Questions Every Pastor on Social Media Should Ask Themselves

Social media is full of 280-character gems and landmines. Like the covenant God made with Israel through Moses, this world comes with blessings and curses. It can be vitally rewarding or pastorally disqualifying.

Life in the land of X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram is overrun with giants—also known as trolls—so I don’t fault Christians who choose to avoid the very real dangers of social media altogether. Specifically for pastors, what does faithful engagement look like?

In this article, I provide important principles for us to consider if we’re going to use social media as ministers. Social media can be used for platforming Christ, modeling charity, and encouraging others. But the presence of trolls and pitfalls means it must also be used with caution and discernment.

Entering the digital landscape

Because things can easily get out of hand online, it’s important to use social media strategically. Ask yourself, “What is my purpose for engaging on this platform?”

Now, it may be that you simply want to hang back and keep up with your favorite sports team—that’s fine. But if you plan to engage on social media as an extension of your public ministry, you need to be clear about how you’re called to live, as well as about the limitations of online discourse.

1. Acknowledge who you represent online

First things first, as a minister your life and words are supposed to reflect Jesus Christ, and what you do on social media is no exception.

There’s the real temptation to platform yourself online: to craft a witty “tweet” that gets traction, or to speak into the latest controversy to assert your expertise (or expose a lack thereof).

As we cross over into the world of social media, we should take Paul’s words to the Philippians to heart, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Phil 2:3).¹ The word nothing there has always struck me. The online world is programmed toward self-exaltation. This can happen by tearing others down or by putting forward a glamorous avatar of your life and ministry that doesn’t comport with reality. Remember that nothing you do should flow from selfish ambition, including the things you post.

Our work as pastors must be about Jesus, not about our public image. If we fail to abide by this, we’ll be too much about building and defending our own persona. This leads to all sorts of temptations which, as pastors, we should run from. Consider John Calvin’s advice to pastors,

Those who have the responsibility to teach and to bear the message of the gospel, must strive to avoid personal disputes and arguments. Indeed, all quarreling must be banned if we do not wish the door to be closed to us. … Even if a person has wronged us, we are not to feel any enmity towards him but to desire his salvation.²

Good pastors platform Jesus. That doesn’t mean every post needs to be about the beauty of Christ (but wouldn’t social media be so much better if it were?), but it does mean that his beauty should never be eclipsed by our image or how we relate to others online.

When I talk about social media being an extension of pastoral ministry, I don’t mean that the substance of pastoral ministry happens from behind a computer or phone. Your flock can’t be cared for by your Instagram page.

The reality is that engaging online can be fruitful, but it can also be futile. Pastors who get lost in the land of social media begin to see their own church through the lenses of the latest viral controversy. You need to shape your ministry around the people whom God has called you to baptize, bury, visit, exhort, weep with, and rejoice alongside of. Your people don’t really need your social media presence, but they do need your actual presence. If you’re giving them the former, but not the latter, then something is terribly wrong.

Your people don’t really need your social media presence, but they do need your actual presence.

Posting pastorally

Pastors are “public persons” as ambassadors of Jesus Christ and representatives of God’s kingdom. This identity should help us when considering what and how we post.

Of course, a pastor should never post (or like) something that brings scandal to his church, ministry, or Savior. But we should also take care not to communicate to those watching us that our personal interests or opinions are meant to be universally binding. The reality is that when you speak out as a pastor, people can have a hard time understanding whether you’re representing God or yourself. Because of this, I suggest pastors focus on posting biblical content that encourages Christians and engages well with outsiders (i.e., non-Christians).

If we use social media to harp on issues outside of our purview, we might find that we lose opportunities to minister to people because they feel ostracized. Not everyone in your church is going to agree with you about matters of Christian liberty or the economy or immigration. When we pontificate about those things, it sends a confusing message. We have to be careful to balance and distinguish between our personal voice and our pastoral authority.

When it comes to what sort of biblical content to share, I like to draw from the book of the Bible I’m currently preaching out of, or stuff I’m reading through for fun.

Communicating complex theology in ways that are accessible and engaging is difficult, but distilling your ideas into short and powerful statements can be a helpful exercise.

