EMQ » July–September 2023 » Volume 59 Issue 3
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Summary: How can Christians live in a world where we are glued to screens and where verbal communication seems to be going out of style? How do we do evangelism and engage with our neighbors and friends so that they can hear about Jesus when we barely even talk to each other? Digital technology, the very thing that seems to be enabling our self-destruction, may actually be a part of the solution to bring us together.
By Justin Sooter
“Gradually, then suddenly.”i This phrase from Hemingway’s book The Sun Also Rises, prophetically captures the unnerving feelings associated with the cascade of changes to human interaction over the last few years. I feel the difference in myself first and foremost. Like many others, my attention has been so preoccupied with things like COVID-19, political and racial turmoil, and scrolling Instagram that I find myself forgetting how to truly engage with my friends and family – if I ever knew how in the first place.
Recent events have led to a dramatic growth in the use and reliance on digital technology to help, protect, and soothe us from the world outside our doors. Even in our own homes, instead of caring for each other and being the beacons of encouragement to one another, we all end up looking at our phones at the dinner table in silence.
This new reality is especially sad because we are all shaped by the people, things, and ideas we spend time with. And perhaps, more so than ever, we feel less in control of those factors. It’s become so easy to not meet your neighbors, call your mom, or chat with your spouse in the car. We scroll, tweet, and binge-watch ourselves to death, until we finally look up and realize: “I’m not alright.”
That might seem unduly grim, but it doesn’t take much of a search to find depressing statistics on how social media addiction, political polarization, and the lack of deep relationships is affecting our mental health and leading to an epidemic of loneliness. We are starved for authentic human interaction but, at every level of society, it’s as if we have forgotten how to be human to one another.
So how are we then to live as Christians in a world where we are glued to screens and where verbal communication seems to be going out of style? How do we do evangelism and engage with our neighbors and friends so that they can hear about Jesus when we barely even talk to each other? While it seems that interpersonal communication has devolved into an unrecognizable monster, I believe that digital technology, the very thing that seems to be enabling our self-destruction, can actually bring us together.
Connection in the Context
So, what went wrong? Were the last few years really so crazy that they undid thousands of years of conversational progress? I don’t think so. But they certainly didn’t help.
As it applies to conversation, evangelism, and Christian living, many of us haven’t adapted well to the changing world around us. Christians and the tactics we employ, like gospel tracts, church events, and personal evangelism, are increasingly seen as alien to the world around us. Sure, that might not be a bad thing. In the Bible, we are told to live differently than the world (Romans 12:2) and to not love the things of this world (1 John 2:15). Yet God also calls us to become all things to all people (1 Corinthians 9:19–23), and that calls for adaptation.
Historically, Christians have a precedent of adapting and evolving how they share the gospel without changing the message of the gospel. The roads of the Roman empire, new translations of the Bible, the printing press, and even radio and television have all been innovations that Christians have embraced to make the gospel not just available but also accessible to new audiences.
We should never seek to minimize or hide any part of the gospel to try to make it more palatable for a given audience – to do so is both dangerous and unloving. However, maybe it’s time for us to adapt to today’s Roman roads. In this unique, divided, and lonely world, I believe that we Christians don’t have a content problem – the message of Jesus can and will always stand the test of time – we have a context problem.
Full confession, I’m not really a ministry person. My background is in user-experience design and advertising. Because of my background, I often use and reference the common ideas in digital marketing with my team. One common phrase is the idea of content being king. If you have the right content, it will win and get your business another acquisition, purchase, or download. And in many cases, this is true. Your message is key and must be meticulously thought through and well-written. But the right content is only half the story.
To quote the ever-inflammatory entrepreneur and author Gary Veynerchuk, “Content is king, but context is god.”ii The audience, their experience, and your shared sense of place is a crucial piece to the conversation.
