Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Why I don't use Twitter

About a year ago, I signed up for a Twitter account. Some ministry leaders recommended that I start tweeting as a good way to network and for people to read my thoughts and ideas, which they believed had some value for other leaders.
Twitter Icon
I tried it for about two weeks several months ago, but haven't used it since. In fact, I just deactivated my account. I've been thinking about why Twitter is not for me, and here is what I have concluded:
  • To be an effective Twitterer (Tweeter?), you have to do it regularly. You truly have to integrate it into your daily life. It's useless to tell people to check Twitter for updates when you don't post them. But I don't have the time or desire to post that often. It feels like pressure to me, to keep up with it.
  • I am an introvert (more on that in another post sometime). I am learning that writing for an audience, while a silent activity, is still an act of extroversion to me. For me, Twitter was an energy drain, as it also took away from my emotional recovery/"down" time. 
  • I honestly don't want to spend time learning a new tool. I feel that as I get older, I have to be more and more choosy about which new technology I will embrace and learn. I only have so much time in a day.
  • The rap on Twitter is that it is an egocentric marketing tool disguised as a social networking platform. The ten most-followed Twitter users as of this writing: 
    1. Britney Spears
    2. Ashton Kutcher
    3. Lady Gaga
    4. Ellen DeGeneres
    5. Barack Obama
    6. Kim Kardashian
    7. Justin Bieber
    8. Oprah Winfrey
    9. Taylor Swift
    10. John Mayer
  • Advocates of using Twitter for ministry claim that the platform has value for communicating ideas and making connections, and for learning how to condense your thoughts into 140 characters or less. While I think some people might be disciplined enough to use it this way, I don't buy that the majority of people on Twitter exercise that much self-reflection and control. I personally believe that celebrity-watching is just as much an obsession in Christian ministry as it is in sports or entertainment. "What did so-and-so write now?" "Did you know that famous-preacher-person is following me?" "I read on celebrity-leader's Twitter feed that... (fill in the blank)." It's too easy for me to get caught up in that world as a follower or a writer, and I want to minimize the temptation.
  • The biggest reason I don't use Twitter is that for every minute I spend sending updates on my activities and thoughts to the rest of the world, I am potentially missing an opportunity to minister to the people God has put right in front of me. I am deeply troubled when I see ministry leaders who pay more attention to their iPhones than to the person sitting across the table from them at lunch. I don't want to be one of those, so I am working to minimize distractions in my life. 
You may use Twitter. You may find it to be an exceptionally useful tool for your life and ministry. That's great...for you. For now, I've chosen otherwise. 

Sunday, August 8, 2010

I love my church

It's true. I love my church, the Chapel Hill Bible Church.

I love my church even though it is not all about bells and whistles and lights and flash on Sunday mornings. In fact, I love it because it's not like that.

I love my church because it's full of Republicans AND Democrats, with a healthy portion of Libertarians and unaffiliated and many non-Americans thrown in. I love that we don't preach or support one political party or system.

I love my church because it has Catholics and Presbyterians and Methodists and Brethren and Baptists and non-denominational and non-churched and even non-Christians. We are broadly evangelical in the best sense of the term.

I love my church because at last count, we had 42 countries represented in our body. I have a friend who attends an international church in Jordan, and even that church did not have 42 countries. At my church, we sometimes sing in Spanish or in African languages I can't even pronounce. That's what we'll do in heaven, which is why I love that about our church.

I love my church because we have old people and young children and every age in between. We don't cater to just one age group. I love that our worship is not "traditional" or "contemporary" or "blended." It's just our church, and it's different all the time. In fact, we're not even very "churchy." Some weeks we have a full orchestra and choir, other weeks we have three people on acoustic guitars. We sing songs that convey Truth, wherever that Truth can be found.

But those are the things I love about my church. I also love my church on a much more difficult, much deeper level. I love my church even when I don't like my church -- and trust me, there are a lot of things I don't like about my church.

I love my church when the people in it are mean and impatient and decidedly un-Christlike to each other.

I love my church when the people in it are mean and impatient and decidedly un-Christlike to me and I have gotten hurt, sometimes supposedly in the name of Jesus.

I love my church when the leaders make decisions I don't agree with -- and when they don't make decisions.

I love my church even though we don't have a Lead Pastor right now and it sometimes feels like things are uncertain and unsettled.

I love my church even when it feels like it would be easier to go somewhere else and start over, or to sit back and wait and see before I commit to anything.

I love my church, so I am committed to it, and to loving the people in it: for better, for worse; for richer, for poor; in organizational sickness and health.

I love my church because it is the body of Christ, an organization full of sinners, and as such it is messy and tiring and hurtful and disorganized and full of personal agendas and slow to change.

Just like me.

Jesus established his Church and then died for it. If He loved it that much, I want to as well.

Do you love your church?