The world seems to be stalled at the intersection of pandemonium and chaos. Caught off guard, nobody seemed to have a contingency plan to mitigate a global pandemic. So in Spring 2020, the world scrambled to assemble protocols and systems to accomplish things most people have never had to do before.

We’ve grown accustomed to YouTube videos — usually of some trivial amusement, like a cat playing chopsticks on the piano — going viral. We were not prepared to deal with an actual life-threatening virus going viral, spreading disease and mayhem around the world.

This is especially true for pastors who are used to having a literal platform to stand on with a nearby audience to preach to. All that changed in a moment when governors across the United States and authorities around the world issued edicts to shelter in place, outlawing gatherings of any kind.

This was not an attack on religion or First Amendment rights, but an issue of public safety. Most churches readily complied, and within a few hours, were devising new methods to communicate and continue to engage their faith community.

 A Quick Pivot to Digital

When it comes to making significant leadership decisions that involve extensive changes and effort, many pastors and church leaders historically take a wait-and-see approach. Change is hard and often painful, especially for groups of people known for their propensity to cling to traditions, ancient or modern.

Motivation for real and substantive change requires a sense of urgency to help people move from where they are to where they need to be. The coronavirus crisis and subsequent government officials’ lockdown orders in states and municipalities created an immediate sense of urgency.

Jesus has placed you in this time of history to communicate His love and a certain future to an uncertain world.

Organizational change generally requires a systematic process that involves a coalition of people who can intelligently answer the “why” and “when” questions that present the compelling reason for change in the first place.

For many churches, debate is all that ever takes place, leading to procrastination and stagnation as the world changes around them, leaving them arguing about minor shifts, like replacing the pews with chairs, worship styles, or even service times.

All that changed when public safety issues forced pastors to find a different way to do church. We simply could not do business as usual for the foreseeable future.

So without wasting time debating the why or when, churches sprinted to discover answers to the what and how. They quickly pivoted toward online delivery systems and other creative ways of doing and being the church.

Pastors who had never dreamed of streaming their services on Facebook, or who lacked the equipment and resources for doing livestreaming or preparing a video, discovered that someone in the congregation with a smartphone could effectively use that tool to accomplish the task.

There are a multitude of ways to take church online, from the simple smartphone to a million-dollar, state-of-the-art audio/visual system with all the latest HD cameras, bells and whistles. But at the end of the day, it all boils down to this: How do you effectively pivot from communicating with a live audience to simply speaking into a faceless camera in an empty room?

The Art of Persuasion

If you listened closely, you could hear echoes from a time when churches were forced to go underground — literally or figuratively — because of a different kind of government edict.

And if you took a moment to look back even further, you would discover an unlikely source of inspiration for the connection and communication challenges of today in the writings of Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), a disciple of Plato. Aristotle’s thoughts on the art of persuasion, what we usually refer to as rhetoric, might shed some light on how to communicate with a virtual online audience in today’s pandemic-panicked world.

Aristotle’s Rules of Rhetoric have been taught to speakers, politicians, lawyers and preachers for thousands of years. Using the Greek words of logos (logic), pathos (emotion), ethos (ethics or trust), and kairos (a moment in time), Aristotle proposed a logical way to persuade or win an argument.

When we stand or sit to speak to our audience, we certainly don’t want to take on the tone of an argument. That is what politicians do. But we do want to be persuasive.

Below is a graphic showing my rendition of Aristotle’s main components in the art of gaining favor with an audience and leading them toward engagement with you and your message.

Bear in mind that Aristotle’s use of those words does not necessarily align with the New Testament Greek use of the words. For example, pathos occurs three times in the New Testament, with the connotation of sinful desire (Romans 1:26; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:5). But the word itself is the root for English words like empathy and pathetic, which have to do with emotion, good or bad.

The writer of Hebrews uses a similar word, sumpatheo. Hebrews 4:15 describes how Jesus was touched by “the feeling of our infirmities” (KJV), in contrast to Aristotle’s mythical Greek gods, whom Aristotle believed could never be compared with humans.

The simple concepts of logic, trust, emotions and timing provide us with guidance as we communicate in this crisis and plan our communication strategy. Virtually every communication and conversation — especially those being broadcast or livestreamed — should combine elements of rhetoric, and be recognized as Crucial Conversations, defined by the authors of the book by the same name as “high stakes, high emotions, and diverse opinions.”

Having been afforded the opportunity a few years ago to attend a two-day Crucial Conversations training workshop, I learned the importance of their first rule, “Lead with the heart.” Thus, I place pathos — self-awareness and awareness of the emotions and feelings of others — as the first consideration of any crucial conversation.

Pastors can be themselves. They should lead with their hearts in the current crisis, but make calm decisions using their heads so the resulting actions (the work of their hands) will produce positive outcomes.

A Matrix for Communication

In simplistic terms, I am suggesting the above model might help you as a template or matrix for what you say and how you say it. (Also see the graphic below.) Consider the following points as you create online content:

• Proclaim the gospel — the good news that God is still in control!
• Be pastoral. Be a shepherd.
• Be warm and empathetic. Even Jesus wept (John 11:35).
• Smile and be vulnerable.
• Look into the camera.
• Visualize a large crowd as you speak, but mentally focus on one attentive young person who is looking to you for answers to persistent questions.
• Consider the feelings of your audience — their pain, anxiety, fears and grief.
• Recognize some may feel guilty because they are healthy, still have their jobs, etc.
• Don’t minimize your congregation’s fears.
• Be kind.
• Model and propose generosity.
• Don’t add to their shame.
• Point them to the love of God.
• Tell uplifting stories from your own faith community and from elsewhere.
• Talk about love for one another.

• Speak truth in loving ways.
• Don’t claim to be an expert.
• Don’t try to answer every question.
• Direct them to a community group.
• Check your facts.
• Emphasize Christ’s sufficiency and God’s attributes.
• Remain gospel-focused.
• Point them to Jesus.
• Direct them to Scripture.
• Ask them to consider the “why” question of their life: Why am I here on Earth?
• Lead them to a decision. Don’t coerce, but do ask, “What about you?” or, “How will you respond?”
• Talk about applying Scripture today. Show them steps for helping themselves, then helping others.
• Keep the community and broader community in focus.
• Direct them to resources for further study.

• Rely on the Holy Spirit.
• Be yourself.
• Practice your message in front of the mirror. Record it on your phone, and play it back. Or ask for someone in your home to watch. (But don’t increase home tensions if you are in isolation together!)
• Be positive.
• Be calm.
• Be encouraging.
• Focus on hope and faith.
• Cast vision, not stones.
• Remind people that this, too, shall pass.
• Leave them with something to believe in.
• Leave them with something to do.
• We may not be able to solve all the world’s problems, but we can encourage people to consider one thing they can do today.

• Remember what is happening in their world.
• Keep it short and simple.
• Slow down.
• Remind people that while no one knows the number of their days, we can all make the most of the moments we have.
• Help people discover God’s plan for their lives.
• Create moments that can be shared across social media.
• Consider your team’s time, and express appreciation.
• Talk about examples from history of people who made it through tough times.
• Remember both the “here and now” and the “then and there” — the practical and the spiritual.
• Encourage congregants to take time for spiritual disciplines and Sabbath.
• Stay connected.
• Pray together, and seek God for one another.

Jesus has placed you in this time of history to communicate His love and a certain future to an uncertain world. You have a destiny. You can do it. Jesus is enough. I am cheering you on.