Do you ever wonder why you blog?
For some, the answer to that question is to simply have fun; for others, it’s because they get to make a living doing so.
But for the majority of Christian bloggers, we blog because we have something to say; something we strongly want to get out.
But can what we say actually make a difference? Especially in an online environment?
It’s a War-zone
Before you ever begin to think about what you’re going to talk about on your blog, it’s important know why you’re blogging.
The internet is not a walk through the park. You can take all the shortcuts and avoid all the wrong places, but sooner or later you have to realize what is happening on the other side of the bush.
So what is going on?
Porn is what’s going on, and if you don’t believe me, believe the fact that in Google alone, the keyword ‘porn’ is searched for an average of 618,000,000 times a month — this does not include keyword results from Bing or Yahoo.
Compare that with the keyword ‘money’ being searched for a mere 68,000,000 times a month and you’ll know where the real fight is.
So if this is the fight, the question then becomes, “How do I fight?”
The Need For Warriors
For the most part, the Christian blogosphere doesn’t have many warriors–it has lots of preachers, but few weepers; and most of the preachers are going unheard.
So eventually, either Christian’s will lose the fight for the online culture (I would even argue that they have or are on their way), or they will succeed in using it to their advantage.
What the Christian blogosphere needs are warriors, and those who know what they are doing.
- Do you train like a warrior? Practice your craft. In this case, it’s writing.
- Do you study your enemy? You won’t take down the beast without knowing his weak spot.
- Do you construct a strategy? How do you expect to confront the online culture without some sort of battle-plan?
- Are you offensive? I’m sorry, but unless you execute on your strategy, the enemy will only gain more ground.
These are just a couple of things a warrior does, but they aren’t all of them.
The Need for Weepers
What do I mean by ‘weepers’?
I mean simply that the battle for the online culture exceeds and far outgrows the boundaries of the Internet.
Where the real battle is taking place is in your heart, and in your children’s hearts, and the only hope of survival is in Jesus and His unwavering ability to break your heart for the broken.
You can blog all you want about purity and self-control and theology, but unless your heart isn’t buried in your words you aren’t going to see much fruit.
The simple solution? Pray…pray and don’t stop.
Can Blogging Be a Ministry?
There is no simple answer to this question; the answer is a yes and a no.
It’s “yes” because God uses every detail in our lives to proclaim Himself, but the answer is also no because at the basis of our terrible problem is a heart issue that runs deep within our generation, and no amount of digital text will convict a heart in and of itself.
But again, the answer is yes, blogging can be a ministry because there are already examples on the Internet of great blogs that preach the truth. Among these are The Resurgence, and the Gospel Coalition.
However, yeah, you guessed it, the answer is still, “no.” Blogging will never deal with the enormous problem that humanity faces. There is only one solution to the problem of the online culture and that solution is a Man and His name is Jesus Christ.
So I suppose a safe answer to this question is this: Blogging can be a ministry as long as you try to point someone to the truth, trusting the Holy Spirit to handle the rest.
Unfortunately, I fear many Christian blogs today are quite futilely trying to be that truth.
What do you guys think?
About Calvin Koepke: Hi. My name is Calvin and I love to design. I also love to write and see how Christians can approach creative writing online with excellence as well as with effectiveness. I love the Lord and long to see Him glorified in everything I do.
