Results Depend on Understanding Your Audience

As a brand-new staff member, I was committed to doing things right. When the MPD trainer told us to set up appointments to begin meeting with people immediately to build our team of partners, I was on it. Of course, I was nervous, too, but I was going to do everything I could to report to my ministry assignment as quickly as possible. 

My neighbor, Shirley, had expressed interest in learning more about my ministry, so she was the first appointment I booked. Her home was filled with Christian decor—crosses on the wall, decorative Bibles, and pillows with Scripture verses in needlepoint on the couch. She may not join my team, but I thought she would be open to hearing about the ministry and praying for me!

When I reached the point in our conversation where I invited her to consider becoming a financial partner, her smiling face turned to stone. She immediately stood from the chair beneath a framed calligraphy rendition of the 23rd Psalm and held the front door open. “Goodbye,” she said. I realized that I had misunderstood my audience. 

Whether you were raising support, sharing the gospel, or inviting someone to take the next step in following Jesus, I am confident that you have a few stories of your own where something similar has happened. You were confident that you understood your audience and how to approach them. Somewhere along the way, their posture towards you changed. Reflecting on the encounter, you struggled to understand where things went wrong. 

These occurrences happen to everyone. While they can be discouraging and sometimes even embarrassing, they can serve us well. These situations remind us that we cannot rely on assumptions. We have resources that can help us understand where people may be coming from and better meet them where they are as we pursue God’s mission with the people He has called us to reach. 

First, we have the Holy Spirit. He is our counselor and guide. He gives us wisdom and God’s heart for people. His heart allows us to love people with the same love that compelled Him to lay down His life for us all. Self-preservation is no longer our motive.

Another powerful tool for understanding people is the Audience Map. If it has been a while since you looked at it, new information has likely been added. Locate your audience on the map. Think about the conversation you had that did not go as planned, and look for reasons why that may have happened. What assumption did you make about your audience that was wrong? How would you change the approach next time? 

Looking back, I think Shirley was “Professing - Involved.” She had a strong identity as a “Christian” because it was part of her culture, but she was not comfortable with active involvement in the Great Commission. If she gave me a second chance at that conversation, I would have started by talking about God’s love for her, personally. I would have gone a little slower to make sure she understood the gospel. 

I am so very grateful for the resources God gives us to fulfill His calling on our lives. I am also grateful for His grace. Even when I fail to understand how to meet people where they are, all is not lost. The mission is His. He loves Shirley, and He loves me. We both need that gospel of His grace!

Together with you,
Cheryl

Yes, you read the title correctly. And now that I have your attention, let me be more specific:

No, I’m not advocating that you stop your digital ministry, forget your audience, or do something entirely different. And just to be absolutely clear—I’m definitely not saying you should stop sharing the gospel online.

What I am saying is this: Give up trying to put “your content” in front of the people you’re trying to reach. Stop trying to reach them and convince them to try, read, or do “your thing.” Instead, I’d like to invite you to serve them in loving and deeply empathetic ways.

Here’s an example from my own life:

I lead the GodTools team, and our target audience’s persona is named Behati. She’s best described as a low-involvement Christian who wants to share her faith, but she doesn’t know where to start, has never seen evangelism done, and really has no clue how to get into a conversation about faith.

After conducting additional research and talking to real-life Behatis, my team and I discovered something important: most of our Behati users actually dislike and actively avoid the word “evangelism.” Their associations and experiences with the word are overwhelmingly negative (e.g., aggressive street preaching). And since many grew up in Christian environments, they didn’t become Christians through evangelism.

These insights changed the way we think about her, talk to her, and what we offer her. Instead of trying to convince her that GodTools is something she wants, we started speaking her language. Instead of saying “evangelism,” we started saying “faith conversations.” Instead of trying to engage her in the “global mission,” we started offering her answers like “how to talk to your mom about faith.” No, Behati does not have a kingdom perspective or a clear picture of all that evangelism is. She doesn’t think about these things the way CCCI staff do—but that doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to serve her where she is now. 

Here’s a different and, for some, a more relevant example:

When my four-year-old daughter is fuming at the discovery that her rowdy one-year-old brother has broken one of her toys, I don’t shout, “sin is crouching at your door” or “that’s not what Jesus would do!” You and I both know that’s not the way to get kids on the path towards grace. Those things are nonetheless true, and there will be a time for her to hear them, but she’s not ready for that kind of advice. I must meet her where she is: as a child frustrated at her boundaries being overstepped, full of emotion, and on the edge of tears. She needs to be served by someone who knows her, who knows what she needs, and who loves her.

