Daniel Darling's Blog, page 64

A Theology of Technology

How do Christians handle technology? We we blindly accept it all forms as neutral? Do we withdraw in a sort of isolationist rejection? Fascinating questions we must tackle as faithful followers of Jesus during the digital revolution. These are the questions Craig Detwiler discusses in a fascinating new book, iGods. I had the change to chat with him this week over at Leadership Journal. Here’s a snippet of that conversation:

If you could counsel church leaders, how would you advise them to approach, in their teaching and personal life example, an adequate theology of technology?

As with entertainment, the temptation seems to be disengagement or overindulgence. How do develop a maturity that welcomes the wonders and gifts of technology without letting our devices drive our decision-making?

I’ve been rereading Scripture with an eye on technology, wondering how to translate enduring truths into contemporary terms. For example, can we call God the original technologist? Perhaps it is helpful to talk about Genesis in terms of engineering and aesthetics. We know that Jesus was more than a carpenter’s son, but do we also realize the Greek word for “carpenter” was tekton? Perhaps the “magic” that we associate with the iPhone isn’t so far removed from the original Designer.

I haven’t heard enough pastors talking and modeling digital discipleship. If our congregants spend hours each week involved in social media, then how do we follow God and craft a winsome witness via our smart phones? In the 21st century, we all have the capacity to be narrowcasters, with the possibility of becoming broadcasters. That is a remarkable moment to preach and teach within.

We also might find ourselves distinguished by our ongoing belief in the sacredness of the body, the need to relieve physical and psychic pain and suffering via presence—from chicken soup to bedside prayers. I’m confident the Spirit will continue to lead us towards acts of kindness towards our neighbors and into the farthest corners of the Internet.

You really should read the rest of this interview here:

Guest Post: Living Out a Risky Faith

I’m pleased to feature a guest post from my good friend, Owen Strachan.  Owen is a gifted communicator whose work appears in publications ranging from Christianity Today to Atlantic Monthly. He is executive director of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood and assistant professor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky.  He also teaches for the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Risky Gospel: Abandon Fear and Build Something Awesome.  He is married to Bethany and is the father of two children. You can check out the website for this book here: 

Something has happened in evangelicalism in recent years. We’re like the kid in the corner of the schoolroom with his head down. The teacher comes over to us and asks how we are and we only mumble in response. Recess comes and we walk listlessly around the playground. We feel depressed, we lack confidence, and nobody wants to play four-square with us.

Evangelicals need a shot in the arm today. We need some spring in our step. There are some folks out there who want to help us. They tell us that, if we buy their books and DVDs, we’ll learn the secret to being endlessly buoyant. Our troubles will evaporate; we might even become as rich as if we really pray hard. Other voices take us a different way. They tell us to play down our Christianity, to soften our faith, to focus on making friends and influencing societies. If we would stop representing ethics from a bygone era, we’d do ourselves a lot of favors, and get invited to a lot more dinner parties besides.

There’s another way we could go, though. It doesn’t involve chasing money, being relentlessly upbeat, or backing away from biblical conviction. It is a risk, though. It’s a challenge. In Scripture, Jesus calls us to a larger, bigger, surround-sound faith. He takes us by the shoulder, looks us in the eye, and tells us we can get on mission for him. In places like the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30, the Lord of the Word challenges us to break with fearful Christianity, and to adopt a bold, aggressive brand of faith. We have a choice: we can be like the wicked servant who kept his head down, fearful of his great master, or we can be like the faithful servant who took his master’s investment and made more talents. The choice is simple; the options are stark.

We’re tempted in numerous ways today to be like the fearful servant. God seems like he’s out to get us. We’ve embraced a mystical faith that leaves us unable to make even basic decisions. We’re unsure whether to wear the white socks or the tan ones, and we’re nervous that if we make the wrong decision, we’ll mess up the work of the kingdom. We have no plan for our lives because the thought of long-term planning scares us. Better to keep our heads down, muddle through life, not make anyone really mad at us, and hope for God to zap us with wisdom and blessing from the sky.

The gospel offers us a better life than this. Don’t get me wrong: it’s a powerful gospel. It’s got a ton of horsepower. It will swallow us whole. But that’s the point: too many of us are looking for a solution to life outside of Christ and his call to follow him all the way with all our heart. What you and I most need is not a life of ease and comfort, where our daily troubles are gone. What we most need is a big vision of God that will push us onward and enable us to transcend our weaknesses. We need a dynamic Lord of heaven and earth and a plan for glorifying him with our careers, our families, our evangelism, our churches, and every aspect of our lives. Here’s the good news: Scripture gives us just this kind of plan.

