At the 2010 Internet Ministry Conference (Grand Rapids, MI), I spoke on creating a tailored Internet strategy with language and relationships. Here is the outline of my talk:

A SHORT STORY

This is a story about two brothers - identical twins, Abe and Eli. Like most twins, Abe and Eli were more than brothers. They were best friends. They did everything together. They went fishing. They threw rocks. They watched the same movies, listened to the same music, and dated the same girls… er, I should say fought over the same girls. But they made it threw that messy conflict. In college, they shared the same friends with whom they also shared a same rent house. Life was good. But then things changed… Abe and Eli graduated. They got jobs. And as their careers demanded, they moved away to separate towns.

Five years passed without Abe and Eli seeing each other face to face. Five years passed quickly. But then one day Eli receives a phone call. His stomach sinks and his Adam’s apple knots into the back of his throat. Abe had been in a serious car accident. It does not look good. Abe is in a coma. So Eli books the first flight to Boston and makes his way to Abe’s bedside. It is difficult to see, but Eli believes that Abe will make it through this.

So Eli determines to take care of Abe’s house until he is better. After all, he knows Abe better than anyone else. So Eli hops in his rental car and drives across town to Abe’s house. Eli doesn’t have a key, but he does have a hunch that Abe still hides a key box around the back of the house just like they had at their college rent house. Sure enough, he is right.

Eli laughs as he entered the house. Everything is just like Abe - the same quirks and details he had always had. “This is going to be easy,” he thinks, “I know Abe.” But what Eli doesn’t know is… “Woof, WOOF, Woof!” A beast lunges at Eli as he opens a door. It is Zeke, Abe’s 3-year-old German Shepherd. Eli had never met Zeke, but he is confident he can handle some dog.

But Zeke is not just “some dog.” Zeke does not respond to any commands. Eli takes Zeke outside. A rabbit is spotted and zoooommm! There is no response to whistles, clapping, or “Come here, boy!” It is a long chase through the suburbs. The drama continues and continues with each day Eli spends with Zeke. One night Eli gives Zeke table scraps to win him over, but instead Eli finds himself rushing a wheezing dog with allergies to an emergency vet.

The good news is after seven days, Abe came out of the coma. With tears in their eyes, Abe and Eli celebrate the come back. Eli jokes, “I am glad you are well. Perhaps now you can take that dog of yours to obedience school.” Abe pauses with a puzzled look then laughs. “Ha! No need for that. Zeke has already been to obedience school. In fact, he was best in class. The problem is you don’t speak Zeke’s language. He has been trained to respond only to specific commands in German.”

This is a lesson about language and relationship. Eli’s relationship with Abe gave him intimate understanding about how Abe would want his house maintained. But Zeke was not Abe. Just because Eli had a good relationship with Abe doesn’t mean that he has a relationship with Zeke, which would have helped him avoid the allergy fiasco. And just because Eli knew how to handle some dogs doesn’t mean that he knows how to speak Zeke’s language.

LANGUAGE & RELATIONSHIP

Outside of prayer and obedience to the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, language and relationship are some of the most important keys to successful ministry strategy.

Language is cultural relevance. Relationship is emotional relevance.

When you speak someone’s language, it increases the potential of you forming a meaningful relationship with that person (language creates intimacy through understanding). But at the same time, the better your relationship is with someone, the easier it is to speak their language (relationship creates understanding through intimacy).

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

I believe that much of the good that is done for the Kingdom is done through relationships. Relationships are timeless and enduring. Relationships are driven by love, God’s love, which selflessly and sacrificially heals the hurts of others. There will always be hurting people, lonely people, the neglected, the abused, and the rejected. People crave good relationships.

Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
- Colossians 4:5-6

SPEAKING A TAILORED LANGUAGE

Language defines how you do ministry. It is what connects who you are with who you are called to reach. It is more than words. It is the details of how you communicate through every touchpoint. The tricky part is language is rooted in culture, and culture is always changing.

I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.
- 1 Corinthians 9:22

Language is cultural relevance. And it is important to clarify that cultural relevance is not gimmicks and novelty and entertainment. True cultural relevance is understanding people well enough to speak their language and interact with them in a way that better engages them.

