Kem Meyer on Less Clutter & Noise

The revolution is socialnomics…

If you’ve ever said (or heard someone say) something to the effect of “social media is a fad” or “you can’t do church online” … hit play & chew on these stats. (If you’re in a cubicle farm, watch on mute. It won’t dilute the usefulness of this AT ALL.)

And, with that…these parting words.

“We used to spend our time trying to get people to come to church.
Now, we’ve got to find ways to take church to them.” Craig Groeschel

“God is not afraid of the cloud. He can move through the internet,
a fish net or a New Jersey Net if He wants." Mark Meyer

With more questions than answers, we’re falling forward. GRANGER’S ONLINE CAMPUS HAS LAUNCHED!! I couldn’t be more excited about the future. This is crazy!

Fist bumps & virtual hugs to the teams at Aspire!One, Lifechurch.tv and Liquid Church for helping us get here. The enormous encouragement and support you’ve given us has modeled community in this revolution and the world will be is different because of you.

Are you promising more than you can deliver?

These simple, practical examples from real church promotions seem harmless enough...

1. "Come to this year's women's retreat where you'll develop friendships that last a lifetime."
   
   It’s what we hope happens, but it’s out of our control. Yet we still promise something we can't guarantee. I had a woman complain to me that she joined a volunteered to make friends. After two years of serving, she felt duped because she had not made one friend. She held the church responsible for false advertising. Yes, her opinion is a little extreme. And, yes, it's a little outrageous and unrealistic. However, it's a recurring perspective we experience with people on their journey. What can we do to help them along?

2. "Come experience a community of grace."
   
   Again, nice goal, but you can't control the outcome. I had promised a “community of grace” for a friend of mine and she finally joined me for a weekend service. During the message, her cell phone went off. A man sitting behind us scolded her for being rude and selfish. He even asked her not to come back if she couldn't have the decency to turn her phone off during church. True story. Yes, it's a distraction for others when a cell phone goes off. Obviously. However, what isn't obvious is that my friend was taking a gigantic step by attending church for the first time in years. My friend didn’t look at the man as an individual, she looked at him as the church. And, I had not delivered on my promise.

Hey, are you being honest with yourself (and others)?

• What are you "putting out there" that you should really cut?

• What expectations are you setting that are unrealistic and out of your control?

• If people think churches are liars anyway, what are we doing to diffuse this perception and build trust?

• Are we making statements as if they were facts, when in reality they are subjective and left to personal interpretation?

• Are we promising something we can't deliver on?

• Are we baiting people with exaggerated benefits?

A lot of times, the solution is as simple as providing "just the facts" and nothing else. Remove the fluff. Eliminate our “hope” in the content. That's the first step towards turning a potentially negative experience into a great one.

Are you talking too much and saying very little?

Maybe you need to “Divorce the details that excite you but alienate your listeners.”

Great post from Blog Decker about being in the weeds.

Let’s be frank…

Love the original context here about online giving. This is fresh. It grows trust with unsterilized copy and refreshing honesty. I don’t feel like someone is talking AT me or wants anything FROM me. It engages me.

You’ll find this tone throughout the entire site… although I highlighted online giving because it’s the hardest thing to talk about effectively.

Well done, Knoxlife Church, well done.