Who cares what you’re doing? Seriously. Who cares about the work you do maintaining your church website?
Not long ago, I spent some devotional time looking at passages where Paul speaks of the need for believers to “build up” one another.
I started thinking about the impact of my service to my local church.
For sure, the skills and abilities I’ve been given provide practical benefit. I’ve seen that. But I wanted to know how people are being refreshed and encouraged by the work I do.
In other words, does my web work spiritually build up the body at my local assembly and beyond? And, if it does, how?
Maybe you’ve wondered that, too. I don’t think it’s uncommon to feel that way.
Though the product of our work is laid bare before a global audience, web work is still very much a “behind the scenes” ministry.
Church web workers work their magic while going largely unnoticed and unknown. And, truth be told, we kinda like it like that.
But, we’re still as encouraged as anyone else when we learn that our work has made a real impact in someone’s life.
I see the trees
When my pastor walked with me during the year I wanted to read the entire Bible for the first time, he did a practical thing sending me an “accountability” email every week.
Instead of asking me a simple “yes or no” question, he took it a step further by having me explain what insights God revealed during my daily readings.
The obvious, practical benefit was that, with his help, I was able to reach my goal.
But, the kindness and patience and sacrifice he made also built me up spiritually. During that year, I grew in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, learned more about God than I ever imagined, and matured in my faith as I did what I heard (James 1:22).
So, it’s easy for me to know how, even now, I benefit spiritually from his work.
But from my perspective, I can’t see how others likewise benefit from my work. That “behind the scenes” nature of the work makes it easy for me to get all caught up in the technical and creative aspects of it. So, I have a hard time seeing the forest for the trees.
Add to that the ever-shifting environment of the Web. Staying on top of the changes and their effect on what I do is a real challenge. That tension makes it tempting to focus on the temporal aspects of the work.
It’s a daily fight. And, that’s what prompted me to ask my pastor for help.
I asked him to help me see how what I do is up-building to him and to the body. Though I was energized by his response, it took several days for me to realize that I still could only see the “trees.”
Oh, there’s the forest!
At first glance, his list reveals that practical needs are being met. That’s certainly encouraging!
But, the more I thought about it, it still didn’t seem particularly “spiritual.” I still couldn’t see what “eternal value” my efforts produce.
If he’d told me people were growing in their faith (or, even being saved) as a direct result of visiting our website, I’d be counting that for sure!
But, what eternal value is there to updating plugins, taking down outdated content, or compressing images and PDF files?
It wasn’t until I sat down to write this article that it hit me: the body is built up through practical means, and in practical ways.
[slogan size=”small” color=”#88200ee”]”[…] even a cup of cold water, given with the right spirit, brings its own reward.” –Warren Wiersbe[/slogan]
Working in the name of Jesus to make our websites safe for people to visit, easy to navigate, convenient to use, and useful for learning and getting things done, means as much to Him as handing someone a glass of water (Matthew 10:42).
And, giving a thirsty person a drink of water is about as practical as it gets!
So, who cares what I’m doing?
What does it matter? Well…
- It mattered to the man in Detroit, Michigan, the woman in Moshi Tanzania, and that other guy in Albuquerque, New Mexico who were able to get answers to their questions about spiritual matters.
- It matters to my pastor because he has access to a knowledgeable source for answers to all kinds of technical questions, and help to accomplish ministry goals online.
- My work also matters to him because he wants his teaching ministry/efforts to be strengthened and enlarged as his voice (speaking God’s truth) is carried across the globe.
- My work matters to people all over the globe, especially those who want to learn more about God, and are able to do so, as they hear the Word and insights my pastor shares.
- My work matters to brothers and sisters in our assembly who want to be able listen to sermons and otherwise stay connected and “in the loop” when they’re away due to travel , illness, etc.
- My work mattered to visitors to our area who wanted to locate and fellowship with like-minded believers while they were away from their own home church on a short-term work assignment.
- My work mattered to a young Marine newly-stationed at a nearby installation who, before he arrived, wanted to locate a body of like-minded believers to assemble with.
The campus where my small church assembles is one mile off the main road in a rural, heavily-wooded area. During the Summer of 2014, we lost the lease on a patch of land on the main road where our sign had been pitched for more than 25 years.
Since then, we’ve made our plans, but we’re still waiting for God to provide land and signage replacements.
And yet, He’s shown me that my work matters to Him. Even as we wait on Him, He guides weary souls down that narrow road to our church each week, and many times He’s used our website to do it.
During the last 10 months we’ve welcomed 61 guests, 23 of whom found us online and came after visiting our website.
Who cares what you’re doing?
So, what care do you take with your church’s website? Who are you thinking about or caring about as you perform your work to maintain it?
Is your attitude and motivation God-honoring or self-serving?
Do you think anyone cares about what you’re doing?
If you think no one cares about the work you do, you also might be tempted to not care about it. That attitude will most certainly be reflected in what people find when they visit your church website.
The web is littered with dead or dying church websites that no one cares about.
I hope you won’t let your website be counted among them.
Find out who your church website matters to
If you want to know what impact your work is making, start asking questions.
Who greets new visitors to your church? Do they ask your guests how they heard about the church? Ask them to share that with you.
Do you use guest cards to gather contact information and track new visitors attending your church? Do you ask “How Did You Learn About Us” or include a similar question on the card? If not, take steps to get it added in.
Our guest card didn’t include that question. So, I asked our Office Manager to add it. Now we’re all encouraged when visitors arrive on our doorstep as a result of finding and spending time on our website!
Talk to your pastor, your Office Manager, or anyone who’s on the “front lines” at your church. Ask them to share what they’ve heard people say about it.
Of course, on this side of eternity, none of us can truly know the full extent to which God is using our work. But you can be sure your work matters to Him.
Our duty is to remain faithful in our service to Him.
Remember, God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for Him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians. (Hebrews 6:10 GNT)
[/framed_box] There is always another project to be done, always someone you could help by putting together a flyer, newsletter, or web project for them. There is always a way to do a project better, a better photograph, or illustration, or clip art we know we can find if we just take the time to search. But we need to follow our Lord’s example and learn to say “no.”
