YouTube Activism

 

Yesterday I started taking a free course on how to use YouTube for churches. The man teaching the course already has worship music ministry that our church has benefited from and so when I saw he created a course to help people who the pandemic has thrust into YouTube I thought “I’m in!” To this point our congregations YouTube channel has been pretty low-key and is only as sophisticated as I can figure out on my own. Learning how to do it a bit better, and for free, appeals to me.

So I took the first lesson, Upload Details. For the most part it dealt with things that I figured out when we got started with this last March, but there was something that caught my eye in a way it hadn’t before.

When uploading a video a category can be designated for it, things like Sports, Music, Comedy, Entertainment, News & Politics and so forth. There are about twenty categories to choose from. The instructor suggested that church’s use the category of Nonprofits & Activism.

Activism…hmmm.  I don’t know that I’ve ever consciously thought about being a pastor as being an activist. But…

The apostle Paul said:

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

He also wrote:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

And Jesus said:

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.

John Knox, writing to the people of England said:

For no crime is so heinous which God will not cast in the bottom of the sea, and bury in perpetual oblivion, if you with unfeigned hearts turn to the Lord your God, whom so grievously you have offended. (Knox, Works, vol. 5, p. 514)

Since these are the kinds of thoughts that frequently run through my mind and color my sermon preparation, and my blog posts, Activism is probably a good fit.

Activism for the Kingdom of God. I kind of like it!

 

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.