If you want to tailor your language, you must:

1. Know Thyself (and how you are evolving)
   If you do not know who you are, you will be misguided. You will lack purpose. You will lack vision. And the Bible is plainly clear that without vision, the people will perish. The corporate world calls this branding. In ministry, we call it our calling.
2. Know Your Audience (and how they are evolving)
   People want to hear a message that is focused on them. A message tailored specifically to you is more effective than one designed for the entire nation.
3. Identify the Communication Channels (and how they are evolving)
   Once you know who you are and understand who you are called to reach, then you can best determine what is communication channels you should choose and how to use them. There are hundreds of communication channels, but not every one is right for you.

USING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Every touchpoint you have with someone online or offline communicates something - be it good or bad. There are tens of thousands of ways to communicate, so I am not going to cover many of them.

Instead, I encourage you to focus on building real relationships and speaking a language that is authentic to your calling and relevant to people’s culture. The more you do that the easier it is to naturally understand what works within your unique context.

I will, however, lightly cover four areas among many that should be considered when tailoring your ministry strategy.

• Design
  Your design is your credibility. You can’t stop people from making assumptions, but you can create an image that produces the right assumptions. Good design temporarily supplements relationships by creating a perception of your ministry before you have a chance to build a real relationship. Good design helps people overlook faults within your approach.
• Social Media
  Do not do social media for social media’s sake. Merely having a Facebook page or a Twitter account does not help you. In fact, using social media the wrong way will hurt how people perceive you. You must add value.
• Search Engine Optimization
  Focus on people’s needs and not the obvious. If you are Grace Church from Chicago, IL, don’t optimize yourself for “Grace Church” and “Chicago church.” The people who need you the most will not be searching with those terms. Instead optimize yourself for “Chicago divorce help,” “contemplating suicide,” and “Chicago addictions.” With these search engine optimized terms, you can help hurting people in the moments of need with valuable instant online content and ways to receive ongoing support.
• Community
  Online community can be a tricky thing. People often do not use the tools you’ve created in the way that you have intended. Online community must constantly be evaluated and tweaked. You can force people to interact the way that you want, but you can give subtle nudges with the language you use and the online environment to steer community interaction.

REALITY CHECK

The better relationship you have with someone, the easier it is to put yourself in their shoes and answer, “Why should anyone care?” Why should someone care about the postcard you sent them? Why should anyone care about your ministry?

What are you going to do that will cause people to actually care?

For the opening session of Catalyst Conference labs, Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers,  spoke on the importance of platform and how to build one.

Platform is the most common reason why even really good writers can’t be published. If you want to say anything, you need a platform.

Things are changing, but people are bored. People still need direction. Without it, technology is just entertainment. People need purpose. People need leadership to help them to find fulfillment, to organize them as a family, and to mobilize them.

Good leaders influence their audience. Platforms are all about influence.

Good leaders influence people who are already listening. Great leaders influence the world.

A platform is not a pedestal. Fame is a corrosive influence that very few people can handle. Rather a platform is a place where active individuals can interact within their movement. If your cause is important, your influence will grow with your platform.

3 Ways to Grow Your Platform

1. Establish a command center.
   This is a place that you own and control that communicates a concise message. An example is a blog. The number one thing that will drive people to your blog is compelling content.
2. Set up embassies.
   Communicate with others using various tools. Examples are Twitter and Facebook. Often connecting on social media leads to connecting in real life.
3. Create an intelligence center.
   Monitor what others are saying about you. Examples are HootSuite and Google Alerts.

3 Questions to Ask

1. What are you going to do?
2. What are you passion about?
3. Why do you need a platform?

If you can answer these questions, then you have what you need. Essentially, you are answering, “How can I use my platform to connect my passion to solving a problem?”

Without vision, technology is useless.

I think the future of evangelism is search engine optimized (SEO) online content.  By no means, will this replace face-to-face evangelism or other methods. However, online behavior is opening doors of opportunity that will only increase with time.

Optimizing your ministry for search engines is more than trying to show up in the top 10 search results for “your church name” or “churches in your city.” Using Google to answer life’s questions is normal for those with Internet access. Imagine what your church could accomplish if it provided relevant answers in these moments when people are more open-minded and seeking truth.

Scenarios:

Imagine someone in Chicago searching for “Chicago divorce attorney” because she is tired of trying to make her marriage work. What if a Chicago church has SEO content in the first results offering free marriage counseling or advice on how to make a marriage work?