This won’t look the same for every believer. God gives us his own specific calling on our lives. We often think of this as a bad thing–”Too bad I’m not her; then I could really be serving the Lord.” That’s backwards. God has given us our job, our family, our church, our friends. He doesn’t want you and me to be living someone else’s life and doing someone else’s ministry. He wants us to be faithful right where we are. He wants us to stop muddling through the day, the week, or the year, and to start approaching every minute of every hour as if it counts for eternity–because it does.

The solution for many of us who want to lead a more God-glorifying life is not going to be leaving where we are. It’s going to be staying in this place and working in Christ’s name. Evangelicals are really good at guilt. We constantly feel like we should be somewhere else; call it “Spiritual Dislocation Syndrome.” We should always be open to God’s leading, and he may call us to something far, far away. If so, great! But many of us need to approach the day-to-day existence he’s given us with greater purpose, purpose derived from the gospel of Jesus.

Maybe the risk God is leading you to take isn’t a career change. Maybe it’s that you need to risk your small vision of your life in order to honor him more thoroughly. Maybe you need to stop pursuing comfort, safety, and security, which we can easily make into false gospels. We think, “If I could just get along with my family, I’d be happy.” Or “If I could just like my career more, then I’d be content.” Or “If I could just get married, then my problems would be over.” None of these pursuits are bad in and of themselves. But here’s the deal: only God, and more of God, will make us truly happy. But to get more of God, you need to reframe your life.

It needs, in other words, to be about him.

How can you get there? What are the tips to happiness? Well, I’m not sure there’s a neat-and-clean checklist out there. I do know that if you truly embrace the call of the gospel, and if you find your identity in nothing but Christ and him crucified, you will find yourself remarkably free to serve your Savior. Christians are those who are loved by God. They know this truth, and it liberates them to lead God-intoxicated lives. There’s nothing holding you and me back from that. You’re not alone. You’re not stuck in the corner of the classroom. God has given his Son and 10,000 gifts to you.

Now all you need to do is open your eyes and start living in the power of the Spirit.

From Pulpit to Pew: On Joining a New Church

After five years in the pulpit and 30 years prior growing up in, working, and serving in my home church, I found myself in the oddly new position of looking for a place to worship. And so our quest for a new church began as soon as we moved from Chicago area to Nashville. After years of looking askance at those who “church shop”, I was in the buying mood. We felt it was important for us to find and get settled in a church as soon as we could, but we knew our search must be spirit-directed and guided by prayer. Our criteria was pretty simple:

It must be a church that preaches and teaches the Word of God (in a systematic, deep way.) We’re big on gospel-centered, expository preaching and teaching.
It must be proudly Southern Baptist.
It must be close to our house. In my pastoral experience, I’ve found greater distance from home to church usually prevents the type of community and closeness needed to become an essential part of a local body.

We also had some other criteria, but things that are not as much “deal-breakers” such as church culture, children’s ministry, welcoming atmosphere, friends who go there, etc. One thing we were determined not to do was choose a church based on flimsy things like the color of the carpet or the flavor of the coffee. We want to worship where God would have us worship, meaning we knew we wouldn’t find a church that exactly matches our preferences–and this is good because the point of worship is not me, but God.

So I created a spreadsheet of about 8 churches to visit, based on referrals from friends and web research and other criteria. Our plan was to visit all eight, then circle back and do second visits, just to get another look. But halfway through our search, something happened. We found a church we not only liked, but felt God calling us to join: First Baptist Church of Mt. Juliet. Angela and I went one after the first Sunday and said, “It’s okay if we just say we like this one and stay here, right?” And so we did.

There are a few reasons we feel compelled to worship at FBMJ. First, we just had a sense, after worshipping there, that this was the place for us. It was amazing, after talking with Pastor Andy Hale and his team, just how much we track with where God is taking this congregation: the desire to take the gospel to the community, to exalt Christ and seek His glory in all we do. Secondly, we really enjoy Pastor Andy’s preaching. By “enjoy” I don’t mean, “we found someone who politely affirms everything we believe so we leave feeling good.” By “enjoy,” I mean, we are fed by the rich, deep truths of Scripture every week. We’re challenged, convicted, and brought to repentance and confession weekly. Third, we have good friends who are involved at FBMJ. Jonathan and Beth Howe are longtime friends. Beth is the new director of children’s ministry at FBMJ. It’s helpful to have at least one family that you know very well attend church with you. Fourth, this church is close to our home, so we can be involved in activities and begin to build relationships with this body of believers.

