1. The Old Story about the old story
The "99% problem"
Go into any Christian bookshop. Maybe 99% of the books and videos are written only for
Christians, using Christian language, thought-forms and viewpoint. Some Christians believe that "because
it is Christian, it is evangelistic". But this is not usually true.
The same thing applies to most Christian websites. 99% have been written with only a
Christian reader in mind. Of course, some non-Christians will visit them too. And if they already have an interest,
maybe they will stay to read. But this is like hoping that non-Christians will walk in off the street into our church
services. Some do. But most will not. (And site visitors will usually leave in 5 seconds, if they cannot relate to a
page.) So we often find that we are only touching the people who may have a Christian background or interest.
We reach the 'once-churched', but we do not touch the 'never-churched'.
The sad thing is that because some evangelism does happen successfully this way, Christians do
not realize that we are not touching everyone in the society. And of course, some churches
give evangelism and world mission a very low priority in their programs. Yet Wesley said, "You have
nothing to do but to save souls."
We can help the wider church to understand the importance of online evangelism so that:
- Christian churches will help fulltime evangelistic ministries financially.
- they will encourage and support individual Christians to become involved in sparetime online witness.
- every local church will have a website.
- there is a wider understanding of the best ways to reach non-Christians online.
You can help achieve these goals by adding the content of this page to your own site. It is easy - just copy/paste a few lines of code. You can also print out this poster for your church noticeboard. Can you translate this page into your language?
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2. Push or Pull
Why the Web is a different medium
Push
Print, video, radio and TV are mainly 'push' mediums. They communicate by sending out a prepared message, usually only to a single area of the world.
Pull
The Web however is a 'pull' medium. It pulls in visitors - though only on the basis of a defined interest. People usually go only to pages on subjects they are searching for. And of course, the incredible advantage of the Web is that it is global: anyone, anywhere - in China or the Middle East - can find a page in seconds.
Two-way
The other unique property of the Internet is interactivity. Not only are users in control of which pages to visit, they can also send feedback to a webmaster. They can easily ask questions, receive help and advice, leave comments in a guest-book, or discuss issues on a Bulletin board or an email discussion group. This option to build 'community' around a website is very important. It helps people feel wanted and that their opinions are valued. It gives them a place where they can ask questions in a safe way, when perhaps they would not do that face-to-face.
For evangelistic websites, this interaction is very important. Very few people become Christians just by reading something. Conversion is usually a long process, and involves friendly interaction with people who are already Christians. Think back to how you became a Christian. For most people, seeing the life of Jesus in someone else, usually through experiencing friendship, is the most powerful witness.
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3. How people become Christians
It is important to understand the process by which people become Christians. The 'Gray Matrix' (proposed by Frank Gray of FEBC Radio) is one very useful way of seeing the process. It is a modification of the 'Engel Scale of Spiritual Decision', produced by the missiologist James Engel in his book What's Gone Wrong with the Harvest, (Zondervan 1975).
The original Engel Scale proposed 13 steps through which people usually travel on their spiritual journey:
+5 Stewardship
+4 Communion with God
+3 Conceptual and behavioral growth
+2 Incorporation into Body
+1 Post-decision evaluation
New birth
-1 Repentance and faith in Christ
-2 Decision to act
-3 Personal problem recognition
-4 Positive attitude towards Gospel
-5 Grasp implications of Gospel
-6 Awareness of fundamentals of Gospel
-7 Initial awareness of Gospel
-8 Awareness of supreme being, no knowledge of Gospel
For a more detailed graphical picture, click here
You can see from this scale that perhaps we should present the Gospel differently to people who are at different points. Someone at -7 on the scale cannot be treated the same as a person at -3 who has already understood much of the Truth and is almost ready to place their faith in Jesus.
The problem is that Christian outreach often only touches people who already have an understanding of the Gospel because of previous church background. They know the language and concepts already. So, we can be quite good at reaching the 'once-churched', yet may miss the 'never-churched' completely.
Gray is the color of life
The Gray Matrix adds a horizontal axis to this scale - antagonism/enthusiasm. I believe that this very simple picture is very important because it helps us to understand important evangelistic concepts.