Imagine a teen that is fed up with being the school outcast and begins searching for how to properly slit his wrists. What if a ministry had SEO content offering real time help (a live suicide prevention counselor) or guidance on alternatives to suicide?

What it looks like:

Creating relevant SEO content is not a bait-and-switch tactic. That will only fail.
It is also not about Bible-thumping or aggressive evangelism. That will only turn people off before they listen.

Creating relevant SEO content is providing relevant, helpful solutions to the problems people are searching about online. These solutions may be alternatives to what they thought they would find, but that doesn’t mean these solutions won’t connect with them, help them, and change their lives.

Make your goal to be able to connect with the searcher and offer instant help (i.e., advice, counseling, a team of workers, tangible resources). Equally important is that you make these connections sustainable. Don’t let the relationship die with the initial contact. Provide avenues for you to continue helping and for them to be able to hear the gospel and/or get plugged in to a local church at their own pace as you gradually earn their trust and respect.

Resources to Consider:

Church Web Optimizer
The creators of Ekklesia 360 and Cobblestone Community Network are launching a new church SEO service this year called Church Web Optimizer. From what I understand, it will be a very affordable alternative for churches to hiring a corporate SEO firm. The tools look great, but the tailored advice from a real human is one of the best parts. Features include:

• Google Analytics Installation
• Google Webmaster Tools Installation
• Google Sitemaps Submission
• Church Website Analytics /Pre-SEO Evaluation and Conference Call
• Google Local Search Submission
• Featured Directory Submission on Church Cloud & Sermon Cloud
• Online Targeted Advertising (eg. Google Adwords)
• Social Media Strategy Implementation
• Full SEO Services: Link building, SERPS Monitoring and Custom SEO Implementation

Google’s Keyword Tool
If your budget is $0, Google offers a nice free keyword research tool that identifies what topics people search for the most and how they word their searches. Relevantly sprinkling a few keywords into your content is one of many factors that will help your search engine results.

SEOmoz
If you want to dive into giving yourself a search engine marketing education, SEOmoz is a great place to start. They have a well-respected blog, articles (some free), and tools (some free).

For Discussion:
- What do you think are some effective strategies for church SEO?
- What SEO tools would you add to this list?

LifeChurch.tv’s free Bible, YouVersion.com, has now reached 1 billion minutes of Bible reading on mobile devices.

That’s 19 centuries and 16.7 million hours of Bible reading!

YouVersion Mobile has become my preferred way to read the Bible. You can read it for free on any mobile deviced that has Web access, and free custom apps are available for iPhones, BlackBerry phones, and Android phones.

Spread the word: OneBillionMinutes.com

SimChurch is a book by Douglas Estes of Western Seminary (San Jose, CA) and Berryessa Valley Church (San Jose, CA) that explores the answers to the question, “what does it mean to ‘do’ church in the virtual world?” I had an opportunity to ask Douglas Estes a question of my own:

What are the main advantages that a virtual church has that a brick and mortar church doesn’t?

Here is what Douglas said:

The average Christian in our world today is only vaguely aware of the coming role of the internet in being and doing church, and many are stuck on the questions of whether a virtual church is even real, or possible, or just a glorified video game. Most people can think up disadvantages (whether accurate or not), but if they see me praising the virtual church … it may seem crazy to them! Or cause them to wonder how much of my retirement I have invested in Google, Apple or Second Life.

To answer your question, we need an honesty-check: Are we willing to admit that any and every type of human church has both advantages and disadvantages? That traditional Lutheran churches and conservative Baptist churches and überhip ‘contemporary’ non-denominational churches and every other imaginable type of churches have strengths and weakness? I meet a surprising number of church-leader people who can’t wholeheartedly say ‘yes’ to that question. They’re convinced their version of the church is the one that God has blessed. If we can admit that all churches found in our world today have advantages and disadvantages, then here are three of the top advantages I see of virtual churches:

First, the most obvious is the increased reach a virtual church can offer as a congregation of believers. When I say reach, I don’t mean it will help Glory Church have more tithers members around the world. I mean that it will allow churches to reach areas where a brick and mortar church has a harder time reaching. We in the U.S. forget that our particular culture makes brick and mortar churches much more accessible than almost any other world culture (for a variety of reasons). In fact, virtual churches will not just increase reach in communist countries, but also post-Christian societies, cultures torn by war, isolated regions of our world, or places inhabited by busy upper-middle class workaholics. Part of this reach, I hope, will be within our own Western world—where being a Christian may one day have more to do with regular virtual connections with our church co-laborers and a lot less to do with one day a week performances.