Here again, though, we have to remember the limitations of social media. The deep waters of theology often call for the kind of nuance and qualification that a tweet can’t always give. So below are a few questions I try to ask myself:

Does what I’m about to say here help provide clarity, or will it confuse people? Wisdom says, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple” (Ps 119:130).
Is the goal of this post to draw attention to myself, or to help others and shine a light on biblical truth? Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt 23:19).
Does what I’m about to say come from a place of anger, and am I speaking out too quickly before having all of the information needed to render a wise judgment? “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (Jas 1:19).
Are my words a form of “meddling,” and is this post just going to come back to bite me like a rabid dog? “Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears” (Prov 26:17).
Is this post an attempt to gain traction by talking about others in a way that would be considered gossip? “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body” (Prov 18:8).
Is this post coming from a quarrelsome spirit? “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil” (2 Tim 2:24).
Is what I’m about to say here rash and harmful, or well thought out and life-giving? “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Prov 12:18).
Is what I’m about to say born out of love or not? “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Cor 16:14).

Doubtless there are other questions we could ask, but this is enough to make us think twice, and maybe even save us a lot of heartache.

As pastors, it’s not just what we say that’s important, but how we say it. It’s possible to communicate the truth with contempt, instead of care.

For better or for worse, we’re teaching others how to talk by our example. If the people under our care see us biting and devouring one another, we shouldn’t be surprised when they go and do likewise. Especially in our day, where uncharitable engagement is the modus operandi of so much discourse in society, we have a real opportunity to show others what it looks like to communicate with conviction and compassion. Grace and truth.

As with other kinds of ministry, success here should be determined first and foremost by faithfulness to God and his Word. Don’t sell your soul to the algorithm and engage in the kind of viral content that spreads like wildfire because it’s fueled by hell’s combustible gases (see Jas 2:6). Sometimes platforming Jesus and the truth of God’s Word isn’t popular, but that doesn’t mean we should change our strategy.

Think in terms of having a long-term voice, rather than trying to build something big overnight. If we’re driven by success in terms of media metrics, we’ll be tempted to compromise our approach. This doesn’t mean the good stuff never goes viral, but unfortunately, it’s the delicious morsels of gossip that we often “like” and “share” instead of the words of everlasting life. Stick to the latter and you’ll be more successful in the final analysis than those who build platforms for themselves out of wood, hay, and straw.

Some helpful questions for gauging success are:

Does my presence on social media bring people together or tear them apart? Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt 5:9).
Is the content I share edifying? “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess 5:11).
Am I supporting the work of the local church by pointing people to its importance, or am I undermining it by drawing people to myself? “[F]rom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Act 20:30).
Are people encouraged to draw closer to Christ in prayer and thanksgiving by the things I post? I love using social media to find ways to pray for others, and to share prayer requests that invite others to join me in prayer. “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many” (2 Cor 1:11).

The question isn’t, “How many followers do you have?” but, “Are you faithfully following Jesus?” You can faithfully follow Jesus with a lot of “followers,” but having them doesn’t necessarily mean you’re successful as a pastor on social media.

The question isn’t, “How many followers do you have?” but, “Are you faithfully following Jesus?”

Finding forgiveness in the land

If you’re familiar with Israel’s story in Canaan, you know that the trolls often got the better of them. It’s easy for all of us to stick our foot in our mouth while shooting from the hip online (and you’re bound to miss with such a poor stance). For some of us, the fast-paced nature of social media might make it too difficult to participate in a slow-to-speak manner. Add to this the fact that most platforms are riddled with pornographic potholes that, even when you’re not looking for them, seem to come looking for you.

It takes a degree of maturity to scroll and post responsibly, and you need to be honest with yourself about whether you have that. It isn’t immature to avoid social media (it might be the wisest thing for you), but unhealthy or sinful social media use can expose a deeper issue in your life.

If you’ve been using social media in a way that dishonors Christ and is unbefitting of your calling as a pastor, there’s forgiveness! Confess your sin and repent. If you can’t use it without being sucked into bad habits, then be honest with yourself and focus your attention elsewhere. As I stated previously, social media can be used for good, but if pastors aren’t using it that way, then they shouldn’t be using it at all.