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Indigitous Values: Innovation

Though the unchanging gospel will always be relevant, as the world continues to change around us at a rapid rate, ministry work needs to adapt and evolve with the times to keep up with trends and bring the gospel to where people are.

Innovation has always been a big part of ministry. The early Christians used Roman roads, built by the Roman Empire to more efficiently conquer and rule others, to rapidly spread the gospel. The printing press was used to mass-produce the Bible and get it into the hands of Christians. Radio and television were used to bring the message of Jesus into the mass communication media of the era. And now you can find followers of Jesus bringing the gospel into TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp groups, and other social media platforms.  

Indigitous values innovation because if ministries can keep on the cutting edge, we can always offer relevant next steps to people in a rapidly changing world.  Ministry approaches that worked a decade ago might not work today. As the times change, our strategies should change as well.

During Paul’s ministry, he adapted his strategy based on his audience. “In Jewish regions, he preached in synagogues. But as he moved into Gentile areas, he shifted to public marketplaces (agoras)—gathering spaces where people debated philosophy, politics, and faith,” says Kejdis Bakalli, a global digital strategist with Campus Crusade for Christ International. “The world has changed, but human behavior hasn’t. People still gather to discuss culture, identity, and beliefs, but now, those conversations happen online, especially on social networks.”

Sharing the gospel on social media is itself an innovation, but it also requires an agile mindset and a willingness to try, fail, and learn. Social media ministry is still relatively new, and as soon as you figure out a great strategy for a certain platform, it will change. The social media apps are constantly being updated, changing their algorithms and how people engage with them. So even if you discover a great strategy for TikTok, there’s a good chance you’ll need to change it once TikTok changes and people engage with it differently.

Fostering an innovative mindset isn’t easy, though. It can often seem counterintuitive. “Organizations are designed for efficiency and to get better at doing things well. They’re designed to do a specific thing. Innovation means you have to stop doing one thing and start doing something else,” says Liam Savage, the director of innovation at OneHope.

In his book, Green Sky Innovation, Liam shares seven different perspectives that can help ministries embrace innovation and take things to the next level:

  • Kingdom Builder:  Focused on partnership and collaboration. “When we operate in unity and diversity, good things happen.”
  • Philosopher: Focused on systems and root causes. “Sometimes in ministry, we can solve symptoms but not actually address the core problem that’s causing it.”
  • Beginner: Focused on the assumptions we make about what we’re doing. “How do we look at things through new eyes?”
  • Storyteller: Focused on how to communicate effectively.
  • Host: Focused on how to activate people around a table.
  • Culture Maker: Focused on building a culture that brings the best out of people.
  • Learner: Focused on testing ideas before getting too far down the road.

Indigitous #HACK, our global missional hackathon, is one of the key ways that we champion innovation. During this event, people gather around the world to develop solutions to ministry problems. Sometimes, the #HACK projects help ministries get “unstuck” when something they were doing wasn’t working. Other times, the projects are about finding new ways to reach an audience that has been unreached. 

Previous #HACK events have resulted in innovative projects and strategies, such as the first online Bible story in the Pukapuka language, a chatbot to disrupt human trafficking, a prayer walk app to help cover a city in prayer, an interactive map that shows gospel storie in relation to where they occurred, and more. 

“The fun part of #HACK was brainstorming together on how to solve the problem. #HACK is very inspiring for me because I love the fact that like-minded people come together to build for the kingdom,” says Joshua, a champion of a #HACK event in Nigeria.

Indigitous values innovation because it allows people who wouldn’t normally be involved in mission work to play a vital role in what God’s doing around the world. We value innovation because in our rapidly changing world, you can’t assume old tactics will keep working. And we value innovation because it’s the best way to bring the gospel to new people, places, and spaces. To reach people no one is reaching, we must do what no one is doing. 

Try This: Check out Indigitous #HACK for opportunities to join others for missional innovation.

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