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Christian Leaders Are Powerhouses on Twitter

According to the New York Times, staff members from Twitter set out to determine why some tweets were more popular than others, and they were surprised to find that many of the most popular tweets came from people with whom they were not familiar, namely users named Joyce Meyer, Andy Stanley, Joel Osteen, and Max Lucado. They were “punching way above their weight,” said the Twitter staffer who discovered the anomaly.

With this new insight, the company sent a senior executive, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, to bring more religious leaders into the Twitter fold by sending her to the Catalyst conference to meet and recruit more pastors. She said some of these pastors already have 3,000-4,000 followers in their congregations, and the King James Bible’s verses are an average of 100 characters in length—perfect for a tweet and could even include a hashtag within Twitter’s 140 character limit.

“Pastors tell me, Twitter is just made for the Bible,” Ms. Díaz-Ortiz said.

But some pastors are concerned about the humility lost when they expend efforts to “build a platform.” “Social media’s like a brick — you can use it to build an orphanage or throw it through somebody’s car window,” said Jon Acuff, the author of Stuff Christians Like and a regular speaker.

What do you think of Twitter as a ministry tool? Give your viewpoint in the Comment section below.