Self-Glorifying vs. God-Glorifying Blogging

Is blogging a good thing or a bad thing?

Without blogs, I would never have been introduced to this (which was cool the first eight times I saw it)...



...or this (which I still find funny)...

...or the genius of OK Go:




Of course, I also would have been spared this:



So, I guess if I'm arguing for or against blogging on the basis of youtube videos...it's a mixed bag.

At the end of 2006, Time magazine published an issue celebrating the way in which the internet (and blogging in particular) served as a great equalizer.  Millions of people now had the ability to make their voices heard.

They could publish their thoughts on the latest geo-political development.  They could express their support or opposition to an upcoming piece of legislation.  They could download a video of their grandmother slipping on the wet pavement and falling into a vat of chocolate.

George Will, alas, was not impressed.  In his article, “Full Esteem Ahead,” Will disagreed with Time’s assertion that Thomas Paine had been the first blogger and Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac was basically MySpace (*Note for younger readers: basically, MySpace = Facebook).  He writes:

Franklin's extraordinary persona informed what he wrote but was not the subject of what he wrote. Paine was perhaps history's most consequential pamphleteer. There are expected to be 100 million bloggers worldwide by the middle of 2007, which is why none will be like Franklin or Paine. Both were geniuses; genius is scarce. Both had a revolutionary civic purpose, which they accomplished by amazing exertions. Most bloggers have the private purpose of expressing themselves for their own satisfaction. There is nothing wrong with that, but there is nothing demanding or especially admirable about it, either. They do it successfully because there is nothing singular about it, and each is the judge of his or her own success.

In other words, Will (1) believes that most blogs are ultimately self-serving and (2) are not likely to contribute something substantial to the public discourse.  As he puts it, “George III would have preferred dealing with 100 million bloggers rather than one Paine.”

Nevertheless, I’m excited to tread into the blogging waters with my fellow pastors.  Ritch, Art, and Scott are dear friends.  Each of them have had a significant impact on my walk with the Lord and my ministry.

I’m confident that the three men who are joining me in contributing to this blog—and others who will be contributing occasionally—will be a great resource for your spiritual edification.  I’m confident that I will grow as I read the posts of the other men.  Far from pursuing a running narrative about themselves, I'm excited as the bloggers here pursue exalting Jesus Christ.

Even though I run the risk of “expressing myself for my own satisfaction,” let me share just a few things about myself by way of introduction.  My wife, Whitney, and I have been married for almost thirteen years and have four wonderful children.  I’ve been on staff at Bethany Community Church for almost four years and, prior to that, was on staff at Bethany Baptist for eight years.

Today as I was cleaning my office, I found a copy of my ordination certification.  I glanced at the portion of the certificate where the men who had served on my ordination council signed the document.  The first three names on the certificate?  Ritch Boerckel, Scott Boerckel, and Art Georges.

These men were instrumental in helping me begin my pastoral ministry and I'm excited they will help me continue to grow in it.