Winning the Air War: How Churches Can Use Social Media to Make Disciples

Based on Jake Gosselin’s Interview with Josh Howerton

Most pastors from reformed backgrounds have been trained to view social media with suspicion. It’s seen as flashy, entertainment-driven, and potentially ego-feeding. But what if that perspective is actually playing into the enemy’s hands? What if avoiding the digital space means ceding your people to voices that actively oppose biblical truth?

Josh Howerton’s journey from social media skeptic to strategic content creator offers a framework for church leaders who want to engage culture without compromising their calling.

Breaking Through Institutionalized Cynicism

Coming from a Young, Restless, Reformed background (Acts 29, John Piper influence), Howerton was steeped in what he calls “institutionalized cynicism.” The unspoken rule in reformed circles was simple: technology is worldly, social media is self-promotion, and humble pastors keep low profiles.

This theologized cynicism creates a fatal blind spot. While pastors avoid digital engagement out of humility concerns, their people spend 16-18 hours per week on social media absorbing secular progressive narratives about faith, morals, and worldview.

The wake-up call came from Carlos Razzo, Howerton’s social media director, who presented a stark reality: “Your people are listening to everybody else talk about the world and beliefs and cultural axioms. If you don’t [engage], you’re really seeding your sheep to the wolves.”

The Air War vs. Ground War Framework

Howerton’s strategic shift came through understanding discipleship as having two fronts:

Ground War (Traditional Ministry):

• Preaching the Word
• Pastoral counseling
• Building strong families
• Prayer and discipleship
• Sunday services and small groups

Air War (Cultural Engagement):

• Contending for biblical truth in cultural narratives
• Engaging where cultural conversations actually happen
• Providing biblical perspective on trending topics
• Fighting for ideological territory in the digital space

The critical insight: You can win every ground battle, but if the other side has aerial supremacy, they’ll bomb away all the ground you’ve gained. Every time you disciple someone on Sunday, they go back into a week of secular messaging that undermines what you’ve taught.

Social Media as the Digital Areopagus

Just as Paul went to Athens and engaged in the marketplace of ideas where people “spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21), modern pastors need to engage where those conversations happen today—social media platforms.

The goal isn’t entertainment or self-promotion—it’s pastoral care in digital spaces. When cultural moments arise that affect your people’s thinking, addressing them on social media becomes an extension of pastoral ministry, not a departure from it.

Practical Content Creation Strategy

When Howerton started creating regular content, his process was systematic:

The Formula

• 60-80 second reels with specific structure
• Super grabby opening line (first 3 seconds are crucial)
• Content with zero attention-wasting moments
• Mic drop closing line that creates emotional response

Production Process

• Write a script beforehand
• Use BigVue app as phone teleprompter
• Focus on reading naturally (skill worth developing)
• Let the team handle captions and emoji strategy

Core Principle

“Emotion puts people in motion.” Content that creates emotional response gets shared. The goal is biblical truth that resonates emotionally, not just intellectually.

Handling the Inevitable Backlash

The reality of public Christian leadership in our cultural moment: if you say anything substantial, you’ll face criticism. Howerton has been “canceled” five times and offers this perspective:

It’s Like Getting Hit with Snowballs

The first time feels devastating. By the fifth time, you realize it’s “frozen water” that melts quickly. The pattern is predictable: outrage peaks Tuesday, dies by Friday, and attendance actually increases because people want to hear what you’ll say next.

Consider Your Wife’s Frame

“Your ministry strategy changed when you chose your wife.” This isn’t about character issues—it’s about practical capacity. Some wives are natural fighters who say “go harder” when criticism comes. Others need protection from the fray. Reverse engineer your strategy from your wife’s frame, not her character.

Pain Tolerance is Learnable

Some capacity for criticism is natural, but much is developed through experience. Each “cancel” attempt becomes less intimidating as you realize the bark is usually worse than the bite.

The Team’s Role in Supporting Bold Leadership

Chris Kuti’s perspective as a staff member provides crucial balance: “Anybody on staff at a church who’s not the senior pastor has to understand that he carries a weight that I don’t.”

Supporting Without Second-Guessing

• Don’t armchair quarterback decisions you’re not called to make
• Create environments where leaders feel supported to take necessary risks
• Share, affirm, and amplify rather than critique methodology
• “Hold his arms up” when criticism gets heavy

Understanding the Calling Difference

“New levels, new devils.” The senior pastor carries responsibility and faces attacks that other staff members don’t experience. Instead of wondering “how would I do it differently,” the question becomes “how can I support what God has called him to do?”

Addressing Common Objections

“Isn’t this just entertainment/attractional ministry?” No more than Paul using Greek philosophy to reach Athenians. The medium isn’t the message—using contemporary communication tools to deliver biblical truth is contextual ministry, not compromise.

“What about humility and self-promotion concerns?” False humility that allows secular voices to dominate cultural conversations while staying silent isn’t biblical humility—it’s negligence. True humility serves people’s spiritual needs even when it’s uncomfortable.

“Shouldn’t we focus on ‘real’ ministry instead?” This is a false dichotomy. Digital engagement supplements, not replaces, traditional ministry. You need both air war and ground war to make lasting disciples.

Measuring Success

Success isn’t measured in follower counts or viral videos—it’s measured in discipleship impact. When your people encounter secular narratives during the week, do they have a biblical framework for processing them? Have you equipped them to think Christianly about cultural moments?

The goal is reaching people where they are with truth they need, not building a personal brand or entertaining an audience.

Practical Next Steps

Start Small:

• Identify one cultural conversation affecting your people
• Create one piece of content addressing it biblically
• Test the response and learn from it

Build Systems:

• Develop content creation workflows
• Train team members to support the vision
• Create boundaries to protect family/personal time

Stay Pastoral:

• Always ask: “How does this serve my people?”
• Focus on biblical truth over trending topics
• Maintain the heart of a shepherd, not an influencer

The Bottom Line

In our cultural moment, pastoral silence in digital spaces isn’t neutrality—it’s ceding ground to voices actively opposing biblical truth. If pastors don’t fight the air war, they’ll constantly lose ground they’ve gained through traditional ministry.

The question isn’t whether to engage digital spaces, but how to do it faithfully. Carlos was right: when your people are spending nearly 20 hours a week consuming content that shapes their worldview, pastoral engagement in those spaces becomes a necessity, not an option.

The goal is simple: be present where your people are with the truth they need. Everything else—follower counts, viral moments, even criticism—is secondary to the pastoral calling to feed the sheep, even in digital pastures.

The digital areopagus is where modern cultural conversations happen. Just as Paul engaged in Athens, faithful pastors must engage where the conversations are taking place, not where they wish they were happening.