Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Vlogging for Jesus (with Lydia Houghton)
49 Plays1 hour ago
In this episode, Simon and Kristi chat with young YouTuber and podcaster Lydia to learn how she connects with Gen Z. Whether it's delving into mental health issues, or interviewing Christian authors, her young faith is a huge motivation for her. Sharing her faith and personal life can be daunting, but authenticity is an incredibly attractive quality in a world of online superficiality.
Lydia Houghton studied Broadcast Journalism at Salford University. She now works as a Journalist for Evangelicals Now and is a Ministry Trainee at Wheelock Heath Baptist Church. If she isn't writing, she's most likely reading, and enjoys sharing book reviews on her YouTube channel.
Recommended
Transcript
Welcome and Introductions
00:00:10
Speaker
Well, hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Pep Talk, the persuasive evangelism podcast from Solas. Thank you so much for being here. I'm Simon Wenham, your co-host, and I'm joined yet again by Kristi Mair. are you, Kristi? I'm doing very well, Simon. It's great to be here today. How are you getting on?
00:00:27
Speaker
Very well, thank you. um i must say that um I did notice that whenever Andy introduced you that he always used a superlative. And I was going to continue this tradition, actually. But, you know, when you don't know someone quite so well, so I didn't feel it would be quite right. So I do apologise for not using the same.
00:00:43
Speaker
i No apologies necessary. The lack of the superlative I very much appreciate, depending on the superlative. So thank you. Well, exactly. And um I'm also delighted to introduce our guest today, who is Lydia Houghton, and she is a successful YouTuber.
00:00:59
Speaker
ah She had Andy Bannister on her show not too long ago. She's also a print journalist and she's also a ministry trainee as well. So she has many different hats. So welcome to the show, Lydia. How are you doing today?
00:01:12
Speaker
I'm really good, thank you. I'm very excited to be here, so thank you for having me. Brilliant. It's fantastic to to have you with us. Now, I wondered if you could just start by just saying a little bit about your own background, how you got involved in evangelism, as you perhaps say whereabouts you are in the country
Lydia Horton's Background and Faith Journey
00:01:28
Speaker
as well. That would be great.
00:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um So I'm based in Cheshire and you either do or you don't know where that is. So I tend to say it's near Manchester because most people know where Manchester is. Yeah. I mean, how did I get involved in evangelism? I mean, the short answer is I became a Christian and just had this overflow of of wanting to to share the gospel, really.
00:01:52
Speaker
That's wonderful. I mean, one of the things that you've you've mentioned before is just the the impact of seeing somebody your age baptised. um Can you tell us a little bit about that and what what happened there?
00:02:03
Speaker
Oh, that's such a great question. It's such a privilege to talk about this because I get to remember this experience and always makes me quite emotional. But yeah, so I was raised in a Christian household, and going to church. I definitely prayed to God, and but I very much...
00:02:21
Speaker
saw the worldly way of living and thought that that was very attractive and that that was where the meaning of life lay. And so when I was around 16, I just decided to go for that thinking that that was the meaning of life basically.
00:02:36
Speaker
And spoiler alert, it's not. Those things are empty and they will lead to, well, the wages of sin is death ultimately. But yeah, one big thing for me growing up was there wasn't a lot of young people in my church.
00:02:50
Speaker
And a lot of the young people that I knew were living this kind of worldly lifestyle, to put it in Christian jargon, a sense. And then I went to university and yeah, I heard this this girl's testimony.
00:03:04
Speaker
ah won't mention her name, but I've recently reached out to her and just said, you know, praise God for the impact this had and in my life. But she was she was getting baptized and she there was a VT of her at the front of this church I went to.
00:03:18
Speaker
And I just thought, oh, you can be a young person and be a Christian. and now I'm 24, having been a Christian five years. Of course, I know that's true, but I just didn't know people my age who were living for Jesus.
00:03:33
Speaker
And hearing that girl share her testimony, seeing her testify that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life had a huge impact on me. Brilliant. Thank you.
The Role of Media in Evangelism
00:03:44
Speaker
Actually, one thing that that struck me watching your videos is they're really engaging, and but they're a slightly different way of communicating from from my generation, which made me feel slightly old, but I thought they were they were excellent. and But it was interesting. I was thinking actually how important it is to have ah people of your generation being able to speak to your generation um and in in an engaging way. and And one way you do that is obviously through videos. and We featured David Lochhead in um a previous episode and he does streams videos.
00:04:13
Speaker
I wondered, why do you think videos are a particularly good way or vlogging a particularly good way of of sharing your faith? Oh, I'll be honest, Simon, I didn't necessarily choose. Well, of course I chose, but I kind of just stumbled into this area of things.
00:04:32
Speaker
So I studied broadcast journalism for my undergraduate degree. And basically learned how to edit videos, learned how to storytell through videos and just thought, it wasn't just thought, it was obviously and a long process, an incredible process to kind of experience. But, you know, why not share my faith through this this means as well?
00:04:55
Speaker
So that's basically how I got into into doing my YouTube channel. I actually started off on TikTok doing short form videos and but then um transitioned into long form videos, started my YouTube channel in 2021. And yeah, it's been steadily growing since since then.
00:05:15
Speaker
That's so wonderful, Lydia, to have that gift to be able to um manage these different platforms and to be able to engage so creatively and persuasively as well. I mean, if somebody's thinking, oh yeah, I'd like to give that a go. I mean, not that any of us would be anywhere near as gifted and good at this as you are, but were there any particular pitfalls that you came across that one should try and avoid when on these different platforms?
Focusing on Impact Over Numbers
00:05:40
Speaker
Oh, I mean, one pitfall, I suppose, just in a heart sense, is looking at the numbers and just focusing on the numbers. So one thing that I've been, I've come back to throughout this journey you know, video might have 300 but that's 300 people. I think
00:05:59
Speaker
looking at all these youtubers that have hundreds of thousands of views you can think oh that's what a quote-unquote successful youtube channel is but if you actually think that each person each view is a whole person a whole life who can then go and impact other people in their lives it puts things into perspective so yeah a pitfall um that you can easily slip into is just looking at the numbers as opposed to actually thinking that those are real people viewing your content.
00:06:31
Speaker
Brilliant. Thank you. And another thing is your shows are very creative and you're obviously engaging with your audience. Exactly what you've just said is is sort of not seeing people as numbers, but actually people.
00:06:42
Speaker
wondered if you could give any advice for ah how you engage with real people when you're obviously in a virtual world. And perhaps we could use some of that advice here at Solas and see what you say. yeah.
00:06:54
Speaker
I think honestly, one of the things is just being real and not putting on a persona online. I'm very open on my YouTube channel sharing about the struggles of life as well.
00:07:07
Speaker
i don't just want, you know, social media can have a tendency to be a highlight reel. i don't want that on my YouTube channel. So yeah, I try to just be real and honest and when you're talking about Jesus it's kind of hard not to because you know Jesus is the way the truth and the life like he is he's ultimately he's truth isn't he so there's going to be that element of just being real if you're talking about him and but yeah i suppose in a personality sense just making sure I'm not putting on a persona on my YouTube channel that I'm just being being myself.
00:07:40
Speaker
Mm-hmm ah It's so refreshing, ah Lydia, to hear you talking about what it means to just be to be real. Because I imagine that talking about Jesus and sharing your faith on these very public platforms can be quite exposing.
00:07:56
Speaker
um But also as you're kind of sharing your faith, I remember, i think you've you've reflected in the past that there was a particular point when you realized you didn't really understand the significance of the gospel. Yeah.
00:08:08
Speaker
And you mentioned something about expositional preaching and um reading being important in deepening your faith. I mean, could you share a little bit more about that? Like how how has that impacted you and shaped and strengthened you as you've talked about Jesus?
Understanding the Gospel
00:08:25
Speaker
Yeah, that's a really great, great question, Christy. Thank you. Yeah, so I became a Christian 2020 and The way I describe it is it was a very it was a very basic understanding of um what Jesus did for me. you know i i was a Christian, but it was 2022.
00:08:46
Speaker
And I remember i i'd gone on a trip and it was Holy Week, so it was Good Friday. and I sat down to make a video describing...
00:08:57
Speaker
the gospel, explaining the gospel. um And I found it really difficult. And I sat there and I thought, this is really...
00:09:07
Speaker
honestly a bit disturbing. Like, why can I not summarize the gospel? i suppose we're talking about evangelism, aren't we The way to describe it is, and how why can I not summarize the gospel in a way that I could convey it to someone else?
00:09:21
Speaker
You know, i was in a church that, ah the time I was there, as far as I can remember, did not have expositional preaching. And they definitely emphasize truths about God's character. But in terms of you know, a passage being expositionally preached and then getting to the gospel in every sermon.
00:09:40
Speaker
That just wasn't my experience. So, yeah, that summer, I just made sure that I knew how to explain the gospel and its depth evangelistically, I suppose.
00:09:50
Speaker
And yeah, I just remember realizing how important it it is to that as Christians we can explain why we believe what we believe and actually what we believe to other people rather than, you know, truths that are amazing. But, you know, God has ah perfect plan.
00:10:07
Speaker
Like, it's true, but it it's not the gospel in the way that we need evangelistically explain it to other people. And the church I'm in now... brilliant expositional preaching and just the growth I've witnessed in myself if I can say that since I've been in this church is amazing and that's just that's what happens when you're hearing the gospel and when God is giving you the eyes to see his truth Right. Thank you. And and so you're saying that was just simply hearing sort of more gospel-centered preaching. And is is that why you just, in a sense, you had all these different themes, but perhaps not the the the sermons weren't homing in on the central message? is that Is that what you mean? And then that affected actually how you could even communicate about what you believed? Is that... is that
00:10:52
Speaker
Absolutely. I think there wasn't as big of an emphasis on why we need the gospel, if that makes sense. So our sinfulness. And I was reading in my devotional this morning, you know, that's an important, you know, obviously an important part of coming to Christ is knowing why we need him as perfect savior.
00:11:09
Speaker
And I just didn't quite understand that fully about myself. I mean, I was a Christian, so, you know, there's a lot of, I don't really know how to explain it, but I do just remember this moment. And I realized that what I'd been talking about on TikTok didn't have as much depth as potentially it could have.
00:11:28
Speaker
so yeah.
00:11:32
Speaker
Hi there, it's Gavin from Solas here, just very briefly interrupting today's podcast to remind you that Solas' book, Have You Ever Wondered?, is now available. It's an ideal gift to give to people who aren't Christians, but people who are thinking through the big issues of life, beauty, justice, identity, love, stories, nature, hope, things which intrigue us, move us, and prompt us to ask big questions, but ultimately point towards the Christian faith. It's a pre-evangelistic book, and it's proven to be really helpful in developing good conversations with people in our world today about Jesus. If you'd like to find out more, come over to the Solas website, solas-cpc.org, where you can find out more or look online in your usual bookseller or on the high street.
00:12:12
Speaker
And now, back to the program.
Books vs. Digital Media in Evangelism
00:12:17
Speaker
I think, you know, one of the things that happens a lot on social media is often people tend to focus on books, you know, and presenting different evangelistic um books or just talking about and particular books in general that that might be and that might specifically assist somebody. Are there a couple of books that that you might recommend on evangelism that you've that you found to be particularly formative? Or would you say actually, no, books are great, but actually perhaps interviews, videos, podcasts might be where it's at. What would you recommend for somebody, you know, he's who's thinking about Jesus?
00:12:56
Speaker
That's such a great question. There's two things I'd say, and for everyone listening, I promise this isn't set up, but the best book on evangelism I've read is Hard to Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like an Idiot Buy-in. It really, really is.
00:13:11
Speaker
I've read a couple, but um yeah, he emphasizes the importance of questions and... addressing assumptions behind terms that people use. And I do remember I read that book last year, just going into work the next day and I was on shift with a Muslim girl. and It was when I was working as a student ambassador, completing my master's degree and just being so eager to implement what I'd read in that book, which kind of leads me on to the second thing I thought of, which is actually just having conversations with,
00:13:45
Speaker
So I was talking to my pastor about this, but one thing that's come up in my walk is having those conversations and not being afraid to enter into those conversations, particularly with atheists, people of different faiths, is you might not know the answer to a question. And that's actually OK, because that can be an opportunity for you to actually deepen in your faith because Christianity is true. So it's going to hold up to those questions. So that's been something that's really aided my evangelism. It's been when I've been asked a question that I don't know the answer to and I've gone away to research it.
00:14:24
Speaker
And my faith has strengthened. And the friend who's asked the question, there's nothing wrong with saying, oh, I actually don't know the answer. And they might respect it more if you go away, come back and then share what you've what you've learned.
00:14:38
Speaker
and Fantastic. Thank you. And thank thank you for the endorsement. and And you will be very happy to hear that. But that's the whole point, isn't it, is to help people practically ah to communicate about their faith. So thank you.
Engaging with Secular Culture
00:14:48
Speaker
And one one thing you also do quite a lot of is is you engage with secular culture as well.
00:14:53
Speaker
and You talk about the Hunger Games books, Taylor Swift's music, for example. Yeah. Do you think it's good to um connect with culture in that way? And do you have any advice on that? Because that can be sort of, because sometimes Christians feel they sort of can be divorced from some some areas of culture. But equally, if if we're not communicating about those kind of things, then we can sort of, people can just miss us as Christians. I wondered if you had any suggestions in that Yeah.
00:15:21
Speaker
Yeah, great question. I think this is one way that the Lord has used my past experience for good, because I very much was in those secular spaces. You know, i would go out clubbing a lot. And that's been one thing where, you know, if I now say,
00:15:37
Speaker
to someone, oh, you know, I won't go out. I don't go out at all anymore clubbing, but, you know, because I have church on a Sunday morning and they might say to me, well, how do you know that that's better than this worldly lifestyle? And I'd say, well, because I've done it. And Jesus is so much more satisfying than any of that.
00:15:55
Speaker
But yeah, to kind of go back to your question a little bit. I just think it's something I've definitely failed at many times, but we can think that as Christians, we just shouldn't at all engage with secular culture. But I actually think it can be an incredible witness. I think it's hard, particularly with...
00:16:17
Speaker
I do a lot of book reviews of um secular fiction. I think it can be very hard, but I think, you know, I was reading this morning, The Woman at the Well, Jesus starts that conversation off by talking about water.
00:16:31
Speaker
So that's not a spiritual conversation straight away, but with engaging with secular culture, you're almost meeting non-Christians where they're and you can get to Jesus from there. So I think it's it's actually important, but it's something that is hard.
00:16:47
Speaker
But I do think its it is really important.
Christian Values in Personal Vlogs
00:16:50
Speaker
And it's it's interesting, Lydia, that you say um you want to meet people where they're at. And then just thinking about your your vlogs, for example, in light of that desire, particularly the the move in your blogs towards kind of documenting things.
00:17:07
Speaker
parts of your life, just your your daily life. like why i guess if youre you If you're sharing your faith, why why do you also have these vlogs about your life? like what are you What are you hoping to do there and and why even bother with it?
00:17:20
Speaker
Yeah, great question. Well, when I first started my YouTube channel, I was very much like, right, every video has to be explicitly about Jesus in the sense of, don't know, sharing my thoughts on a particular Christian matter or whatever.
00:17:36
Speaker
But then I remember I did a vlog, which was a day in my life as a Christian student, which was just showing me going to Christian union and things. And the feedback I had on that video was immensely positive. And I had a lot of comments saying things like, oh, it's so nice to just see, you know, a Christian doing normal everyday things or living out their faith.
00:18:00
Speaker
I had comments like that. And I think, yeah, they can be a great witness just to show non-Christians. you know, we are human as well. We have this incredible hope to live for, but this is how that hope empowers us to live in our day-to-day lives.
00:18:17
Speaker
You know, this is certain choices we make. And I think in the vlogs, I can show that, you know, it might be a Saturday night and I'm, I don't know, a Bible study or something as opposed to going clubbing. I think it comes through in the vlogs, but it's not as it's not like you're you're and providing a platform for non-Christians to maybe watch the video because it might not even have a, i don't know, Christian title. I've done vlogs a day in my life as a master's student, but then they're clicking on the vlog and they're actually hearing Christian truths in that vlog as opposed to ah video with an explicitly Christian title that they might just never click on. So I think it can it can be quite evangelistic.
00:18:58
Speaker
Are there certain ones that have been particularly popular? I was just interested, as you say, you've done quite a few different ones, some with explicitly Christian subjects and others that are just a day in the life. ah what What has been particularly, is there ones that have had a particularly good response from your listeners? Yeah, funnily enough, um my vlogs of Christian conventions have done the best, which You know, they they might have a Christian, quote unquote, title.
00:19:25
Speaker
But for the non-Christian community, I've had feedback about, you know, non-Christians might not even know that these huge gatherings for Christians take place. So it gives them an opportunity to kind of witness this side of things that they might not even know existed.
00:19:40
Speaker
and Other than that, my student vlogs have been watched. quite popular that I think just especially for people going to university and it's good for them to see a little bit of what their university experience can be like and I had a lovely comment from a girl the other day saying that they got involved in Christian Union purely because they'd seen it in my vlogs and that's just a prime example of why we do what we do it's evangelistic but also hopefully helping Christians and And just a final question and for you, Lydia, before we wrap up, and it's quite a big final question, but in terms of people getting to see your life and the things that you are doing on a daily basis and and also just things that you struggle with, you've been very open and in talking about mental health in relation to anxiety that that you experience.
Dealing with Anxiety and Identity in Faith
00:20:31
Speaker
And you've been very open about that. um What has that... what has that How have you found doing that? Because again, as we mentioned earlier, it's very exposing um to talk about something that's so close and so intimate and so personal to you.
00:20:45
Speaker
And has that helped you to, in what ways has that helped you in your sharing of of your faith, if it has at all? Like why why have you chosen to talk about it? e That's a lovely question. Thank you for asking. I think I know what an isolating experience it can potentially be and battling with with mental health struggles.
00:21:07
Speaker
And one thing that I thought for many years was that other Christians don't struggle with anxiety, depression, and coming into spaces where i found out that Christians do it maybe be It helped me so, so much.
00:21:26
Speaker
I read a book by Paul Grimmond, Matt Searles' content, and just hearing these Christian speakers who talk about it openly, I thought they've helped me so much just by saying that it's something that Christians can experience. I would love to be that person for someone else and just to let other Christians know.
00:21:45
Speaker
you know, you might battle with this, but your identity is in the fact that you're a child of God and we can seek to glorify God in our response to things. And I think ultimately with my YouTube channel, you know,
00:21:57
Speaker
I am here to know God, to make God known. And ultimately it doesn't matter if I feel a bit of embarrassment or whatever, which i ironically don't talking about anxiety because i'm I'm kind of used to talking about it at this point.
00:22:12
Speaker
and But it doesn't matter because long term, You know, my life is about him and fail every day, of course, but that's my chief purpose. So everything else pales into insignificance when, you know, you're just living with that with our view imperfectly. But yeah, that's what I seek to do.
Closing Thoughts
00:22:31
Speaker
Lydia, thank you so, so much. It's it's been wonderful to get a glimpse into what God is up to in your life and the ways in which you're serving others so remarkably. Thank you so, so much for your time.
00:22:42
Speaker
And this brings us sadly to the end of another wonderful conversation. Please join us again next time in a couple of weeks when we will be joined by somebody else in the hot seat. But until then, this is me, Christy, and goodbye to you too, Lydia. Thank you for having me. Oh, pleasure. Goodbye, everyone.