Aside from understanding that the content we include on our Christian digital evangelism Websites should focus on, well, Christian digital evangelism, just how should we go about doing this? What sort of content should we include that furthers the cause of the Kingdom of Christ? That’s what I want to write about in this month’s article on digital evangelism.
The number one priority of any truly Christian evangelistic site (as compared with the concept of evangelism about virtually any other subject) must be Jesus Christ and the Good News about the glorious benefits of placing one’s faith in Him alone for eternal life. Yes, the word evangelism (which is derived from the Greek word euaggelizo – pronounced yoo-ahng-ghel-ID-zo – and literally means “good message”) has been applied in recent years to practically everything from selling products to selling ideas. In our so-called post-modern society, Christianity can no longer claim a monopoly on the terms evangelist and evangelism, so we must be careful with both our understanding and our application of them, especially when attempting to convey the good news about Jesus Christ.
A few years ago the statement, “Content is king,” was at the forefront of most webmasters’ minds when developing and maintaining their sites for public consumption. It partially meant that nobody was going to return to a site without good content. We don’t hear that statement as often today, but I think it is still true and particularly apropos for us as Christian digital evangelists. In fact, the content of our digital evangelism sites is the King – the King of kings, that is. Thus, our primary focus must be upon the Good News of Jesus Christ, Who He is, and what He is offering to a lost and dying world. As wonderful as it is to do mission work by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the sick, visiting the imprisoned, or any number of other very worthwhile ministries, if we fail to share why we’re doing these things – which is in the name of Jesus for the sake of saving their lost souls – then all we’ve done is make them a little more comfortable on their way to Hell. Of course, if they reject Christ that may be the best we can do for them anyway, but for those who will accept Christ if we will just give them the opportunity, what lasting good have we done if we don’t help them understand why choosing Jesus as their Lord and Savior is absolutely essential for the salvation of their souls?
So, what sort of content should our digital evangelism Websites contain? Well, for starters we must include a biblically apt description of Who Jesus is and what He came into the world to do. I use the term “biblically apt” because no other source besides the Bible aptly or accurately describes Who Jesus is and what His purpose is for the world. He’s not just another great teacher with a grand philosophy of doing good to our fellow human beings, being kind to animals, and taking care of the environment. Though He certainly supports those ideas within the context of the divine order, He’s so much more than a great teacher with a grand philosophy. The Bible says that Jesus is true God of true God, as we sometimes affirm from the Nicene Creed (John 1:1 & 14; 8:47-59; & 14:7-9), the only begotten Son of God (John 1:14 & 3:16), the creator of the universe (John 1:1-3 & Colossians 1:15-17), and the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:11-16), just to name a few. In fact, Jesus wasn’t crucified because He was a victim of circumstances, but it was specifically because He claimed to be God that He was condemned to death by the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:62-66; Mark 14:60-64; & John 10:14-39).
The rest of the world will likely agree with us, for the most part, that Jesus was a great teacher with a grand philosophy, but as soon as we begin saying He is God with a Plan of Salvation for us and a claim upon our souls, we quickly lose their support. So long as they can pick and choose what to believe and whether to believe anything at all about Jesus, they will usually join with us in acknowledging Jesus as a great man. Therefore, we need to make our position clear and make Jesus’ claims clear to all who visit our websites so that if they choose to accept Jesus with all His claims, then they will be doing so with a clear understanding of what they’re doing and why, and they can be truly saved. Otherwise, we’re just wasting everybody’s time, including our Lord’s.
Having a clear understanding of Who Jesus is and what His purpose is for the world is absolutely essential to the salvation of one’s soul, and sharing that truth is the very purpose of conducting Christian evangelism, whether digital or otherwise. Furthermore, believing this information about Jesus will necessarily regenerate us from the inside out and cause a noticeable change in both our thinking and our behavior, according to the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 5:17).
I’ve been working on a new book to address this very subject, which I’ve titled simply, The Salvation of the LORD, where I attempt to outline what it means to be “saved”, how to be saved, and how we can know we are saved. If you’d like to know when it is released, I’ll announce it on my blog, my author’s Website, most of my social media accounts (LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook, in particular), and my email lists. I hope to be able to release it by the summer of 2014.
In order to follow my own advice about clarifying Who Jesus is and what His purpose is for the entire world, I’ve added a new page to my personal Website expounding on these points. You can browse it at www.parsonplace.com/jesus.html at your leisure. Furthermore, I intend to link to it from one of the external Java script pages on my site so that the link will display on every page of my site, as well as embed a link to it into the textual content on my most popular pages. Hopefully, this will further maximize its impact. I encourage you to develop a similar page of your own on your blog and/or Website and announce it to all of your contacts and social media accounts. It truly could make an eternal difference for everyone who visits there. Given the holy season of celebrating Jesus’ resurrection which we will enter once again this month, what could be more appropriate than helping others find a new life in Christ?
Happy Resurrection Day! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Michael L. White is the founder and Managing Editor of Parson Place Press, an independent Christian publishing house in Mobile, Alabama. His book Digital Evangelism: You Can Do It, Too! (Parson Place Press, 2011) is available wherever books are sold. Visit his Website at books.parsonplace.com for a list of his other books and articles.