Those are just a few of the reasons we like our new church home. There are many more. Mostly, though, we’re glad to join, get involved, to give and to take, to love and be loved, to nurture and be nurtured.

It’s a bit of a strange feeling sitting in a pew after being in the pulpit. I’ll admit there is a part of me that wants to get up and preach, but I know in this season of life God is wanting me to hear preaching rather than deliver preaching. And yet there is some relief in enjoying worship as a church member and not a church leader. Plus, I’m grateful to serve an organization at ERLC whose mission is to serve the Church.

 

What I’m most encouraged by is God’s work in every community, every corner of this world, building His church in big and small ways. There is much hand-wringing and debate about “the future of the Church”, but we have this sure promise from Jesus:

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:18 (ESV)

Finding God in the Boring

Had a chance to interview my friend, Michael Kelly about his new book, Boring, which you should buy. Michael is a Director of Discipleship at Lifeway Christian Resources. He’s a creative speaker and author. If you have not read his book, Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal, you should. In that book, Michael walks thru the difficult journey he and his wife endured with their son, Joshua who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 2.

In this video, we discuss the meaningfulness of the ordinary parts of our lives, how we glorify God in the mundane details of everyday.

Mark Buchanan’s Writing Rhythm

Mark Buchanan is one of my favorite authors. He’s a pastor, a teacher, and a man who can really turn a phrase. I had the chance to interview Mark last week for Leadership Journal. One of the questions I asked was this:

What is your writing rhythm? Are you an early morning writer, a late-night writer?

I write almost everything I produce—books, blogs, or articles—in a 4–5 hour block every Friday. I awake around 6:30 AM. I exercise, shower, eat, make coffee, read 2 chapters of Scripture and a few pages each of theology and history. Then, around 9 AM, I fire up the computer, and buckle down. I usually write until 2:00 PM (with a brief lunch break around 12:30). I try to finish shorter magazine pieces (under 1000 words) in a single sitting. Longer pieces, in two. When I”m working on a book, I don”t grant myself permission to leave until I’ve produced a minimum of 1500 words. Most trade books are 65,000 words. At the rate of 1500 words a week, I need 43 weeks to complete a book—roughly 10 months.I do, however, block out two to three 5 day writing blitzes when I’m moving toward a book deadline—at least one just to write, two if needed, and one just to edit the complete manuscript. For the writing marathons, I write 12-14 hours each day, and require of myself a minimum of 4000 words a day—so I can write roughly a third of a book in one 5-day block. In the editing marathon, I typically edit about 10 hours a day.

Read the entire interview here:

5 Tips to Establish Yourself as a Writer

I have people ask me all the time how to get started writing. I suspect there are many who enjoy putting words together and just don’t know how to get going. Maybe they are intimidated by the idea of writing a book or a long-form piece to a journal or magazine. Or even the idea of “blogging” and social media scare them. Here is the best advice I can give them. I hope this helps you if you are reading it:

1) Get started somewhere, even if it’s small. My advice now is to just get started. Create a blog and start putting your best stuff online. Michael Hyatt’s book, Platform is a great way to get started, though I advise you not to be intimidated and think you HAVE TO DO ALL OF THIS RIGHT NOW. Start with a free service like Tumblr, Blogger, or any of the others. Select a nice template, come up with a creative name and maybe tagline and then GET STARTED. Besides blogging, you might try to query some magazines or periodicals. The best way to do this is to purchase Sally Stuart’s Christian Market Guide. Find publications that might be a good fit for your writing style. Start, maybe, with devotional publications, curriculum publishers, etc. You might also consider guest-posting on popular blogs that offer content in your niche. Blogs are consistently in need of new content, so you might contact the proprietors and see if they are interested in your ideas. But do take risks and get started.

2) Publish that first piece. I talk to a lot of would-be writers and I hear the same thing, “I have this thing I wrote, but I’m not sure . . .” My advice is to get that piece of writing as good as you can get it and then publish it on your blog. Then get started writing another piece and publish it on your blog. The only way to get better at writing is to . . . write. You need to write hundreds, then thousands of pieces before you get good. Then you’ll discover that you’re only marginally good and need to write another hundred, if not another thousand to get better. But, for Heaven’s sake, stop perfecting that first piece like it’s the Mona Lisa. It’s probably not. Publish.

