As a minister to college students, Facebook is more of a staple in my diet than bread and water. And apparently, I am not alone. At last check, Facebook boasts 500 million active users, with 50% of them logging in on any given day. People are spending 700 billion minutes per month on the site.

Astounding.

In addition to gathering at the local watering hole or sports stadium, people are congregating on Facebook. And, as responsible followers of Christ who take the Great Commission seriously, we need to be there.

Furthermore, did you know that 70% of Facebook’s users are located outside of the United States? This means there are 350,000,000 potential global relationships for us to forge. Jesus calls us to go out into the world to make disciples. But, through Facebook, the world is literally coming into our living rooms.

Because of it’s simple design, Facebook is, as the authors state, “a perfect place for you to begin to work out your expression of faith online.” Your friends are telling you what they are doing, thinking, and feeling on Facebook. This affords you the incredible opportunity to be present in their lives.

Our work in this digital mission field must not stop with presence only. It must move on towards engagement and expression. Here are a few ways I have learned to move into this relational glory land on Facebook:

1) Comment. Facebook makes it so easy to comment on the statuses, links, videos, and content others are posting. Do this. This is where we begin to engage on Facebook with the neighbors we are called to love.

Respectfully ask questions. Lovingly share your thoughts. Truthfully reveal God’s way, will, and Word. Clicking “Like” is too easy. Go deeper by commenting and continuing the conversation. Be honest and transparent. And be an ambassador for the Savior whose Kingdom you represent.

2) Contribute. It’s easy to consume content on Facebook. However, if we are to begin and grow relationships on Facebook, we must be willing to share what is going on in our own lives as well.

This is more than posting a status letting the world know you had PB&J for lunch. We must post with purpose and intention! I am not afraid to share my struggles, frustrations, and confusion over life. I often post Bible verses with some corresponding thoughts. I ask provocative questions, inviting others into a spiritual discussion. I post statuses asking friends to share with me how I can be praying for them. All of these are useful ways to purposefully and intentionally contribute to the conversation.

3. Coordinate. Facebook is an incredibly handy tool for coordinating with others for great purposes. For example, after the devastating tornado in Joplin this last weekend, I felt compelled to action. One Facebook post (combined with a blog post, a tweet, and an email) let my friends know I would be collecting relief supplies throughout the day. Fifteen hours later, I was on the road to Joplin with three trucks and trailers full of supplies and another load left behind because we were out of room.

Behold the power of Facebook when coordinating relief efforts, ministry gatherings, concerts of prayer, or so much more.

I assume most of us reading this post are already on Facebook. Perhaps, though, we aren’t using Facebook to its full potential for maximum Kingdom impact. It all comes back to relationships. We must gather where the people gather. And once we are there, we must earn the right to engage with them and express what God is up to.

A few questions:

1) How does the sheer global reach of Facebook change your perspective on its value?

2)What other ways have you experienced effective commenting, contributing, or coordinating on Facebook?

3) Besides engagement and expression, how else can we move beyond simple presence on Facebook?

10) cost: everything <– @StickyJesus project –> 12) demystifying: Twitter

Brandon Smith

Brandon Smith is the Campus Minister at the Christian Campus House at Northwest Missouri State University. You can find all his social media goodies over at about.me/mynameisbrandon.

about.me/mynameisbrandon

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For example, I work in campus ministry. The university community is unique and as a campus missionary of sorts, I must know the culture. I must learn its language, find its gathering places, and know its nuances. I must submerge myself into the community if I want to effectively develop relationships with college students, earn their trust, and ultimately earn the right to share the gospel with them.

Essentially, I must become “one of them.”

(And, may I say, it’s a rough job. Somebody has to go to all those football games!)

And this is the same for missionary work in other cultures. This is also true for the effectiveness of local church congregations. I believe the local church body needs to embrace and become a contributing member of its local community in order to reach that community.

The same is true, according to authors Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, for the online community. If you want to become a Trust Agent, you must earn the trust of those you are looking to connect with online.

Brogan and Smith offer this formula to illustrate the elements of trust and how you can increase the level of trust others have in you:

(C x R x I)/S = T

C is credibility.
R is reliability.
I is intimacy.
S is self-orientation.
T is trust.

And so, if you hope to increase your trustworthiness online, you must increase your credibility, reliability, and depth of intimacy while, at the same time, being less self-centered and self-focused. This formula is applicable in the non-virtual world as well. It seems so basic, but can be very challenging.

Thankfully, the authors also give us some very practical suggestions to accomplishing this daunting task of diving into our communities, either online or not, and earning the trust necessary to accomplish our goals.

Listen. Some wise mama somewhere said “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason!” James said it a little more eloquently when he said, “Be quick to listen and slow to speak.” (James 1:19) If you want to earn the trust of those around you, listen to them; their stories, their frustrations, their dreams. Keep your mouth shut for awhile.

Introduce yourself. Don’t just show up and pimp yourself or your product. Introduce yourself and let everybody know that you are present and that you are friendly.

Be present. Again, don’t just show up and yell loudly. Be consistently present. Allow people to get to know you as somebody who shows up. Contribute to the conversations that are already taking place and slowly introduce new ideas into the mix.

Earn your place. It takes time and effort to earn your place within the community and culture you wish to engage. But, once this happens, you stand to make the impact you hope to have.

When it is boiled down, the process of becoming “one of us” in the community you wish to engage is paramount to earning their trust. Your motives have to be pure and honorable, as people can smell a fake from 100 yards. You have to take your time and be intentional. You have to offer value to the group, while validating the ideas and thoughts of others. You have to be human and allow others to do the same.

As you do this, you will find your voice within the community, and thus, your influence, will increase proportionally to the level of your trustworthiness within the tribe.

And so, take off your mask and shed your ulterior motives and engage your community as one of them.

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Brandon Smith is the Campus Minister at the Christian Campus House, serving Northwest Missouri State University. He also fancies himself something of a writer, publishing articles every so often and working on a new book. He blogs at www.mynameisbrandon.com

Brandon Smith

Brandon Smith is the Campus Minister at the Christian Campus House at Northwest Missouri State University. You can find all his social media goodies over at about.me/mynameisbrandon.

about.me/mynameisbrandon

The post Trust Agents 3b: Become “One of Us” appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.