If you are on social media, especially Facebook, you’ve probably seen many of the countless Christian memes like those below asking you to share or like the image if you love Jesus.
While social media has evangelistic potential, it seems to me that most of these memes are nothing more the religious versions of the like-bait and share-bait that has overrun social media. However, I could be wrong.
I’m sure there are some who are genuine when they like or share these memes, but I suspect that, like church services, the one who likes/shares is predominantly preaching to the proverbial choir. Most of the versions I’ve seen appear as little more than someone’s attempt to garner ‘likes’ in order to satisfy their ego through perceived social media popularity more than genuine attempts to share the gospel. As such, I’m a skeptic (some may call me cynical) of social media evangelism through memes.
When reading the memes, they almost never offer any substantive content, rarely explain the gospel, and are primarily platitudes on a pretty picture. It’s quite likely (and I haven’t done any studies) that many who share these memes falsely believe they are evangelizing and thus are no obligated to personally share the gospel with others through personal evangelism.
Evangelism through social media is more effective by sharing an evangelistic blog post or evangelistic media. However, social media evangelism is only one aspect of evangelism; it does not replace personal evangelism. In a bit of ironic humor, I think this meme sums it up:
I’m sure there are those who share my opinion or disagree. Share your thoughts below.
