Category: Business

When Ministry Comes First: Rediscovering Our True Calling

I read an Oswald Chambers devotional this morning—someone in our community shared the link to yesterday’s entry, so I decided to check out today’s post as well. You can find it here: “Is He Really Lord?”. Some of the highlights from that devotional really resonated with me.

I can get caught up in the whole “content creator” mindset, thinking about growing my numbers or making an income. But first and foremost, I have a church—a small flock—to care for, and that’s the ministry God gave me. I’m not a content creator first; I’m a pastor first. So I need to be cautious about anything I add to my plate. Oswald Chambers says, “Have I received a ministry from the Lord? If so, I have to be loyal to it. I have to count my life precious only for its fulfillment.”

Second, our ministry (or calling) comes from staying connected to the Vine. Chambers points out, “We must get to know Jesus as more than our personal savior; we must know him as an intimate companion. Only then will he reveal to us our purpose.” That challenges me to spend time with Him, rather than pouring all my energy into content creation, gaining followers, and so on.

This part really struck me: “Do you love me?” Jesus asked Peter. “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). Notice that Jesus doesn’t give us a choice about how to serve. That realization hits hard. In both my day-to-day career and my ministry work, I see that His call is a command. It’s not up for negotiation. It’s about doing what He’s purposed for me to do.

Chambers also says, “But the need isn’t what’s calling us; the need is simply an opportunity for answering the call. The call itself is a call to absolute loyalty.” We can become so wrapped up in audience numbers, a bigger church, or an income that we lose sight of our real call. If God’s calling us to share the Gospel with whoever He puts in front of us, we need to focus on that. Everything else is a distraction.

I know my purpose and calling is to minister His Word. It’s not about picking and choosing a flock, recruiting more followers, or doing something that might personally fulfill someone else. I need to watch out for demands and distractions that pull me away from my God-given purpose. As Oswald Chambers ends: “It does mean that you will have to ignore the demands for service along other lines.”

May we all remain faithful to the unique calling God has placed on our lives, staying connected to Him and loyal to the work He’s entrusted to us.

Reflection Questions

  1. Which distractions or demands are most likely to pull you away from God’s calling in your life?
  2. How can you intentionally nurture your relationship with Jesus—beyond simply knowing Him as Savior—so you’re fully connected to the Vine?
  3. In what practical ways can you remain loyal to the ministry or purpose God has given you, even when it conflicts with other enticing opportunities?

Your Facebook Live/Video Audience isn’t “All That”

Church, Business Leaders, and Communicators,

During these times we’ve all jumped on the video bandwagon on social media. Many of us have no clue what we are doing, and yet that shouldn’t hold us back either. But that’s not what this writing is all about.

Today, I wanted to talk to you about your audience, more specifically, the audience that Facebook or Youtube tell you you have. When looking at the insights for your videos, each has their way of telling you some numbers. And come on, be honest, the bigger the number the happier we are, right? But, what good is a number if it doesn’t speak the truth to you? Zero. So, real quick I wanted to use Facebook as an example, using my own more “popular” videos I’ve posted recently on my own church page.

The bottom line here is you need to understand the metrics on your FB and YT message performance. If you don’t understand them, then you can’t truly grade how well your message is connecting. The numbers can mislead you easily.

So, these numbers below are from MY two best “performing” videos on our church FB page:

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The numbers you are likely to see up front are the estimated reach numbers. However, we should pay more attention to the 3-second views and average watch time to really get the truth about our audience.

Reach – 373 and 643

3 Sec Views – 217 and 358

Ave Time Watched – 17-sec and 13-sec! 😭

The same goes for the “Ads” you paid for. I created one that ran for 7 days (Very targeted less than 2 miles and specific demographics):

Reach – 1,770

Impressions – 3,238 (means it simply showed up in the feed)

3 Sec Views – 451

Ave Time Watched – 2-secs! (of a 15 second video of still images).

In Innovate Church’s case, we have a whole 92-person page audience to begin with, so I don’t expect big numbers on anything. But, if I were to quickly glance and think nothing about the Facebook is giving me, I’d be thinking a lot more highly about our recent videos than reality leads me to…hence continuing to under perform my hopes and goals for posting.

So, while we have a captive audience at home right now, and we all have the internet, it doesn’t mean we are getting our message to them just because Facebook or YouTube give you some numbers that appease your ego. There is more to those numbers up front that you have to dig in to.

On a positive note, keep working on what you are putting out there and keep posting. The audience will build but you need to keep your eye on the real metrics to build upon. Getting started at anything is usually a slow process.