In the Bible, we see Jesus communicate and demonstrate the gospel in all sorts of contexts through questions (John 4), mercy (Matthew 8:1–4), confrontation (Matthew 23), and preaching (Matthew 5). Jesus did not give out booklets at the well or yell on the street corner or just invite his friends to church. He both spoke and demonstrated the gospel in the way that the occasion required. He contextualized his message.
When we speak and demonstrate the story of God, we do it in a way that only we can, because God has made us each unique messengers of his story. Just as God meets us and makes the gospel a tangible lived experience, we are invited to meet others in contextualized ways like Jesus did. Because people need to both hear and see God’s story lived out through everyday conversations and interactions. That means we need each other, and that we need to spend time together and interact with each other.
The Science of Conversation
Perhaps more so than ever, humans, at least in the secularized west from which I am writing, have forgotten that we need each other. Even as a natural introvert, I sense this in my soul and have felt the need to be seen, heard, and known by others. This isn’t however a phenomenon that is unique to our cultural moment.
Biologically, all humans have a natural receptivity to processing the sentiments, emotion, and ideas of others – a term we refer to as empathy. By communicating our thoughts outwardly, whether they are of happiness, frustration, confidence, or excitement, we biologically are causing others to develop those same emotions or sentiments within them. Through microinteractions like a handshake, smile, or head tilt, we naturally kindle in others those same emotions.
William S. Condon is a researcher at the Boston University School of Medicine. He wrote about the idea of situational synchrony in interpersonal communication in his pioneering work “Cultural Microrhythms.”
Condon’s work identified that microinteractions between two people in a conversation were unconsciously communicating, influencing, and harmonizing. This occurred through a complex mix of rhythms that combined their words, tone, posture, and microactions. These rhythms do not only communicate what is inside of you to someone else, the other person’s rhythms also work into you and influence your thoughts, attitudes, and emotions.iii
Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference asserts the following in reference to Condon’s work:
Emotion is contagious. In a way, this is perfectly intuitive. All of us have had our spirits picked up by being around somebody in a good mood. If you think about this closely, though, it’s quite a radical notion. We normally think of the expressions on our face as the reflection of an inner state. I feel happy, so I smile. I feel sad, so I frown. Emotion goes inside out. Emotional contagion, though, suggests that the opposite is also true. If I can make you smile, I can make you happy. If I can make you frown, I can make you sad. Emotion, in this sense, goes outside in.iv
In a biological sense, God didn’t design us to be unchanging and ineffectual beings. We are permeable in this unique way as we interact with one another. So, what you truly believe, when expressed in conversation, is naturally contagious.
This biological function that is built inside of all of us is an astounding and paramount discovery. It helps explain why evangelism, communicated through genuine human interaction, is so potent. That is why we Christians must innovate and find ways to naturally connect with the people around us through conversation.
Innovation Is Our DNA
I have the amazing opportunity to lead the product team behind the GodTools app. As part of Cru, we interact with and serve a huge variety of users and stakeholders in over 200 countries. The fundamental premise of our app centers around the belief that every Christian is able to share their faith, but so many are lacking the confidence, skills, or example to do so in their unique situation.
We believe that genuine human connection, both in person and online, will always win. We like to imagine a world where more Christians share their faith through conversation, and we believe our app can help.
Our organization has a precedent for adapting to the context of an audience. Cru’s co-founder, Bill Bright, in his innovative work, “Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?” purposefully explains the gospel of Jesus Christ through a combination of key phrases, Bible verses, and diagrams which proved to be easily communicable and compelling for his American audience in 1965.v While it’s easy to dismiss a gospel booklet as a relic of times gone by, it’s still used widely around the globe in a variety of countries in its print form and in its evolution on the GodTools app.
Just as Bill Bright created a unique gospel presentation for his audience in 1960s America, we believe in helping Christians around the world to do the same. As an interdisciplinary product team, we’re able to rapidly research, design, develop, and test new content, features, and tactics that help Christians everywhere engage in conversations about Jesus.
