60-Second Pastors: Why TikTok Should Be the Church’s Last Strategy
My quick take on modern-day evangelism from the perspective of a Gen-Z church leader.
In the era of the algorithm and exposure by the thousands, one would expect that the global church should seize the opportunity to take their primary marketing strategies to social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, as they bring mass exposure and insightful conversation to one of the most sought after audiences – Generation Z. While most church media may just feature Sunday morning photo slideshows with grabby audios, you’ll find that younger church members, and even many pastors, are taking to these apps to share short message clips, host livestreams, and lead masses of young audiences through messages. Some church leaders and avid evangelists are able to walk people to make serious decisions about their faith, and help more people learn who Jesus even is. The popularity of this app among genres is obvious, and at first thought, it seems necessary to strategize content to dispense on this platform in the name of spreading the name of Jesus. While phrases like “make Jesus famous” remain on the lips of many Gen Z Christians, is using apps like TikTok and Instagram causing more harm to the matter of discipleship than good? Is making Jesus famous now synonymous to making Jesus viral? Viral content doesn’t mean successful content, and it surely doesn’t mean good. So, what can the church do to reconcile with these social media networks, and why is it that they aren’t the most effective method for discipleship?
We can start this analysis by looking at the intended purpose of discipleship. I am a college student that works with middle school girls at my church’s youth group. Once a month, we have these gatherings called “mentor huddles” where my girls and I meet up and discuss current life events, and end up debriefing on how we can better reconcile their daily lives with what we know to be True. The youth group is made up of many other moving parts, like lesson time, life group questions, games, and worship. Now, while the youth group in its entirety is made up of many beneficial facets, I would only tag the mentor huddle time as the time where true discipleship occurs. This is because discipleship is a two-way conversation. Edification cannot happen to any individual when they are only receiving content made for such a vast audience. There is no specificity within mass-produced messaging, and there could also be conflict of information. By talking to everyone, you speak to no one. The Great Commission is our life’s greatest narrative and our last call to action. It recites; “Go and make disciples.” If we are to channel our efforts into messaging within TikTok, we are not pushing people to pursue a two-way conversation of encouragement and edification, we are only allowing people a more comfortable place to sit in sole isolation, complacency. Further, there is no accountability for church leaders who serve behind a screen. This is not to say that all online leaders are ingenuine, but leadership serves the leader – and leaders are lacking in motivation when they are only preaching to a camera. Generation Z is a tactile and highly personable generation, and we are also very fragile and any offense is our offense. This gives a narrow road to walk for those dispersing context-sensitive material.
Further, this means that there is a ceiling to the content that can be posted online, because anything too Biblically contextual can ruffle the feathers of those online, so the church is now limited to the surface-friendly messages that easily appease. While the entire purpose of apps like TikTok is to disperse material that a wider audience will enjoy, this was never exactly the goal of the church. Within His lifetime, Jesus never particularly got along with everyone, nor was his message well received from everyone that heard. Then, how are we supposed to dispense worthy material on an app that only values instant likeability? The app’s mission and metrics do not align with the goal of discipleship, so why should we assume that they can coexist and we will benefit? As stated earlier, the phrase “make Jesus famous” is wildly popular among Generation Z, it is a mantra that assists in carrying out the grand calling. I argue that Jesus is already famous. Famously misunderstood yet known all at the same time. TikTok need not make Jesus more famous, those kinds of quick-strategy glimpses into scripture or church culture do nothing but give out-of-context excerpts of what church is really like.
Church is a space that is real, fun, and vulnerable, and we strip the ability to experience it truly when we only offer it online. From a sheer marketing point of view, one can see that because mission values and focus do not align, that this platform is void of market productivity. So, why do we still use it then? The modern day church values numbers over personal growth – we get satisfaction from viral videos. But what if we aimed for that same satisfaction after meeting one-on-one with people within our body? What if pure evidence of life-change was the driver for church growth and not stunning imagery and social media presence?
The church is made to be a safe, welcoming, and communal place for anyone in any walk of life to receive genuine conversation that meets them where they are at. We cannot let the facade of numbers, the wind of trendiness, and the ease of digital media keep church or church leaders from pouring into people as they should be. Allow this to serve as a reminder that the church is not a passive or dying institution, but a global gathering that thrives on love, authenticity, and genuine calling.
