The Purpose of Christian Blogging?
"...what ought to be the prime purpose of Christian blogging? I'm going to suggest that the main purpose of Christian blogging, because it is an extension of the church (and by this I mean, in particular, the universal church), ought to be the same as the main purpose of the church. What then, is the purpose of the church?
I believe the main purpose of the church as a whole is the building up of the church as a whole, and this building up is accomplished in two ways: by bringing more people into the church, and by strengthening those who are already there. We might expect the Christian blogworld as a whole, if it is working as it ought to be, to be accomplishing both these things.
I'm not sure, though, that we can expect every blog to be accomplishing both these things. Just as we see the diversity of the purposes of gifts of the Spirit as distributed among believers, shouldn't we see a diversity of purposes in the world of Christian blogging? Shouldn't there be those who are blogging primarily to engage the culture around them, and also those who are blogging primarily as encouragment for growth within those who are already of the faith.
This last category is mostly where I see my blog fitting into the picture. As I grow in faith through my own study, I hope to share something with my fellow-travelers in this growth journey. My prayer for the readers of my blog is similar to Paul's prayer for the church at Philippi:
And I pray this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight so that you can decide what is best, and thus be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11 NET)
With this as my purpose, I'm not particularly concerned, nor surprised, that I have only a few nonbelieving (and even in this I am presuming) readers. Why would I expect anything else?
I have one more thought as well. Blogging, it would seem to me, is much more suited to the second way of building the church--through the stengthening of believers--than the first--bringing more people into the church. Most of you who read here don't know me from the man in the moon, really. If you are already a believer, you can check what I write against what the scripture says and judge for yourself whether what I say has any value. If you are not already a believer, how are you going to judge what I write? For all you know, I could be the biggest fraud on the face of the earth. The proof is in the pudding, and you have no access to the pudding, for you can't really know my life and see how I live it. Why would you trust my message?"
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From Rebecca Writes.
My thoughts:
I think that blogging is equally well suited for strengthening believers and bringing people into the church... I think there is a tremendous potential for relational and incarnational ministry through blogging.
By incarnational I mean living out your faith in front of others authentically. A blog includes, depending on the way you write, your thoughts and your activities. As Christians, I think it would be futile to hide our faith... Most who participated in my surveys said that an outpouring of their faith is often not intentional but rather is natural in their writing.
I think that an honest blog is attractive to both Christians and non-Christians. In my blog, I talk about things that matter to me as one who is striving after Christ. I pray that my faith is evident. I pray that others who are searching will be drawn to seek out Christ themselves, and if somehow that happens through through my blog, then to God be the glory.
Any other thoughts?
"...what ought to be the prime purpose of Christian blogging? I'm going to suggest that the main purpose of Christian blogging, because it is an extension of the church (and by this I mean, in particular, the universal church), ought to be the same as the main purpose of the church. What then, is the purpose of the church?
I believe the main purpose of the church as a whole is the building up of the church as a whole, and this building up is accomplished in two ways: by bringing more people into the church, and by strengthening those who are already there. We might expect the Christian blogworld as a whole, if it is working as it ought to be, to be accomplishing both these things.
I'm not sure, though, that we can expect every blog to be accomplishing both these things. Just as we see the diversity of the purposes of gifts of the Spirit as distributed among believers, shouldn't we see a diversity of purposes in the world of Christian blogging? Shouldn't there be those who are blogging primarily to engage the culture around them, and also those who are blogging primarily as encouragment for growth within those who are already of the faith.
This last category is mostly where I see my blog fitting into the picture. As I grow in faith through my own study, I hope to share something with my fellow-travelers in this growth journey. My prayer for the readers of my blog is similar to Paul's prayer for the church at Philippi:
And I pray this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight so that you can decide what is best, and thus be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11 NET)
With this as my purpose, I'm not particularly concerned, nor surprised, that I have only a few nonbelieving (and even in this I am presuming) readers. Why would I expect anything else?
I have one more thought as well. Blogging, it would seem to me, is much more suited to the second way of building the church--through the stengthening of believers--than the first--bringing more people into the church. Most of you who read here don't know me from the man in the moon, really. If you are already a believer, you can check what I write against what the scripture says and judge for yourself whether what I say has any value. If you are not already a believer, how are you going to judge what I write? For all you know, I could be the biggest fraud on the face of the earth. The proof is in the pudding, and you have no access to the pudding, for you can't really know my life and see how I live it. Why would you trust my message?"
-
From Rebecca Writes.
My thoughts:
I think that blogging is equally well suited for strengthening believers and bringing people into the church... I think there is a tremendous potential for relational and incarnational ministry through blogging.
By incarnational I mean living out your faith in front of others authentically. A blog includes, depending on the way you write, your thoughts and your activities. As Christians, I think it would be futile to hide our faith... Most who participated in my surveys said that an outpouring of their faith is often not intentional but rather is natural in their writing.
I think that an honest blog is attractive to both Christians and non-Christians. In my blog, I talk about things that matter to me as one who is striving after Christ. I pray that my faith is evident. I pray that others who are searching will be drawn to seek out Christ themselves, and if somehow that happens through through my blog, then to God be the glory.
Any other thoughts?
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