sharing online before posting it.

1. Is this explaining a key truth of Scripture?
2. Does this illustrate the challenges of a Missionaries life? [6]
3. Am I sharing a blessing or prayer request that comes from my ministry with children?
4. Will this challenge others to share the Gospel of Christ?
5. Am I sharing this just to make myself feel better?

These and other questions help me have a purpose or theme to my online communication.

Oh there will still be random posts and the occasional funny cat video (okay more often than that) but it’s my prayer that when people look at my page they won’t see a runner/comedian/sports fanatic, but a Missionary called to teach children the Gospel.