This leads to a second big advantage of the virtual church: Its ability to redefine and even reform what church means in many parts of the world. Myself, I’m a pastor of a typical brick and mortar church in the US. If I had to pick one model to describe our church, it would probably be contemporary-attractional (though we subvert this at times). I say this because like most churches we are locked into Sunday performances; no matter how much I talk about being a follower of Jesus is more than this, actions do speak louder than words. Some folks would like to get rid of my kind of church to set up something communal but what the church needs (as always!) is some reformation, not destruction (as razing all our buildings to all meet in communes or homes would surely lead to). All this to say: The coming of the virtual church can retrain Christians in thought and practice to understand that church is not so much about a place or building but about the people who are connecting with the purpose of building up the Kingdom. (I see lots of people on blogs defend virtual churches by stating that church is the people … but this is inaccurate. The church is the people united by the presence of Christ on mission for the Kingdom. Just a few Christians hanging out at Seattle’s Best for coffee does not make a church, even if God may be there with them). So the virtual church can reform the church at large by reminding the church at large of the true nature of community (without demolishing the church at large, as some alt-church movements desire).

Third, and the thing that I am actually the most excited about, is the advantage the virtual church has to push margins. I need to say up front that I do not consider myself a margin-pusher, a radical, or anything close to that (far from it, actually). I’m just not wired that way. But as I was writing SimChurch, I really was struck by the testimonies of folks in virtual churches … and began to realize that many of these folks are marginalized-by-society people. And then I started to read a few Christian “trolls” (shouldn’t that be an oxymoron?) who would respond to blog posts about internet churches, implying that people who can’t or won’t go to a brick and mortar church are somehow lesser, weirder, weaker in their faith, or some other implicit negative descriptor. To be fair, many of these comments were not mean-spirited as in the political blogosphere, but there definitely was a strong undercurrent of ‘if you can’t go to a brick and mortar church, then there’s something wrong with you.’ To be honest, this torqued me quite a bit and got under my skin. Yes, a lot of testimonies from virtual churchgoers that I saw, read, heard, or heard about are in fact from people the world would write off—but why would the church do this? Just because a person feels uncomfortable in a Western-style brick and mortar church makes them unworthy of Christian community? If you met me in person, you’d know I’m not a bleeding-heart anything but to know that a real church with a real community could reach real people that Christ died for—people who have been marginalized by both society and church culture—does something for me. The church I pastor is an urban church, and I honestly know it will be very hard for us to reach the many marginalized people who walk past our church each day because they just don’t ‘fit in’ (and no amount of convincing myself they should fit—or simplistically thinking we just need to love them more—will cause that to happen). But a virtual church can reach them. And I applaud them for that.

For more insights on the pros, cons, challenges, and peculiarity of doing virtual church, read SimChurch.

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of SimChurch.

For the fourth lab of Catalyst, Shane Hipps, author of Flickering Pixels, discussed how technology shapes us in unexpected ways. Shane is an ex-adman turned Mennonite pastor. Here is what he said:

When I was in advertising and worked for Porsche, I had a sense that I was creating a counterfeit gospel. I left advertising because I did not agree with how it manipulated people’s lives. While in advertising, I learned about what influences consumer subcultures.

The implications of how technologies shape you are vast and deep.

ORAL CULTURE (<1500)
<tribes / empathy / intimate>

In order to understand community, we must go back in time to the age of oral culture. This means that you must rely on the people around you. You share stories with each other… repetitive, conservative stories. People in an oral culture tend to be very tribal and communal and empathetic.  They are intimate in their living conditions. And their acts of violence are passionate.

The technology of writing changes this.

LITERATE CULTURE (1500-1850)
<individuals / separate>

Writing separates you from the tribe. Reading and writing as a technology demands isolation. In order to read, you can’t interact with others well while reading. Literacy brings the rise of individualism. It makes relationships distant. It has the ability to be anonymous. You no longer have to know the communicator in order to know his thoughts.