The lower-left oval shape represents a group of people who are fairly
resistant and lack knowledge. The challenge is to use approaches which
reach down as far as possible into the bottom left-hand corner!
Conclusions from the Gray Matrix
- Effective evangelism is not only about giving people more knowledge. We must help them move from a position of antagonism (or just not caring), to feeling enthusiastic and interested. People will probably not move up the scale, unless they have first moved across to the right-hand side.
- Anything which moves people from left to right, is as 'evangelistic' as something which moves them up the scale. This is very important for groups of people who are strongly against the Gospel. They will usually not be willing to move up the scale until their antagonism is reduced. They will probably also have misunderstandings about the Gospel message, which must be carefully explained. Acts of Christian service and friendship can often reduce antagonism. For instance, on the mission field, educational, medical or well-digging projects often lead to an openness to the Gospel. In a local church situation, mothers and baby clubs, youth groups, or hospital visiting do the same. For some people-groups, apologies offered for the past actions of so-called 'Christian' nations are also healing hurts and reducing antagonism to the Gospel.
- We can define roughly where a person, or group of people, is situated on the scale. This helps us to chose the best approach to reach them. For instance, the oval shape on the left- hand side represents a person or group of people who are resistant to the Gospel and understand little of it.
- Someone who has no knowledge of the Gospel will not understand Christian language and jargon. A big failing of much evangelism is the use of words and ideas which only Christians understand.
- The pressures of culture and society, and the strategy of the Enemy, will try to pull people down towards the bottom left-hand of the Matrix. God's purpose is to draw people to the top right-hand side, by his Holy Spirit, though the witness of his people.
How the Gray Matrix helps us with online evangelism
- We must assume that people have zero Christian knowledge. We therefore need to avoid using Christian jargon words. “Most Christian literature... begins too far along the evangelistic process; it assumes that the reader has at least some basic knowledge of Christianity and biblical concepts,” said the director of a very effective literature outreach recently in Interlit magazine. We live in a post-Christian culture. Since most people have never attended church, been to Sunday School, or learned anything of the Bible in school, they have a complete lack of knowledge or understanding, and no biblical framework in their minds. Any 'spirituality' that people have, is usually shaped by New Age ideas.
For people who may be antagonistic or uninterested, we must work hard to identify with their feelings. We must avoid a 'preachy' approach, and instead place ourselves at their level, in their shoe, relating to their interests and language. This is sometimes called “contextualization”. It has nothing to do with compromising or watering down the Gospel. Catherine Booth, co-founder of Salvation Army, said,
"God forbid that I should ever teach any adaptation of the Gospel. But I contend that we may serve it up in any sort of dish that will induce the people to partake of it."
Conceptualization is important to communicate with those of other faiths: [>more[
- Sites which are obviously 'Christian' in style, language and graphics, will mainly reach people who are already seeking, who have some knowledge and enthusiasm and probably a church background. This is one of the biggest barriers which prevents sites from fulfilling their true potential and touching people who are 'un-churched'. I believe that it is possible to express most Christian truth without using any Christian words other than 'God', 'Jesus', 'Bible' and 'heaven'. Better to use 'God' than 'the Lord', and 'Bible' rather than 'the 'Word of God' because these terms are more neutral.
- Almost every other Christian word or concept can be expressed in non-religious words. If it is essential to use a religious word, define it. When Words Get in the Way explains this well - every Christian writer should print this out.
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4. Strategy to reach millions
"If you want to make an evangelistic page, don't write about the Gospel."
Are you serious!
But what are most people searching for online? The things that interest them!
- Sport
- Health
- Sex and relationships
- Advice on personal problems
- Hobbies
- Local information
- Tourism ideas
- Humor
- Films
- Music
- News-related things
- Famous people
- plus a million other things
Writing yet another presentation of the way of salvation is not going to reach any of them, unless we use...
The Bridge Strategy Write pages on these secular subjects and you can target any group of people. This is often called this the 'Bridge Strategy'. Others may use a different name, but it means the same - identifying with the real interests. This does not mean that we make 'trick' pages that are not really about the subject they claim to be. If we write a page about restoring VW cars, or breeding mice, or a favorite musician, the page must truly be 'about' that subject. It must be as good and informative as possible, maybe with many helpful links to other pages on the subject.