Stick with your audiences. Live life alongside them. Seek to know them. Love them for who they are. And serve them in ways that move them toward personally experiencing and knowing the gospel.

“How is someone even saved?” my friend asked. Her words felt sharp.

I was surprised by her question, and surprised by the time and place she asked. My university friends and I were reunited to celebrate my upcoming wedding. In the middle of the gathering, with a flurry of activity going on around us, she said these words to me.

She knows the answer. She grew up in church. She led alongside me as a Cru student leader on campus.

Though many responses flooded my mind, I quickly answered.

“All you have to do is put your faith in Jesus to forgive your sins,” I responded.

She walked the other way, frustrated. I stood there, confused.

Another friend overheard our exchange. “She wasn’t asking you for an answer. She’s having a hard time with Christianity right now.”

Amidst the bustle of celebrating, I had forgotten the deep pain my friend was experiencing. She had recently been betrayed by a Christian role model in her life and was questioning what following Jesus really meant for her. She was in the process of deconstructing her faith.

I often think about this moment and what I would’ve done differently, if I would’ve taken an extra second to pause and ask another question rather than blurting out an answer. What if I would’ve remembered her pain and listened?

Now, six years later, I’ve surrendered these “what if” questions to Jesus and choose to trust that He works in spite of my missteps. But this exchange with my friend has continued to challenge me as a friend. It has shaped me as a missionary and as a content strategist and creator.

I can’t be perfect in my interactions with people or in the words I write online, but I can be a learner.

In my last 13 years with Cru—first in SLM, then as a journalist, editor, strategist, and spokesperson via MPD—I’ve learned how to communicate with various audiences. But no matter our roles, these are a few key communication principles we will always need.

1. Start with your audience. Identify their stage on the Audience Map. What are their desires? What challenges do they face? How will they move toward Jesus?

2. Determine your goal. What do you want your audience to do?

3. Ensure your tone matches your audience.

4. Use simple and clear language, especially related to Christian or CCCI words. Don’t assume your audience knows all the Christian or CCCI terms that you know. An example is “discipler.” An easy substitute is “mentor.” (For more examples, see this guide that the U.S. created for U.S. Cru ministries. 

Walking alongside people in their spiritual journeys is complex. But we aren’t without help or hope. Not only do we have resources like the Audience Map, we ultimately have the Holy Spirit to speak through us.

How is God teaching you to better understand your audiences?

The UX mantra my friend Shawn displayed at his desk made an impression on me. It states, “You are not your user.” Wow! Those words continue to challenge me to understand the audiences my team and I serve and resist assuming that they are like me.

God is mobilizing staff, teams, and partners from a number of different ministries and regions to serve the gaming community, and we are so excited to be a part of His work. My friends and I are specifically reaching out to those who enjoy video games, board games, virtual reality (VR), and related “nerd culture” activities. 

First, it is important to remind ourselves that without the Lord’s direction and power in everything we do, we will not bear lasting fruit. As we set out to build movements among gamers, we choose a smaller audience segment to focus on, and then we learn what we can about this segment. We also consider our assumptions about how to effectively start spiritual conversations, present the gospel, and follow up with those who indicate a decision for Christ. For those who are more intuitive, it’s easy to make decisions based on our past experiences. However, it’s also important to collect current data about our audiences. 

Our friend Karl once led a group in creating gaming personas based on audience research. I was surprised at what we discovered from personal interviews and what gamers had written on platforms such as Discord and Reddit. The research helped us identify reasons why people enjoy gaming, and how we can address the motivation of their hearts. 

When we first went into a VR platform called ‘VRChat’ to share our faith, we didn’t know who was there or why they were there. Initially, we depended on familiar face-to-face and digital methods of evangelism. Some elements of those methods seem to work well. But we also try to listen, observe, and ask questions with curiosity and kindness. God is helping us to be more effective as we grow in understanding and empathy, and adapt our ways. 

My friend Stewart is a great example of someone with a heart to learn and adapt. Stewart and some people from his physical brick-and-mortar church began to share their sermons on a two-dimensional virtual screen within their VRChat world. This user experience is similar to that of a movie theater or a satellite church. After getting to know those coming to their gatherings better, a church pastor started to deliver messages as an avatar. This change resulted in a more fruitful ministry, partly because people often go into VR for the immersive and spatial features that help them connect, features that flat screen media does not have. Praise the Lord!

May God continue to give us all insight and fill our hearts with His love, so that we can understand people, and minister His grace in whatever space we find ourselves.