Share Your Faith Authentically With an Online Ministry

Share Your Faith Authentically

Ben was forty when he was sidelined by an auto accident. His back was broken and even with surgery, the doctors hadn’t been able to fully repair the damage. As a result, he lived with excruciating pain that left him unable to live his life the way he had once.

Now, he was practically bedridden and struggled to do basic tasks for himself. Ben’s wife and children did their best to help him. His wife took on a second job to provide for their family. His teenage children drove him to doctor’s appointments and sat with him on the days when he was in too much pain to move from his recliner.

His family was a comfort. But Ben struggled with what to do now that his life looked so radically different. He’d always had a passion for writing and one of his sons suggested he use this season to write.

Ben started writing devotionals and short hymns to inspire others. He posted them online and quickly discovered that people were encouraged by his words. Without even realizing it, Ben had started an online ministry.

What Is Online Ministry?

Ministry, at its core, is simply nurturing and serving others. There are many ways that ministry can happen inside a church. Some people minister within a church by leading Sunday school classes, watching the nursery, helping new visitors find seats, monitoring the parking lot, or any other number of tasks.

But just as ministry can happen inside a church. It can also happen outside of it. Some people minister this way by feeding the homeless, visiting those in prison, volunteering at retirement communities, or simply caring for their families in their own homes.

Of course, thanks to the rise of the internet, there’s also a new frontier when it comes to ministering—the online ministry. This is the process of nurturing and serving others online through the internet.

When I was 56 a major back fusion surgery landed me in a coma and intubated for 6 days.  All I remember is that the Lord was holding me in His hands during the time.  When I woke up and left the hospital, the Lord put it on my heart to start an online ministry and within 4 months of that surgery I founded You Ministries.

Your Online Ministry May Look Different

It’s important to understand that your online ministry may not look like someone else’s. God gifts each member of the body with different abilities and talents.

While your friend might be excellent at writing and creates amazing novels with powerful themes of redemption, your talents might be in graphic design. You may be able to design images that encourage and inspire someone just when they need it.

This is what Paul’s referring to in Romans 12:4-6. He wrote…

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.”

This is important to understand because it can be tempting to compare your online ministry to someone else’s. If you do this and think your ministry is “better” or “bigger” than someone else’s, you could easily fall into the trap of pride.

Solomon warned about this in Proverbs 16:8, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

But just as dangerous as becoming prideful is becoming ashamed of your ministry. You might look at it and think it’s far less important than your friend’s or that what you’re doing simply doesn’t matter. Rather than looking at your ministry, stay focused on the Gospel and the power behind it.

Remember Paul’s instructions in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

This is part one of a four part blog series.  Please download your free workbook/journal here to go with the series.

Next week we will continue this series with "Look for One Sheep", something that holds dear to my heart.

Tammy Becker 

Founder and Chief Disciple

You Ministries