ELECTRONIC AGE (1850<)
<tribes of individuals / empathy at a distance / intimate anonymity>

The phonograph, the telegraph, and the radio revolutionized communication. Marshall McLuhan says, “The electronic age has given man an ear for an eye.” The separation experienced from literate culture is less destructive than what happens when oral cultures are fused through electronic media. It is a tangle of complex emotions. For example, while cell phones connect you with people digitally, they also separates you physically from the people closest to you. There are pros and cons.

Empathy at a distance is what happens when you sit down for dinner in front of the TV and you are emotionally engaged by the trauma on the news without being able to help. There may be an initial response, such as giving support to relief organizations. However, the human being was not designed to withstand human suffering all day every day. In order to survive, you grow numb, which leads to apathy not action.

Technology allows you to share intimate details with the masse. However, the way you preserve intimacy is by exclusive boundaries. The moment that curtain parts and everyone else is invited in there is no more intimacy.

Tech based communication lowers our inhibitions digitally the same way alcohol lowers inhibitions in person. For example, teens use social networks to do the following:

• 92% keep in touch with friends (which is normal behavior)
• 60% play a trick on someone
• 44% ask someone out
• 42% write something you wouldn’t say in person
• 24% break up with someone

So what does all this mean?

The more aware you become of these dynamics, the better it is for you as a leader. The trick is to understand the paradox. And if you understand the paradox then you can be discerning. You can become more intentional about your relationships.

Technology is like food. Ice cream has a proper place in one’s diet, but if you only eat ice cream then you are in trouble. If you only consume tech communication, it is not healthy.

If you doubt that these online mediated relationships are less than in-person relationships, they are. They are thinner.

Jon Acuff, Anne Jackson, and Carlos Whittaker discussed blogging at Catalyst’s first lab. They shared their blogging journeys and answered questions. Here are the highlights:

Carlos: With my blog, there is an actual expectation from my readers that there is a real, tangible relationship.

Carlos: After four years of blogging every day, I temporarily quit blogging because suddenly my life was taking shape because of my blog rather than my blog taking shape because of my life. So what I am learning right now is how to create very safe boundaries in my life with my blog.

Jon: The devil will never attack something that you are horrible at. The devil will try to get you to ruin your story. He wants you to discount your story. He wants you to lie.

Jon: I think fame destroys more ministries than anything else right now. Reality God knows who you are, and no other acknowledgement is greater than that. God loves to pour His stories into us so that we can pour it out.

QUESTION: How do you reevaluate the balance between your blog and your family?

Carlos: I see it as a constantly evolving decision making process. All three of my kids are different. And as they are getting older, I am realizing that they are they own persons, and I can’t use them as puppets.

QUESTION: Should a youth pastor blog?

Jon: Don’t start a blog unless you have something to say. The first question needs to be “What can I give to my readers?” rather than “How can I get more readers?”

Anne: Writing is one of those things that takes time. Don’t be intimidated by the art of writing.

QUESTION: What are things you would warn against?

Carlos: Manipulating relationships online is something you can do online without even knowing it.It is probably setting the same boundaries as you would with people offline.

QUESTION: Why do you not autofollow everyone on Twitter?

Carlos: There are too many porn sites that are on Twitter, and I don’t want to follow them. Also, it takes time to answer direct messages.

Jon: I was judging the value of my self-worth as  my stats and followers rather than how God sees me.

QUESTION: How do you look at tough topics that are import to talk about but could offend affiliations?

Anne: There is a difference between a story and a testimony. Exploiting a weakness is wrong, but a testimony gives glory to God.

QUESTION: As we are learning what our story is, where should we start?

Jon: Writing is just about writing. Perfectionism says it needs to be perfect, which is crazy. Your story is like your life… it is not done. Don’t wait for it to be done before you share it. Often you audience helps guide your story.

QUESTION: How should an organization start up a blog for its brand?

Carlos: When an organization starts a blog specifically to build their brand, bloggers can smell that. But when there is a story, people listen. When there is a heart and a face to a company it goes miles.

Want a sneak peek at YouVersion Live?

A public webinar giving you a glimpse at this free tool’s capabilities will be on Wednesday, September 23rd from 2-3pm CST. Simply visit youversion.com/live to participate.