Is TikTok A Bad Place To Do Ministry?
Is TikTok redeemable?
TikTok can arguably be labelled as one of the poorest choices to spend your time on the internet. It has been described as a constant IV drip plugged straight into the hearts and minds of the world's youth today, steadily poisoning them. From the discerning Christians point of view, it seems like a place to avoid entirely as a irredeemable swamp of the darkness of this world. Those who know it, know that it is primarily a place all about the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, the things of this world.” [1 John 2:16] It might surprise you then to see what the Lord has done in this “swamp” where the sick are, and need the Gospel directly through our ministry!
What is TikTok?
Here are some interesting facts about TikTok that you may not know:
TikTok is available in 150 different countries worldwide.
It has over 1 Billion active monthly users
The average TikTok user opens the app 8 times a day and is active for 95 mins on average.
TikTok is the single most downloaded app on the apple store and has been downloaded over 2 Billion times!
TikTok has grown from a small platform to currently being the most used social platform on earth.
Clearly, TikTok is a massive platform with global reach, a reach to which (as we have learned) can be redeemed for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
How did we end up on TikTok?
As Video Game Gospel Ministry pursued sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ on different digital platforms such as Virtual Reality, Youtube, Twitch, Discord and through podcasts, the thought of attempting to do this on TikTok was a questionable pursuit. Perhaps like we did, you might think, TikTok is so worldly, that being involved in it at all may seem like a huge mistake! But isn’t it true that it’s the sick, and the destitute, that need the physician? [Luke 5:31]
We had an existing TikTok account as a ministry which was previously used to simply respond to questions and beliefs through a biblical lens. We did post some videos in the beginning, but we really didn’t have a large following. The best our videos did was around 5K views, but the majority of them only had a few hundred views each. We had often considered “What was even the point of maintaining this?” We wanted to use the platform to share the Gospel with those who may not have heard it.
We always keep in mind that the most important viewer (who is always watching) is the Lord! Acting in faith and obedience, we will always produce content to please God alone, to magnify and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. We praying continually that God would use our efforts to help reach the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What God did next is amazing!
We spent a long week of ministry encouraging Twitch streamers who tagged themselves as “Christians”, to share the gospel more effectively. Chris saw a need to make a 60 second video to post on our own Twitch profile page. This was the plan:
Make a 60 second video to use as our twitch channel trailer
Post the same video on all of our social media platforms as a resource
That’s it, beyond this, we had NO CLUE what God was about to do!
The question then had to be asked, what is the single most important thing we can share if we only have 60 seconds? Should we tell them about ourselves? About our ministry? If we only have 60 seconds with anyone what is the most important thing we could share with them? …Well… The Gospel of course!
Focusing on the Good News
The answer was simple, but profound, and what God did next will hopefully cause you not only rejoice as it did for us! Chris knew he needed to make the video “The Gospel in 60 Seconds” and that’s just what he did! Above all else, we know the gospel is what the world needs to hear. Everyone needs to hear and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. Our ministry was born through evangelizing in Virtual Reality games. Because of this, Chris knew the best way to reach lost gamers in particular, would be to make the video preaching the gospel in VR. He found a suitable game with an area that had the simplest teaching tools everyone is familiar with, something to write on, and something to write with.
Sharing the Good News
Once the video was complete, we prayerfully posted on our Twitch profile as well as on our ministry’s TikTok account. We really didn’t think about getting views, and we certainly weren’t planning on it. Prior to this, our videos at best only got a handful of views. The video had nothing to do with us, and it contained nothing about the ministry, and it really had nothing to do with us. Instead, the video had everything to do with Jesus Christ and the work he completed on the cross. It was a simple explanation of what Jesus did for us, and why. The video was simply the Gospel in 60 seconds. The question wasn’t could God use this video, but would He?
Check out the video for yourself!
1.6 Million Views and Counting!
“What’s the secret to making something go ‘viral’ on TikTok?”
What God has done has completely humbled us and blown us away. He took our Tiktok account with very little followers, and with no tricks, no gimmicks, and no focus on ourselves, and he used our work to glorify Him! He blessed this ministry with over 24K followers in the course of a month, and reached over 1.6 Million people with the gospel of Jesus Christ! We did nothing for ourselves, we didn’t ask people to follow or subscribe, we simply magnified Christ, who is sufficient in all, and worthy of all praise.
Since then, some have asked us “What’s the secret to making something go ‘viral’ on TikTok”?
What’s Our Secret?
The secret is …there is no secret! If there was one, it would be Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” We all must realize we can do nothing apart from God [John 15:5]. So who do we owe this success to and how do we respond? We can only kneel and point to our King. There’s no secret! Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life! [John 14:16]
Our method is to always stay Christ centered, ensuring we keep all of our focus on Jesus. We always aim to magnify Christ Jesus above ourselves, and not to make anything about us, our ministry. We always pray that we would decrease and the Lord would increase.
All we can do is Praise the Lord for what He has done. In over 6,000 comments on TikTok, many have mentioned this was the first time they have heard the gospel message, or had truly understood what the gospel of Jesus. Many others even confessed that after seeing the video, they had repented and placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Through this TikTok video, we have seen many people join our ministry’s Discord server. This is our online community where our ministry conducts most of its daily activities, the place we gather for fellowship, community, teaching and helping to disciple others. Several individuals who have made a decision for Christ after seeing this video on TikTok who now attend every weekly Bible Study!
A True Miracle And Blessing From God
After watching another video we posted on TikTok, a fourteen year old boy named Isaac, already with tears in his eyes and a heart of true contrition, joined out ministry’s discord server. He told us he knew he must repent and wanted to be saved by the Lord Jesus from his sin! We immediately joined him in an online call, and we were able to share the gospel with him one on one… and by the Grace of God, we were able to witness him at his point of conversion. Isaac truly repented and believed, placing all of his trust in Jesus Christ alone for his salvation. In a total miracle and blessing, we witnessed him giving his life to the Lord! Praise God!
The TikTok videos our ministry has posted for the Kingdom of God have produced truly good fruit. We are so blessed to be attached to the true vine, and for the increase our Father provides [John 15:1—8]. All of it is to praise and glorify God. We couldn’t be more humbled or grateful to have been used in some small part of it.
What exactly happened to Isaac?
If you would like to read more about how Isaac was saved by God, subscribe to our newsletter! We will be posting a full salvation story explaining the whole event. Don’t miss this incredible story of a true miracle!
