You may have been in attendance at a service at River of Life lately and noticed that someone beside you was sending a text message. There’s a reason for that. River of Life Church “tweets!”
Okay, so you might not know what that means. I am referring to the use of the social networking system known as “Twitter.” It is a simple 140 character message that answers the question “what am I doing?” And its use is changing the way the world communicates. A simple text message is no longer just between two people, it can literally be seen by thousands of people who are in a group that “follow” a particular Twitter user. Over the last few months as thousands upon thousands of people are joining in, news and weather events are breaking on Twitter before they hit the cable news networks – or even news websites! Plane crashes, hurricanes, etc are being reported via Twitter by people who are actually there experiencing what is happening. Never before has communication been so immediate and in the hands of the ordinary “non-journalist.”
So why do we Twitter at River of Life? Twitter users at River of Life are utilizing the service to “tweet” the services – in particular the sermon that is being delivered. As they share points that stand out to them, the potential for people to hear the gospel through Twitter can become exponential as unchurched “followers” of River of Life twitterers can “hear” the message that is being preached and can “watch” as church members encourage one another and do life together in a type of community that has not been seen since the days of the New Testament church.
Of course, there is still some learning and growing to do. When you send out a “tweet” it is publicly viewable so you have to be careful what you put out there. That is why you can also send private direct messages to someone if you are struggling with an issue or need to say something that is not for public consumption. And most importantly – virtual communities like Twitter or Facebook are NOT substitutes for face to face interaction. Online community should lead to offline community as much as possible. We can use Twitter to arrange a “tweet up” for lunch or a meal after service! Or maybe a visit to St. Arbucks! 
It is exciting that River of Life is on the cutting edge of the use of this technology. We are not the only ones, however. Click here to read an article about a church in San Antonio that is doing something similar. Social networking is here and what a great opportunity it presents to share the gospel! If you don’t want to participate – no harm, no foul. But if you do – then let’s use Twitter and Facebook (and whatever else may come in the future) for God’s glory and use whatever methods God gives us to tell the story of God’s limitless love!
If you Twitter, you can follow a few of us here:
