Who are the biggest ‘influencers’ in western Christianity today? Who are the real movers and shakers in the Christian public sphere? There’s only one guaranteed place to turn to for real answers when it comes to social influence: Facebook!
So here’s the top 10 Christian icons according to Facebook groups (…well the top 10 I could find, or chose to find anyway).
1. Rob Bell – Rob is the undisputed heavyweight of Christian Facebook leaders. His Nooma/Rob Bell group weighs in with 2775 members.
2. John Piper – The Pope of the Reformed tradition runs with a 1423 member group.
3. Donald Miller – Christian author of the moment Donald Miller weighs in with a group of 1203 members.
4. Mark Driscoll – The future Pope of the Reformed tradition ‘resurges’ into 4th spot with a group of 1059 members.
5. John MacArthur – Spreading Grace to You MacArthur rolls in at 5th with a group of 647 members.
6. Brian McLaren – Everyone is going to hell with Brian McLaren in this group of 624 members.
7. CJ Mahaney – If you’re Reformed and Charismatic then he’s your man! CJ whips out a group of 425 members.
8. Tim Keller – The missional maestro from New York racks up a group of 360 members.
9. Matt Chandler – The local ‘Village’ pastor steps up to the big league with a group of 264 members.
10. Benny Hinn – Through an absolute miracle Benny wiggles his way into the top 10 with a group of 215 members (although I couldn’t quite figure out if the group was an appreciation group or something he shouldn’t show to his family).
And there you have it – on the flawless authority of Facebook. (PS – let me about any other interesting ‘Christian Icon’ groups).
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2315251059
‘mike reeves is my theology advisor’
I’ve read about Mark Driscoll in blogs, though I can’t remember whether the comments were favourable or unfavourable. I’ve met Brian McLaren and heard him speak. I’ve seen Benny Hinn on a video, playing second string to Reinhardt Bonnke, who looked rather embarrassed at Hinn’s utterances. The others I’ve never heard of.
I wonder if that indicates that Facebook is the real Second Life, or perhaps even Third Life. No sign of people I have heard of in the real world, and even in the blogosphere, like Benedict XVI, Desmond Tutu and Rowan Williams, who I suspect are better-known Westenr Christian leaders than any of the ones who are known on Facebook.
Steve – I’d actually really be interested to see some sort of authentic comparison between the influence the guys on the list above have as compared to the likes of Rowan Williams and co. I think we might be surprised as to just how much influence people like Rob Bell and John Piper hold.
BTW – if I remember correctly Desmond Tutu’s group had 61 members.
Driscoll’s facebook profile is only a couple weeks old…
Just for interest sake – Rowan Williams managed to draw a group of 180 members – although they seem to be more fascinated with his eyebrows than his qualities as a Christian leader. But the leader of the Anglican world pales into insignificance next to Pope Benedict XVI who launches into the debate with a massive group of 2610 members – but he still can’t pip Mr Cool Rob Bell.
Elisha Cuthbert is the hottest girl alive: 6193 Members (make that 6194 now)
Take That organised religion! (also, Take That fan group: 7123 members)
Aye, but if influence on the Inrternet is the criterion, then Ron Paul will be the next president of the USA. He’s been consistently in the top ten Technorati searches for months now. Huckabee made an appearance two weeks ago, and Obama last week, but the rest have been nowhere. I think such things just go to show that Facebook and the blogosphere don’t reflect what’s happening in the real world. It couild be teacup meteorology!
I would think though that Rob Bell and John Piper’s influence in the world of Christian literature is far greater than their internet influence – I may be wrong.
I found this quite interesting, and checked some out on Google as well.
Another thing to note is that some of these guys have churches that are significantly bigger than their Facebook group.
I wonder who iare the most influencial South African Christian leaders in the facebook world?
I thought I would also point out the facebook pages of JP’s ministry -Desiring God http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2209709605 and a group based on his book “Don’t Waste your Life” http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2449176193
They with group “John Piper is a Gentleman and a Scholar” amass a total of 7934 members! But I assume many are actually members of 1 or even all-3 groups, non-the-less it’s a great number. Maybe he is worthy of the No.1 heavy weight?
Anyone familiar with The Resurgence, Emergent Church Movement (Emerging Church Movement) would know at least half of that list.