TikTok mission

by Fr. Jim Fleming

Fr. Jim Fleming asks if TikTok is the future for the followers of Jesus Christ.

Isn’t it very heartening to see so many young people on TikTok bearing witness to their faith and their knowledge of the Bible is just incredible. They may not be members of any church ( in fact there is hardly even a mention of the word ‘church’ in their clips), but still they come across as very sincere and genuine. They also invite viewers to get in touch personally with them for a chat or a prayer. Is this the future for the followers of Jesus?

During my twenty years in Pakistan, I never met anyone who didn’t believe in God. Here in Britain I meet them every day.

Britain is indeed a missionary country and it is not easy to do mission here. For so many people God does not exist or is irrelevant. Mentioning the word ‘God’ is not always politically correct in the public forum. ( We don’t do God’ –
one of Tony Blair’s aides said some years ago). And of course for many young people, talking about God is just not ‘cool’.

We can do mission in so many different ways: there’s the silent witness of our lives and words; a more daring way is to talk about God with those we meet whenever we get a chance and especially in the context of what we know God also believes in, that is, the struggle for justice, peace and love.

Of perhaps all the prophets of the Bible, Amos stands out as the greatest defender of human rights. This reluctant prophet didn’t even want to respond positively to God’s call to him. He was quite happy doing what he knew best, that is, minding his own business and tending to his sheep as a humble shepherd. ‘I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore trees’. (Amos 7: 14).

Our baptism gives us the right and the duty to witness to Christ wherever we find ourselves. We do this mainly by living, as best we can, a good Christian life. We also do it by inviting others who are not Christian to share their faith with us, always as equals, never patronisingly, always with a listening ear, never with closed minds but aware that God works in many different ways and through many different people – not all of whom are necessarily Christian.

tiktok app on mobile phone

Let us pray

We are all missionaries of Christ. Let us pray for the courage to talk about, and share God's love with those we meet.

Let us pray
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