How to build a 'bridge'
There are several ways that you can draw people 'across the bridge' to pages which explain the Gospel:
a. Your testimony
Whatever sort of site you have, make a link to 'meet the webmaster' or 'my story'. Here is a chance to share your testimony. (But don't call it 'testimony' - that's a Christian jargon word.) Introduce yourself first, where you live, what you like, etc. Then go on to explain how something happened to you which changed your whole view of life. “People are interested in people.” They always turn to the human-interest stories in newspapers first. Short audio or video clips of the person can also add interest to a testimony page.
b. 'Meaning of life' links
On any type of website, you can offer a link such as 'What is the meaning of life?' or 'Finding real fulfillment'. These do not sound preachy or even Christian, yet show some sort of non-threatening 'spirituality' content.
c. Parable meanings
Jesus used stories with a message as his main means of evangelistic communication. And he didn't always explain the meaning - he left people to go away and think! Whatever the subject of a website, it is possible to write a page which brings out a parable or allegory from the main subject. For instance, a site about restoring VW cars can include a page which suggests that just as old cars need new engines, we need new hearts and natures. A site about breeding mice, can include a page about how a mother mouse cares for her young, and this is the same as God's care for people. There is an angle like this for almost any subject.
All these types of pages can also link to a central part of the site which explains the Gospel in meaningful easy terms . . .
Explaining the Gospel
It is actually hard to explain the Gospel in a web-page, taking these factors into account:
- using easy non-religious language.
- clearly explaining that the Gospel is completely free (few non-Christians understand this), yet balancing it with the other truth - that it is not 'easy-believism'.
- show that God wants to care and support people through every problem of life - yet there are no automatic promises of health or wealth.
It may better to link to an existing Gospel presentation, instead of writing your own. There are some high-quality presentations available from major ministries, and they often have the advantage of a follow-up system for inquirers. Power to Change is a good presentation in a growing range of languages:
You can, if you wish, link to such presentations though a narrow top frame: [How to] [Demo] which integrates their pages within your site, though not all webmasters are happy with this. (Power to Change are!)
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5. Church pages
On a church page, visitors will expect the material to be Christian! However, most church sites seem to be written only for their members. Outsiders are not always obviously welcome. Few church sites carry any sort of link explaining the Gospel. Even fewer make such a link look enticing and relevant to non-Christians.
From bottom up, before anything is written, plan to:
- make the site for non-Christians too
- be welcoming
- be non-preachy
- give non-Christians a reason to visit
Pinecrest Community Church is a good example of a welcoming church site.
Church sites can also use the 'bridge strategy' to draw people in, by making pages on secular topics. A page of secular community links (covering shops, schools, colleges, tourism, local history, etc.) is particularly good for a church site:
An online two-way discussion for inquirers, based on the Alpha evangelistic group Bible study concept, is a strategy with big potential for church sites:
And surely all church sites should carry testimonies of some members?
Can church sites reach outsiders? [>More]
It is possible to create church sites without knowing HTML using template-editing systems
provided by a number of groups.[>More]
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6. Top evangelistic sitesPower to Change
Power to Change from Campus Crusade Canada is an excellent general-purpose evangelistic site, combining a clear explanation of the Gospel, questions and answers on particular problems, and testimony. It is available in a number of languages, and the team will value help to translate it into new languages. Consider linking to it, rather than attempting to write your own explanations of the Gospel.
CCC has partnered with other ministries and groups of churches to promote the site using secular advertising on buses (for a regional church-based campaign) and TV advertising. This approach is very successful.
[>more]
Using the "Bridge" approach There are many good evangelistic pages using the 'Bridge' concept:
a. Sport
Sport has a worldwide following - there are even Chinese-language Manchester United sites! An evangelistic site can be built around a particular sport, team, event, or sports-people.
