Blogotional

Then one day I read about a book that said that the church is the only army that shoots its wounded. - Keith Miller

Tuesday I wrote about the nature of blogging and reflected that as Christian bloggers it is the nature of our interactions, not necessarily our ideas, that define us as distinctly Christian bloggers. Since that time, I have heard from people with stories about what has happened to them in Christian blogging and it put me in mind of the quote above. We are in sorry, sorry shape.

A few weeks ago, I wrote on vocational ministry and the following has been fairly widely quoted:

Vocational ministry appeals to the insecure soul. It appears to grant one a sense of self-worth by virtue of position and granted authority. Even if your self-worth is good, it often contains the appearance of being one of the "in-crowd," of joining the club.

Based on what I am hearing - I am ready to conclude that that phenomena of those in vocational ministry is even more true about those of us in Christian blogging. I am sorely pressed to come up with any other explaination for the kind "No they're my visits" - who can be meaner to whom to generate traffic - kind of stuff that has crossed my email this last few days.

A long time ago, the son of a friend of mine was convinced that he was supposed to be a musician. It was his passion. But, he changed high schools in mid-stream and went from a school with strong music program to one with a pretty poor one. They found him private teachers and his education continued, but his passion slowly ebbed. You see, what he really lost between the old school and the new school was not his education - it was his audience.

When the college decision came about he begged and begged for a very expensive school with a very good music program - I advised his parents against it. As evidence I offered that fact that at the new school they had to beg him to practice. I pointed out that people who were really "called" to music did so regardless of audience - that the music was the thing, not the audience. Any jazz fan knows the best jazz happens at 3-4 in the morning, after the club has closed and the "fans" have gone home and the artists are playing with and to each other.

I think it is time for Christian bloggers across the board to ask themselves why they are here and what they are doing. It's not about seeking an audience, and if that is why you are here, I would like to gently encourage you to find something else to do with your time.

It's about the ideas. If you are passionate about the ideas, if you like to write to formulate them, and like interaction to hone them, then this is the place for you.

And you know, a funny thing happens when you are foused on the ideas - your interactions with others become more cordial. They are no longer competition for links and hits and visits, they are fellow explorers who can help you find your trail, and avoid ones that can get you hurt.

The American West was first explored by the so-called Mountain Men. These hearty individuals would travel alone in the wilderness for months on end, trapping fur and exploring. But once a year they would all get together for a "rendevous." Here was where pelts were exchanged for goods necessary to survive in the wildnerness, but here also was where they had human interaction, for some for the first time in months. They were usually good natured affairs because the genuine mountain men loved what they did and they loved the mountains. Others were not "competition" for pelts but fellow lovers of the wilds and the solitude.

Things only turned ugly as big companies moved in, with settlers, and the things the men loved began to disappear. That shouldn't happen with blogging because the territory is literally infinite. Computer resources are cheap and ideas are limitless.

We need to remember that. There is plenty of what really matters available in blogging.

Related Tags: blogging, Christian blogging, competition, insecurity, audience