Am I Blogging For God?
And so here we are, 26 months and 70 posts later.
It’s been lots of fun and I still have some things left to write here. After all, this is MY blog. I can write whatever I want here (well, not anything but at least I can pick the topic).
There are no rules here except that I shouldn’t make myself look stupid or threaten my future employment or needlessly anger people outside of God’s will.
All and all, it’s a happy friendly place to be.
You see, for the last two years my writing has mainly been for me. Sure, I wouldn’t mind if someone stopped by and secretly hoped that my writings might make a difference for somebody.
But I didn’t really care for a large subscriber base. I had no expectations of making the top ranked Christian blogs anywhere. I didn’t really expect to be read outside the few friends I know with RSS readers, a few family members, and the occasional Googler.
It was low pressure, low expectation, and low key. That was how I wanted it. There really was no end goal except to become a better and more consistent writer and hopefully to put a new spin on things here and there, maybe provoke a few people to think.
Failure wasn’t an option because there was nothing to lose.
But now all that has changed. At the beginning of April I began a new online venture with my church in Berkeley called the 360 Blog. And the plan was, this thing was going to be FOR REAL.
I’ve done the personal blog thing for a while now, and while it has its rewards, I noticed a strange string of connected ideas:
- The vast majority of blogs out there are low expectation personal blogs.
- The vast majority of highly visible and successful blogs are pretty mediocre in what they have to say. That is to say, they might have some helpful tips, but they will not particularly change anyone’s life or make them think outside the box.
- The vast majority of church websites are static pages. Instead of being a vibrant and living organism, they are a lifeless self-promoting advertisement.
What if instead of spending my free time on a tiny personal blog, I spent it building a viable cultural and spiritual habitat connected to a living breathing church, updated by multiple authors several times a week? What if this new online ecosystem grew a subscriber base outside our geographical city limits that stretched across physical and national boundaries?
What if people found out about our church in Berkeley because of the QUALITY of what we had to say?
What if people attended our church virtually long before they were able to attend our service physically?
This is what I hope for in the 360 Blog and I have no idea what its impact will be. It don’t know if it will work. I don’t know if we will get more than 10 people to read it on a weekly basis. I don’t know if anyone will ever come to church because of it. I don’t know if anyone other than our church leadership will actually read it on their Kindles.
I have no idea.
It’s a huge risk.
It could be a colossal waste of time.
There are all sorts of hidden pride issues that happen when you actually start wanting people to read what you write. There are all sorts of negative reactions humans have when they actually start to gain some traction with a larger audience. Fame distorts reality really quickly. Celebrities often seem to be miserable people!
But guess what? I trust that God knows what he is doing. He knows what we need and when we need it. I know he can work through silly broken human beings. I know that Jesus alone will be glorified and our deeds will be revealed for what they are on that last day.
The question I have to continue to ask is am I blogging for me, or am I blogging for God? The rest is in his hands.
