Should Pastors Build Platforms?

Ministry in the Age of Persona

Should pastors build online platforms? It’s a legitimate question in the age of personalities built through social media.

This is the attention economy. The machine rewards those adept at hooking a follower into addiction. The tools are click bait and sensational content. The formula for viral content is a polarizing comment or a provocative statement that hits a core emotion. The algorithm rewards retention and repeat plays.

We are all tempted to play by the machine’s rules. You might justify it as “using technology for God,” or “spreading his message.” But human hearts lust for attention and recognition, power and control.

How do I know if my motives are pure? What happens if the pastor becomes a persona?

One of the beauties of having multiple pastors is that I’m not the only preacher. There are times my colleague will preach a transformative sermon and someone will exit the sanctuary and say to me, “Pastor, that was a powerful word.” But it wasn’t me.

Or someone will tell my colleague, “Your sermon changed my life,” and it was not his, but mine. Either one of us is just “that one guy,” a man of little importance proclaiming the news of greatest importance. The best is when someone remembers the Word but has no idea who spoke it.

My prideful heart is humbled by the words of John the Baptist. “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). His posture prompts me to ask four questions when I write, preach, or post.

Does this magnify Jesus? Like young Mary, my words must also make much of the Lord (Lk. 1:46). My small voice exists to make him great.

Is this good for people? The reason I preach and write is people. If there weren’t people, I wouldn’t preach. I must always have the recipient in mind. I often place post-it notes above my desk with the names of specific people I want to speak to. It focuses my work narrowly upon a specific person and what they need. Your name might be on my desk right now.

Will I be embarrassed by this 20 years from now? If something I produce is mere tabloid content, it will prove shallow over time. If my motivation is to gain likes and followers, that tone will ooze out of the words. I’ll look back on it with regret.

What do my close advisors say? If my personal “board of advisors” reviewed my words, how would they answer the three prior questions? To keep me from becoming a personality, I need community. Trusted advisors hold me in check.

We don’t set out to build a platform. Our sole focus is to raise the banner of Christ. “He must increase; I must decrease.” This mantra calls for ordinary faithfulness. The task is to love God’s people over a long period of time, unconcerned about credit. I am free to share the word generously and unconcerned about the attention I might get. To be a platformed personality is as substantive as cotton candy. But to be a person, one known and loved by the living God, is everything.

“Be grateful as your deeds become less and less associated with your name, as your feet ever more lightly tread the earth.” - Dag Hammarskjold