Have you ever gone to a party where there is someone talking non-stop? No one is really paying attention to him, but to be polite no one is interrupting or being rude. They are simply not hearing a thing that is being said. Too often, what is being said is only about themselves. If we are not careful, this is what Christians look like on social media.
The rules apply to marketers as well, but we have a message that must be shared for the sake of someone’s eternity. Our concern is for the gospel to be preached to the nations. We must earn the right to be heard. We earn this right by listening first, typing later.
Many times we are so eager to share our message that we send it out quickly. And, we do need to send our message out. What we miss is that, too often, Christian are only sending messages, not reading and listening to the conversation. A good rule of thumb in the marketing world is to send one marketing or promotion message out every five messages of messages sent. I believe this goes for Christian social media as well. Use one message to send an invite to a Christian program, highlight a missions opportunity, announce a sermon, or share the gospel. Use the other five to celebrate someone’s victory, express sadness toward a misfortune, laugh at a joke, re-share a photo, or be transparent about your life.
When we listen and engage with others, we earn the right to be heard and open the door for sharing the gospel.
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