A Reason to Blog: Blogging as Ministry
Blogs have become all the rage, recently. From MySpace to Blogger to Typepad it seems like everyone has something important to share with the world. As a Christian in blogworld, I see my role online as a ministry, because as a Christian everything I do–no matter how mundane–relates to Christ in some way. No, it’s not the typical ministry. You can’t sign-up for it at church. But for me, blogging is ministry.
What I Post
There’s a lot of trash on the web. It won’t take you long to find some. My purpose in adding to the content of the Internet is to ultimately glorify God. That doesn’t mean every post will be “spiritual” per se, but it does mean I consciously want to honor the Lord in how and what I post. As Colossians 3:23 reminds me, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Ultimately I have to ask myself, what does Christ think of my blog? Is there ever anything there that I’d be ashamed of Him seeing? My answer should be no.
Where I Go
Besides what I post, I need to be careful where I go. As I previously noted, a lot of people have blogs and not all the content is pure. Just like I need to glorify God with what I post, I need to glorify God with where I “visit.” While it might be easy to quickly click into sites that promote ungodliness or just waste my time. I need to measure other blogs by Philippians 4:8, which says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
How I Comment
How I comment is something else for me to consider. I try to be generally encouraging and edifying in my comments. I’m not saying that I should always agree with what someone posts. If anything, blogs can be used to promote intelligent thought and conversation about subjects people differ on. It can be helpful to challenge others’ presuppositions on a subject, or look at a topic from a different viewpoint. But how I disagree is important. Because I know that unlike speaking to a person face to face–where you can read body language, tone of voice, and see facial expressions–that’s not true when I write a comment. Words can be taken in a wrong way very easily. That’s something to keep in mind when I comment.
Blogs can be used destructively (to promote gossip or tear people down) or can be used to edify and build others up. I can say my experience thus far has been positive! I’ve been able to keep in touch with good friends, make new friends, and widen my friendships with women at church. Interestingly, since the beginning of blogging, I’ve had the encouraging experience of connecting with women in my own community of believers, from a wide-range of ages and seasons of life, in a way I wouldn’t have been able to without having my blog. Although some have argued that blogging is negative in that it draws people away from “real” friendships, I can’t say that’s been my experience.
For now, I’m going to keep blogging as part of my ministry!
So, why do you blog and what is one thing you enjoy about it?
I have to admit my reasons for blogging are a bit selfish. I just like writing. My blog gives me an outlet for creativity and using my little gift (and I see how little it is as I am exposed to such fantastic unknown writers in the blogosphere). I get a kick out of the fact that people actually visit and read my blog. It is a bit of a rush in between unloading the dishwasher, teaching subtraction, and throwing chicken on the grill. I hope it encourages others to read about my own very ordinary life, but I truly write for me. I don’t know entirely what I think until I start to write.
Like you, I also love the benefit of exposure to other ladies in our church and beyond. It creates a bond of sorts.
Thanks for writing this post. I am challenged by considering more intentionally whether or not I am viewing my blog as a ministry in the sense that all things have this potential.
Laurie, by saying I view blogging as ministry, I’m certainly not taking away the selfish fact that I too love to write! It’s a way of instantly publishing, which is quite gratifying for all of us “unpublished” writers, ha ha!
And YOUR blog is very encouraging. Your gift is certainly not little!
I like how you say, “I don’t know entirely what I think until I start to write.” This is so true for me. I honestly cannot think clearly until I write clearly. The thing I was thinking when I was writing this post (and clarifying in my own mind) was for me to view blogging as ministry in the way that every part of my life is ministry.
I started Judah’s update as a way to keep my friends and family informed on Judah’s health, dr’s appts., etc. But, I have always enjoyed writing myself and have many day dreams all too often of publishing something someday. In my season of young motherhood though, I do not get to write much; my husband wants me to write more to grow in skill. My blog is the easiest outlet for that to happen if it ever will.
Thank you for the scripture reminders (Col. 3:23 and Philip. 4:8) and how you tied them to blogging. That was so helpful.
My husband started our blog for me. I don’t think I ever would have. I really do not like to write. But, he saw how I was able to reconnect with my friend Jessica who lives in another state now. This has been a hard year for me friendshipwise and reading your blog, along with your friends, has been a great encouragement to me. Thank you for sharing your life with others.
Well, seeing as the four of you are either new friends of mine from the last year (Chesapeake ladies) or very dear to me from EIGHT years and one state ago (Can you believe that, Christina?!), blogging has definitely been a way to make and cultivate friendships. I’ve been challenged and encouraged from each of your blogs.
My reasons for blogging started as primarily selfish – it started as an easy (and lazy) way to keep friends and family updated on our lives without having to weed my way through the growing heap of email in the inbox.
Later, I got a prideful about my writing (true confessions here). It had been so long since I had written “thoughtful” things, I started living life just to have something to blog about. I wanted to impress with my writing. This was food for many discussions between my husband and me. I thank God for my husband’s willingness to put out the yellow flag. Thankfully, the Lord has worked in my heart and weaned me from the “necessity” of having to blog everyday. I hope I can say that He has granted me more humility as well.
On the flipside, the writing practice has helped me start this little freelance writing thing. So, that has been a nice fringe benefit.
I have been so encouraged by what you all have written, I can say that God is using it all to grow me. That is probably what I like best about it.
I agree about wanting to shine some light into the blogosphere with my blog…although it’s not that widely read, and often I post more about my day-to-day life as a way to keep my friends and family updated, I like knowing that I can encourage people in their relationship with the Lord with what I write…
And yes, the “instant publishing” is pretty cool, too!
I started blogging for two reasons:
1. So that my husband didn’t have to come home at the end of the day and hear every thought I’d had while he was at work!
We’d moved across country several months before I started my blog and I’d had a new baby. So I was at home A LOT and making new friends was a bit of a challenge at the time. Blogging provided an opportunity for me to share my thoughts with old and new friends.
2. It helped me get back into writing that wasn’t academic. After I graduated from grad school I found myself faced with writer’s block. Having to write research papers, a portfolio and such had shifted my focus so much that it was hard to write anything that wasn’t academic. My blog has definitely gotten me back into writing and I’ve been much more productive in my freelance pursuits. I even wrote an article on blogging several months ago — I’m still waiting to hear if it’ll be published or not. We’ll see!
What I love about blogging is being able to share daily with my family what we’re up to. Also, to make new friends, maintain old friendships, and to learn what God has been showing others.
So interesting that you should blog about this. I spent the weekend ruminating over how many Christian Evangelical women blog, and how few of them are listed on a nationally recognized organization for blogging women (BlogHer)! SO frustrating!
Especially since so many of us do, in fact, consider our blog part of our ministry both to our local friends (if I had a dollar for everytime a SAHM friend said, “I’m SO glad you blogged about that! I thought I was alone!”) and to the world-at-large. (I was blessed to get to share the Gospel with a friend I met through blogging! PTL!)
I started blogging to give a voice to my creative side; I quickly found that I could encourage women through my own successes and failures in the faith. I find that drives me more than just writing creatively: it gives me purpose. And for that, I thank God for blogging!
Good job. I think word press offers an advantage over us being able to add “slugs” to post titles that allow people to find the blog posts who may be searching. If you title posts well, they reflect a ’searchable’ tool. If you give an ambiguous title, always change the slugs. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity for WordPress.com users to use “categories” to find like minded people as well.
Nice to meet a wordpress gal! Keep walking!