TikTok--Really???

October 22nd, 2021

“Carl, I really don’t think you should get on that; it’s filled with bad stuff!” or “Yeah, I don’t think so. There’s too much junk on there for me to be a part of it.”

These are just a couple of the comments I heard while in conversations with folks concerning the social media platform called TikTok. Now, you may be thinking the same thing, and quite honestly, so did I. I’ve had people on both sides of the issue talk with me about using this platform.

To be quite honest, I couldn’t figure out how to get involved on TikTok if I’d wanted to, so I never did. Then, a few months ago, we ran into a young lady named Alyssa who not only understands this world, but does really well at reaching folks on it. She challenged my opinion as to whether we should put our resources there to reach the younger generation or not. The truth is that you just don’t find the young people on Facebook the way you used to. They’re going to different areas of social media. To me, that means we have to move into those areas to reach them. I’ve always thought Matthew 16:13 is a perfect example of WHY we have to be creative in sharing the Gospel. Take a look at what Jesus said there, "Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?' "

In order for us to answer that question, we have to be engaged with the culture. But, in order to be engaged with the culture, we have to understand our audience. The same way that when Paul went to Jews, he used one message, and when he ministered to Greeks, he used another approach. He never compromised or watered down God’s message, and he spoke in a manner and in places where he would impact lives. In my humble opinion, we’ve got to do the same thing in our world today.

Now, please don’t misunderstand, and I have to stress this--I’m not saying that we compromise our message or water it down in any way, shape, or form to make it popular. But, what I am saying is that if we’re going to reach this generation, they’re not going to just come to us-- we’re going to have to go to them! So, we pulled the trigger and brought Alyssa on board. Because of your support, I felt it would be good to let you hear how your investment in us is working out. So here’s an update from Alyssa after just 10 DAYS. I think you’ll be excited.

“It’s now officially been over a week since we started posting our “DeBunked” videos on our new Tiktok page! To say that our content has been well received would be a gross understatement. So far, in one week we have amassed 3,949 new followers, well over 58.0k video views, and over 2,000 shares. Currently we are averaging about 150-200 new followers per day, and my projection would be that we are going to hit 10.0k followers by January, if not sooner!

God is blessing us more than I could ever try to explain. I’ve come into contact with many Believers and many who aren’t, but the overall response to our channel has been that people are GRATEFUL to see Apologetic Christian teaching on the app. Other fellow apologists have discovered our page, and we are also getting plugged into the internal Christian community on the app. This helps us keep an eye out for new trends and things we can do to keep growing, but ultimately it helps us not fight alone!

As I’ve mentioned earlier, non-believers will find our posts and will want to engage in dialogue (which sometimes isn’t so pleasant), but this experience on the app has allowed me to witness other Christians, who are strong in their faith, help answer any comments/questions that we may miss while we are away from the page. I have gained inspiration, new perspective, fellowship, and a new fire in me to keep posting truth.”

Can you believe how much has happened in that short amount of time? I’m totally blown away and can’t wait to see what’s going to happen in the future. I asked Alyssa what she would say to anyone who’s considering supporting this type of outreach. Here’s what she shared with me:

“I would encourage them to take the leap! If you want to refine your communication skills in evangelism, there’s no better place to practice than on the internet and more specifically, Tiktok. There is no shortage of people who are passionate about these conversations, and I think it’s time for Christians to be the group with the most passion. Right now, the atheists and evolutionists, ... (etc.) are more willing to engage in conversations about Jesus than Christians are. We need support, and we need help from our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. If anyone decides to support our social media ventures, they’ll never fight alone. God is with them and so are we!”