Preaching To the Converted

Yeah...We've heard it already.

I know that it can be a marvelous thing to edify and uplift the brother and sisterhood of believers. As a matter of fact, I would say that a vast majority of Christian blogs and social media are geared towards likeminded believers. I find this trend so pervasive that I often ask myself: “what’s the point?” Meaning, if the only people you are blogging, Tweeting, and Facebooking for are those who agree with you…I fail to see the purpose. To me this is nothing more than Social Media Masturbation (SMM).  In reality, how many times can we Tweet, Retweet, and “like” John 3:16? Or how many times can we write some fluffy, feel good  Christian blog discussing all the benefits of being a Christian? People on the outside looking in would view this as a sad attempt to prop up the beliefs of a topping religious system. Now I’m not saying this is true…but it is the outside perception.

On this blog, our goals are as follows: to start conversations; to cause people to think; and to build relationships; we are most interested in the latter. Through the blog and social media we have had wonderful discussions with people of all religious backgrounds, as well as those who have no interest in God or religion. We not only interact with these people via social media, we have built personal relationships that include phone and letter correspondences. In short- we consider them friends (despite the fact we don’t have the same beliefs).

I truly admire those who solely engage in biblically themed Christian blogging. I personally view it as a form of blog-bondage. For when you write solely for adherents of Christianity, you pretty much have to put a governor on your words, thoughts, and ideas. Why? Because many Christians are easily offended. Try writing a Christian blog where you use the word “asshole”… and then watch how many “Christians” try to crawl up yours'. Trust me, these pious-proctologists will not hold back…and they won’t use lube either!

I guess the purpose of this post is to encourage other Christian bloggers to take a step into the unknown. It appears that many Christians have lost the art of communication with those who do not fit into their religious paradigm. Being the “salt of the earth” does not equate to being a total self righteous tool…it’s about being a solid fixture in the earthly realms capable having relationships with all of humanity.

How do you use Social Media?
Do most of the people you interact with tend to agree with you?
Do you have a blog that you feel is a bit controversial?
Do you like wine? If so, what are your favorite varietals? (Had to throw that one in;)