The Goal and To the Next Level use testimony in a very effective way. Doug Reese, webmaster of To the Next Level, shares recent encouraging feedback:
[>More]
b. Science
Life's Big Questions is an excellent and thought-provoking presentation of the relationship between science, cosmology and faith, featuring interviews with top scientists. Note how the site does not criticize science or sound preachy. Because of this, and because it interviews top people in their fields, it retains credibility. Fred Heeren reports recent feedback from this site:
[>more]
c. Health and personal needs
Health sites are the second most searched-for on the Web. (Guess the number one topic.) There are many opportunities to create support pages around a particular illness. Sadly, although a number of Christians have done this, often they have defined the page as a 'support page for Christians', which seems to exclude non-Christians. But others have realized the importance of building pages that welcome non-Christians, on such topics as heart problems, diabetes, sudden infant death, post-abortion trauma, Parkinson's disease, or post-polio syndrome. There are many opportunities to create other such sites.
People have so many personal needs and desperately seek answers online. Running on Empty is a well-designed site which deals with inner emptiness and needs, without seeming preachy. Christina Burbeck gets encouraging feedback:
[>more]
Women's interests
Women Today Magazine is a remarkable comprehensive site (1000+ pages) from Campus Crusade Canada. Note how it offers useful information for living, and does not obviously appear to be Christian or preachy on the front page. There is testimony and evangelism in there - when people are ready for it. One of the site team writes: "This strategy has worked well for Womentodaymagazine.com, which receives over a million hits from all over the world each month. By taking a "value-added" approach to sharing Christ and offering people legitimate products and services, both Iamnext.com [see below] and Women Today Magazine are very effective in gaining a hearing for the gospel."
Technical note: despite a complex front page, Women Today Magazine and IamNext work well at any screen resolution, down to 640 x 480 or even WebTV, and do not force irritating horizontal scroll-bars at these lower resolutions. (This is easily achievable by using percentages and avoiding graphics which would force a table too wide.)
A case study on effective communication
Because Campus Crusade also produce Christian Women Today, a site of similar appearance but for Christian women readers, this makes a wonderful opportunity for a case-study comparison. At first glance, some Christians would see comfortable Christian words on front page and inner pages - prayer, Bible, saved, etc., and say, "Ah, this is the best evangelistic site. This must preach the Gospel." But no! Christian Women Today was designed for Christians. No doubt some non-Christians will visit, as with any site.
Editor Claire Colvin writes: "It seems so obvious that a Christian site is not necessarily an evangelistic site. One of the biggest barriers that stops a site from being truly evangelistic is language. One thing you'll notice on the Women Today site is a lack of Christian terminology. You don't see words like 'church, pray, salvation, holy, sanctified, born again, repent'. Instead, you find articles written from a Christian perspective but presented in regular English.
- Read the case study - and see how this ties in with the Gray Matrix in Section 3. This short study illustrates one of the most important issues in effective evangelism.
e. Teens
Iamnext is another valuable site from CCC. Using the same strategy as Women Today Magazine, this highly effective, non-preachy site can easily engage young people and students. The team write, "In the first 10 days of April alone, 12 people prayed to receive Christ and eight people re-dedicated their lives through Iamnext.com, Campus Ministries' new evangelistic website for university and college students. Site statistics indicate that hundreds more have been exposed to the gospel by going through The Four Spiritual Laws and reading student testimonies. Reports of more conversions and rededications are coming in each day."
Other top teen/student sites:
f. Children
Sadly, most Christian pages for children look very like Sunday School lessons for those with plenty of Bible background. There are few truly evangelistic sites for children who know little of Christianity. Games can be a feature children's websites, and can be easily added to a page using Javascript. What is the reason for this? Here is a big gap to fill!
Javscript can be used to created games on websites
g. Bulletin board apologetics discussion
Many evangelistic sites include bulletin boards for feedback and discussion. 'Apologetics for non-Christians' sites are particularly suited to this type of interaction. Some are designed mainly for discussion, others include additional apologetic material too:
h. Looking at the culture
Almost every culture spends a large part of its leisure time in an unreal world! Where? The world of stories: books, theater, films, video. Why did Jesus communicate almost entirely through short stories? And often leave people to go away and think...?
