Episode 115: How to Extend Digital Hospitality to Others on a Self-Focused Platform

“I have the minimalist life. My home is beautiful. Now all I have to do is be LDS and I can be an influencer!”

It was a joke made by a friend over coffee with Elizabeth Santelmann, who you may know as Sunshine in My Nest on Instagram. Elizabeth points to that coffee date as a watershed moment when she realized Christians are missing a massive opportunity to share the light of Christ on social media.

The reality is moms and women flock to Instagram for advice on everything from home decor to raising children to homeschooling. Mormons excel at using social media to spread their message. And it dawned on Elizabeth then that the church should be embracing the same opportunity to give the gospel and grace and all kinds of goodness.

As one of my favorite apologists asks, “Would Christians be willing to do for the Truth, what Mormons are willing to do for a lie?” If we ditch social media altogether we miss out on a harvest-ripe mission field.

But can you use social media for good and not evil? Can it be a place of warmth and hospitality, rather than coldness and condemnation? Elizabeth thinks so, and I think she’s doing it really well!

Elizabeth logs onto social media asking what she can give, rather than what she can get. She enters with a hospitality frame of mind—her desire to see and serve the women on the other side of the screen. She wants them to receive the levity of grace, the freedom of the gospel, the genuine good life in Christ from her squares. She wants women to visit her profile and see compassion, beauty, and true life in Jesus.

If you want to redeem your online presence and use your social media account to love God and love others, listen to this episode for a great place to start.

Additional resources:

Extraordinary Hospitality (for Ordinary People): Seven Ways to Welcome Like Jesus by Carolyn Lacey: https://www.thegoodbook.com/extraordinary-hospitality-for-ordinary-people

Say the Right Thing: How Your Words Can Glorify God and Encourage Others by Carolyn Lacey: https://www.thegoodbook.com/say-the-right-thing

Today’s sponsor: https://www.thegoodbook.com/

Keep up with Elizabeth Santelmann here: https://www.instagram.com/sunshineinmynest/

Listen to Elizabeth Santelmann’s weekly podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sunshine-in-my-nest/id1625483086