Pastor, Stop Trying to Go Viral... (Be You)

Pastor, stop trying to go viral. 'Cause the pastors who are actually winning on social media aren't chasing trends. They have a clear message, real conviction, clarity about who they are, and clarity beats trendiness every time. So let's break down these 3 archetypes of a pastor. Number 1, Philip Anthony Mitchell. If you don't know Philip Anthony Mitchell, he leads 2819 Church in Atlanta. Over the last few years, he's skyrocketed, and that didn't happen by doing TikTok dances. He did it by being raw, unfiltered, and word-first. When everyone else is trying to polish, overproduce, and trend hook, he pushes against it. He's almost the antithesis of trend culture. There's no gimmick. There's no clickbait. It's just pure conviction. He literally has people waiting around the block to get into his church, and it's all because of his sermons. Why? Because it feels real. It actually is real. Gen Z, and honestly every generation right now, is pushing against the overproduced media. They're tired of everything feeling like it was built around the algorithm. They want substance. They want theology. They want something that's actually rooted and feels real. Philip Anthony Mitchell doesn't feel like the algorithm built him. He feels like true conviction, and that's why he wins. I'm not fully familiar with this internal team structure. It seems like a lot of the clips are going viral organically from fans clipping it up, but it's something that's really cool because people are resonating with his sermons. And even if there was a team that was clipping up his sermons internally to make it go viral, that's not actually why it resonates with people. It goes viral because it actually hits. It hits right to your core, right to your soul, because you know he's preaching with conviction. The sermons just speak for themselves. Clear message, clear DNA, no gimmicks. Archetype number 2, Pastor Mike Todd. Now, Mike Todd is an entirely different story. If you don't know who he is, he leads Transformation Church. In Tulsa, Oklahoma. He wrote the bestseller Relationship Goals, which actually became an Amazon Prime movie that was number one of the list for this Valentine's Day. Now, Pastor Mike Todd totally understands culture. He understands spectacle. He understands going big, and he understands attention. And here's what makes Pastor Mike Todd different. He doesn't chase trends. He actually flips them on their head. Pastor Mike, he understands influencer culture so well that if he wanted to, he actually could be a full-blown influencer himself. But he uses the understanding that he has of trends to actually preach the gospel. To be able to pull that off is actually a higher skill set because he's not just using trends, he actually embraces the trends. And like I said, flips it on his head. Trying to use culture is where a lot of pastors actually mess up. They see things that are very creative, things of the moment, and they try to copy the infrastructure, but they don't make it their own. With that, they come off really cheesy and it actually falls flat. Don't try copying trends. If you try to embrace culture without actually understanding culture, You come off cheesy, you come off forced, you come off like a tryhard. You don't come off as relevant. You come off as the kids say, unk. And that's when it blows up in your face. We all know this, the cool Christian pastor who tries a trend. Hey, what's up young people? Pastor Mike does what he does because he actually understands trends and he has an amazing team behind him. I actually personally was able to meet him a few years back in Tulsa, and I know his team is top-notch, world-class. One of the people who used to be on his team is Ron Starling, a good friend of mine. He's actually helped me consult on a couple projects that I'm working on currently. So yes, talent matters, but a strategy and a great team matters as well. And underneath all of it, there's still clarity. He knows who he is, he knows his audience, and he knows his lane. And Pastor Mike and Transformation Church, they crush it at such a high level, it's hard to compare. So yes, understanding trends matter, talent matters, and having a great team matters if you're trying to go viral like Pastor Mike Todd. Archetype number 3, Pastor Steven Furtick. He leads Elevation Church. Elevation has built one of the most strongest church media infrastructures in the world. One of the coolest internships where they have interns I've seen of like 100 kids helping in their content and media department where they're strategizing, mood boarding, creating clips. They actually have a distribution system. And let me tell you, pastor, you don't accidentally become Elevation. That's built. I can't say that's the reason why Pastor Steven Furtick goes viral, but he has a definite strong team. Pastor Steven Furtick lives in the middle. He understands raw preaching and he understands cultural framing, titles, hooks, presentations, branding, cool fits. Pastor Steven has it all. Something you'll notice about Elevation, even the sermon titles are strategic. The thumbnails, it's all thought of with great care. All the clips that I see are made with a purpose. They understand their brand of Elevation Church. I even heard a rumor that they have their own scent in the building. That's how much they care about the Elevation brand. Everything that Elevation does isn't random, but here's the key. It never feels like they're chasing trends. It feels like they just understand culture. There's a big difference between chasing culture and understanding culture. One is insecure and the other one is strategic. Elevation does a great job of understanding culture and understanding their positioning. So what's the big takeaways from all 3 of these archetypes? None of these pastors are going viral because of their dancing. They're going viral because they're clear. They're clear on their message, they're clear on their theology, they're clear on their audience, and they're clear on their own lane. And then systems amplify what already exists. Going viral is just a byproduct. It's not actually the goal. Not everyone has an Elevation-sized team. Team or understands culture like Transformation Church. Maybe you just need an outside perspective. That's where I come in. My name is Javier Torres, and I've been doing creative strategy for over 20 years. I've helped churches and leaders uncover their X factor, clarifying their message, defining their audience, and building systems that scale without chasing trends. If this resonates with you, make sure to hit me up at Javier Torres Studios. Let's start a clarity call. Let's start a discovery call today. Now let me ask you an important question. What is your X factor? What do you do that nobody else can do just like you? Is it your teaching, your storytelling, your theology, your leadership, your cultural background, your life experiences, your personal testimony? Whatever it is, it's your unique X factor. X factor. As I said in plenty of my other videos, no one is going to be better at being you than you. But I've met a lot of pastors who are still discovering that truth. They see someone else winning, they see someone else going viral, and they want to borrow their entire framework and blueprint. And you're called to do exactly what you're called to do. You're not called to do what they're called to do. And that's why it always feels forced. It actually doesn't scale. because it's someone else's blueprint. It's not what you're called to do. It's not what God's called you to do. You could steal someone's blueprint, but you can't steal someone's anointing. And if this resonates with you, make sure to visit javiertorrestudios.com and let's set up a consultation today where you'll learn what your specific X factor is and you'll become a lot clearer. You'll find out what your X factor is. And once you become cleared, I believe that virality will Follow. Let's go.