One of the most popular evangelistic sites on the Web (with many millions of hits) is Pastor Dave Bruce's Hollywood Jesus. He used to work in the film/broadcasting industry and writes about recent film releases, not as normal film reviews, but instead looking for parable meanings from the story-line. Leslie Hand of Movie Glimpse uses a similar approach - read Leslie's explanation of her approach.
A similar strategy can be used for many pop songs and music groups. Music pages receive millions of hits. The words of most songs are about emotions or situations which make a starting point for a parable interpretation. A similar approach can be used with fiction and plays. Yet no-one is using this approach - which could touch millions of people.
Shoot the Messenger and The Truth Zone analyze popular culture from a Christian viewpoint: music, film, literature, magazines, TV and cultural trends such as fashion, recreation, New Age beliefs, social, philosophical and political issues. They are excellent non-confrontational evangelistic sites carefully targeting non-Christians.
'Reality' TV is unbelievably popular, with shows such as Big Brother and Survivor attracting millions. UK's official Big Brother website had millions of hits in a week. More British people voted to remove Big Brother members, than voted in the 2001 British government elections. Gospelsearch have used this approach in English and several Scandinavian languages to create the Big Father site.
Understanding our culture
It is very important that Christians learn to understand the post-Christian post-modern culture we live in, so that we can learn to present the Gospel in appropriate terms. These resource sites for Christians are designed to equip us for this:
Other approaches
There are many other ways for sharing the Gospel online: - Community sites built around resources for a local town or area:
- Games - could be very powerful, yet very few games are available.
- Cartoons and humor
- A large site based on an expansion of the Kamloopslife.com site is proposed, with many contributing editors, on the same basis as About.com. This could be the ultimate 'bridge' site, combining pages on many secular subjects with a sensitive lead-in to testimonies and an evangelistic section, and also linking together many existing evangelistic pages. Pray for this one - it could be powerful.
- Email discussion lists or newsletters based on a secular topic can also be used, such as Rivervalleyweb.
- Teaching English offers many opportunities for the several hundred million people who are learning the language.
There are thousands of other subjects for evangelistic websites. Hobbies, people, history, tourism. If you have an interest in it, you are equipped to write about it! There is a big need for sites which engage with New Age and occult issues in a sensitive way.
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7. Writing and languageWriting for the web requires the style and gifts of the journalist, not the preacher. The Press have had more than 200 years to learn how to communicate effectively in print. Learn from them. Read books on journalistic writing. Observe the way newspapers and magazines tell stories. They know the rules for clear communication and keeping a reader's interest.
It is harder to read print from a computer monitor than on paper. Help people by: - Short sentences
- Short paragraphs
- Lots of 'white space' around the text, with <P> paragraph breaks between paragraphs
- Enticing, sometimes intriguing headings, which are not 'preachy'
- In longer blocks of writing, use subheadings on different sections to draw the reader on
- Small quick-loading graphics add interest to any page
Taking care of the stranger
Realize that many visitors to an English-language site are from other countries and may be second-language speakers: - Avoid idiom and slang from your country which others will not understand
- Explain references to places and situations which only those in your country know
- Aim for a simpler writing style. Avoid complicated words and sentence structure. This helps even first language speakers to read quickly. "We are not here to impress, but to express."
Revise and revise and revise
Never put a first draft of writing online. Revise and edit many times. It is usually possibly to cut word-length by 25% or more, and increase clarity at the same time. Ask other writers to critique your pages, and be humble enough to accept their advice.
Which language to write in?
There is a big need for evangelistic pages in many languages.
English remains the most popular language of the Internet. If English is not your first language and you wish to reach beyond your own country, you may wish to produce pages in English.
Remember, you have an advantage. If you are a second-language English speaker, you know which words of English are difficult to understand, so that you can avoid them. You will also understand the importance of not using English idiom and slang. But it is important that you avoid translating your own idiom and sentence structure into English. Also learn to avoid 'false friends' - words which sound the same in English and your language, yet have slightly, or very, different meanings. If you have the opportunity, ask a native English speaker, who is also good at writing, to edit your pages.
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