Every solution is thoughtfully crafted and for a different audience in a unique context. One lesson we’ve learned from Bill Bright’s work is that we can use things like specially crafted content, images, and layout to spark a conversation between two people who desire a connection with God.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s saying, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” often rings true of many Christians when we’re engaging in evangelism. We try to use the same method of sharing the gospel in every situation, which can sometimes lead to the opposite of our intended outcome.
I believe that it’s time for us to adapt and innovate, like many before us, to put some new tools in our toolbelt in order to share the gospel effectively in our context. We believe that our work can help Christians everywhere to share the good news of Jesus through stories, questions, and answers in conversation.
How We’re Using Digital to Make Us Human
GodTools is designed to help every Christian have access to realistic, contextualized, and gospel-centered evangelism resources. Whether you are sharing with your mom in Mumbai or your co-worker in California, you can take the next step in sharing your faith. Practically, we do this in a few ways.
First, we provide tools, which are contextualized resources designed to communicate the gospel. Second, we offer lessons, which are short digital learning experiences designed to help you prepare for more meaningful conversations. Third, we offer our content in over 100 languages so you can read or share in your heart language – you can even toggle a tool’s content between two languages. And finally, we’ve developed new features like screen-sharing and shareable graphics to help our users start and continue their conversations even when they can’t be in person.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine shared a story with me about a GodTools user in Vietnam. Ewen, a young woman from Vietnam, became friends online with young man who lives in Germany. After several online conversations they started talking about God. When Ewen asked if she could share the gospel with him, he agreed. She then used GodTools to screen-share. From over 5,000 miles away, she was able to effectively communicate the gospel with him. In the end, her friend received Christ through their conversation.
Ewen’s story isn’t an isolated event. We hear similar accounts from towns in Guatemala, cities in Latvia, and from some of the least-reached nations on the planet. The gospel has power to change hearts! When we make ourselves available like Ewen, we can participate in God’s mission, whether it’s by screen-sharing, sharing a graphic, or just asking good questions.
The task of making us human to one another is one my team and I take very seriously as we seek to constantly improve the app and create solutions for people like Ewen and you. Ultimately, if you want to talk about Jesus but don’t know where to start or need a little help or encouragement, we think GodTools can help.
Final Thoughts
In a culture edging increasingly toward isolation and loneliness, I believe we are being given an opportunity to engage with people who are longing for connection and purpose. This is a moment for us to shine in a world filled with so much darkness. Let’s embrace new and different ways of reaching and engaging the people God has put in our lives.
Jesus didn’t wait for us to start the conversation. He came to humanity. He bridged the gap to talk to us, be with us, and to bring us good news. As his followers, we are also given the opportunity to start the conversation and bring good news to those around us. God has given you and me a unique story to share with the relationships he’s given us. Your friends, family, and neighbors need you!
So no, I don’t believe evangelism, conversation, and genuine human connection are in jeopardy of going out of fashion or disappearing altogether. We are broken, permeable beings who are longing for connection, harmony, and purpose that can only ultimately be found in the message of Jesus. God purposefully designed us to share that message in a way that only we can with the people we brush shoulders with, share a cup of coffee with, or chat with online.
Helping people connect is what my work and team at GodTools are all about. We’ve seen simple ideas, questions, and conversational tips break down barriers, cause new friendships to flourish, and, most importantly, help people share the good news of Jesus with thousands of others all over the world.
Can digital make us human again? We were made to connect, inform, and love other humans and bring the gospel to them through our conversations. Press in – both for your sake and the sake of your neighbors, friends, and family. A good question or a next step is at your fingertips ready to help you take your conversations deeper. When you make yourself available, digital tools like GodTools can help you be the relational person Jesus made you to be.
Justin Sooter (justin.sooter@cru.org) is the product leader of GodTools, a UX designer, and avid-fly fisherman based in Orlando, Florida where he lives with his wife, daughter, and dog Jasper. With a background in advertising and web design, he applies these skills to help millions of believers and partners around the globe, both in and outside of Cru, share Jesus with their friends and neighbors via the GodTools app.
EMQ, Volume 59, Issue 3. Copyright © 2023 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
