What does authentic and audacious faith look like in an increasingly secular online world? Youth leader and online evangelist DAVID LOH (@pigsflyidie) hopes to answer that question with his life and also model it for the next generation on social media, which is an area he believes the Church can greater utilise for discipleship and evangelism. Sitting down with David over fish soup and noodles, here’s what we talked about… 

“These things are more caught than taught,” began David. 

As someone who has been a leader in his church’s youth ministry for more than a decade, David shared that he learned invaluable lessons about things like giving and evangelism by seeing other believers do it first; modelling is an essential part of discipleship.

I began by asking, why is it important to share about our faith online?

Social media is an extension of who we are in the world, David replied. That is why he believes it is important to share our faith both online and offline.

Evangelism is what we Christians have been called to do; we have been commissioned to go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to all creation. 

Where is the “world”?

“I can’t buy a plane ticket and fly to Afghanistan right now, but with an Instagram post, I can reach people in Afghanistan,” he responded.

David believes social media is a tool that can help anyone preach the Gospel to the whole world, as compared to the past when one had to travel to foreign lands in which one would certainly be persecuted.

In our modern world, where the vast majority are on social media, we have a tremendous opportunity to share the Good News! 

Modern-day martyrdom. This is what David coins cancel culture to be for Christians in Singapore.

We won’t get killed for sharing the faith, but we could be bombarded with negative comments online.

As disciples of Jesus, we should not be surprised if and when the world opposes the Gospel like it says in John 15:18-25.

After all, as David points out, all who desire to live godly lives will be persecuted.

At the same time, David’s warning was that we “should be persecuted for the right reasons, not for saying something stupid”.

We need to steward social media with wisdom and speak with love and grace, he advised. And when backlash comes, we should assess the situation and see why people are giving us negative comments.

“If it is because we are being more like Jesus, keep going!” encouraged David. “If it is because of something contradictory to the faith, humble yourself and learn from the mistakes.

“After all, we are all growing and there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.”

David’s advice is that, as much as possible, we should live peaceably with everyone; there is no need to “avenge ourselves” should we receive negative comments online because God will settle it. 

How can we share about Jesus authentically without inviting undue hate?

Be yourself, David said. “Share about your everyday life – whether that’s grades, personal struggles or hobbies! This makes your social media space more relatable.

“People will know if you’re being authentic and will trust you based on a consistent testimony. There is a place for directly preaching the Gospel and a place for sharing your faith daily.”

David also encouraged believers to share personal testimonies, adding that the message of “Jesus can heal you” differs greatly from “This is how Jesus healed me (or someone I know personally)”.

People cannot rebut your testimony when it truly happened and there are eyewitnesses to prove it. 

Go beyond preaching. David said that in addition to sharing the Gospel, it’s important to also be present when people share about their struggles.

“It can be a simple ‘Hey, I’m sorry you’re having a hard time. Just want you to know that I’m here for you and praying for you’,” said David, who affirmed that Jesus loves every person and that we should seize every opportunity to share His love with others.

… we let our works go before our words

His practical tips are to journey with such people, meet tangible need where possible, and encourage them. 

“When it comes to evangelism, we let our works go before our words,” affirmed David. “When people know that we care genuinely, our words would have more weight.

“As James says, faith without works is dead.” 

What’s the metric for success when it comes to evangelising online?

David shared honestly that when the “numbers” for his evangelistic content aren’t high, it can be a struggle. Nevertheless, he takes the opportunity to “let it hurt” him.

“I let it remind me that it’s not about the numbers,” he said. “I think it’s good to have these moments.

“Some posts do better and reach more people. Just because there are more numbers doesn’t mean it impacts more people.” 

As such, David’s metric for success is whether someone experiences God. 

“Recently, I posted my proposal… 1.1K likes. Was anyone experiencing God? I don’t think so,” concluded David, who believes numbers really aren’t everything. 

On the contrary, David recalled an experience when God told him to record a particular video message – the first take of which ended up being 18 minutes long.

David thought it did not make sense because the content was too long. The second take was 16 minutes, still unfavourable with Instagram’s algorithms.

After posting the video, and thinking that no one would watch it, he later received a direct message from a lady who had been touched by God through that video.

He had the opportunity to journey with this lady (while being accountable to his leaders and then girlfriend), who eventually encountered God through healing in church.

David shared that, for those who wish to grow in their use of social media, it is good to be aware of what things like trends and algorithms do for your content.

However, we need to be cautious that these remain but guides for us – the more important thing is to hear the voice of God and obey!

If a non-Christian saw your social media account, would they meet Jesus?

“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1, KJV)

“Which part of Jesus do they meet? Would they meet Jesus at all?” asked David.

For him, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:1 are a great model for how believers should conduct ourselves online.

Noting that the KJV version says “follow me”, David concluded with the hope that digital discipleship will be what his online evangelism achieves – that his followers would follow him as he follows Christ.

As a young person who has been personally impacted through David’s ministry for more than a year, it was a privilege to see how God has cultivated him as an older brother figure and an online evangelist. 

Don’t miss out on the chance to shoot him some burning questions at this month’s Thir.st Youth Night. In the meantime, you can follow David on Instagram and TikTok.