3) Have confidence that in time, good writing gets noticed. It’s my own personal law of creativity that the best stuff gets noticed. So before you try to sell yourself ahead of time, write in the trenches, write in obscurity for a good long time and actually get good at writing. Trust the process and know that if you consistently put your best content online, if you grow, if you’re open to critique and change, then you’ll get discovered. You will. Case in point: I’ve been writing for about 15 years. But I’ve only been seriously blogging for about 5 or so. I still don’t have one of the most highly trafficked blogs in the blogosphere, but after I committed to working hard and putting good stuff online, I got noticed. People starting reading my stuff, linking to it, passing it along. I think this goes back to a good theology of work. We work, we develop our gifts, not so we can get a fat contract or be rich and famous, but to the glory of God. The work itself matters, not who sees it and what happens. God sees it. So do your best work, even if only one human reads it. And, typically, you will get noticed and good things can happen.

4) Don’t be the one who pesters everyone to tweet, link to, or give you attention. Maybe this is a pet peeve of mine, but don’t be the guy who on Twitter tags someone famous and says, “You might like this . . . .” or “I write this, can you tweet it out.” Look, if you’re writing is good, people will notice. That’s not to say there is something wrong with promotion or marketing. Not at all. If you believe in your message, you want it to get out there. Still, there is a crass way to do this that skips all the steps it takes to be good enough to be well read. Don’t take that shortcut. Write well and you won’t have to convince anyone to read your stuff.

5) Don’t build your platform on outrage. There is a increasingly rich market for “evangelicals who are not like other evangelicals.” Controversy sells and generates clicks. And for a short season, this formula works. But over the long haul, if this is your game, you’ll end up running out of steam and having to generate outrage to keep your rapid fan base happy. But is this the way of Christ? Is the way to glorify God with your gifts? And do you want to be that guy know solely by what you are against? Now, an important caveat to those, right now, queuing up blog posts to say that I’m part of a secret cabal stifling dissent: there is a place for thoughtful, robust, substantive, even satirical critique. But always check your motives and make it your mission to be creative, tell your story, take risks, and use your gifts to glorify God.

Why You Can’t Push Kids Into the Kingdom

In a piece for Her.meneutics, Jennifer Grant cautions parents against trying to “bully their kids into belief,” writing: “Between the extremes of bullying our children into faith and neglecting to teach them to pray is a wide expanse.”

I completely agree, and I suspect most parents would too. And yet…in our practice of parenting, we often act as though our child’s relationship with God is all up to us. In my experience as a child of the church, a pastor, and now a father of four, I’ve found most attempts to force faith onto children stem from a misapplication of a favorite parenting verse:

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

At first glance, Proverbs seems to offer an ironclad promise: Raise your children “the right way,” and they will automatically “turn out right.” And who among us hasn’t heard a thousand messages promising just that? We can get “new kids by Friday” if only we apply the right formula.

But here’s the problem. It doesn’t always work. We all know people who were raised in Christian homes yet abandoned the faith in their adult years.

So what happens to Proverbs 22:6? Because we think this sage wisdom is a guarantee from God, we assume that parents of prodigals must have failed somewhere. Racked with guilt, these parents travel back in time through the child-raising years, searching and sleuthing for their big mistakes. And many pastors and counselors are all too willing to help them in this guilt-laden process.

But Proverbs 22:6 was never written to serve as a stand-alone foundation for the biblical model of parenting. It is merely one verse in the entire revelation of God, from Genesis to Revelation.

Furthermore, the common interpretation of Proverbs 22:6 as a promise or doctrine is faulty. Serious Bible students understand that Proverbs, while inspired Scripture, are just that: proverbs. They represent the best collection of the wisdom anywhere in the world. They rise above all other literature, both classical and contemporary.

But the proverbs are not doctrine, and they are not promises.

We don’t apply the other proverbs this way. For instance, Proverbs 15:1 suggests that a soft answer turns away wrath. This is true, the majority of the time. A kind word often diffuses an angry confrontation. But there are also moments when a soft answer will inflame. I’ve had a soft answer land me an uppercut to the jaw. There are precincts in my hometown of Chicago that will reward a soft answer with a gunshot.

Do you see the folly of reinterpreting the Proverbs as promises? To be sure, God does include many wonderful promises in Scripture, promises that are ironclad guarantees that rest on the unchanging character of God.

But Proverbs 22:6 isn’t one of them.

The problem with making this verse the foundation of our parenting is that it tends to move parents away from a biblical, faith-based approach to a humanistic, results-oriented approach.

Putting all the pressure on parents to execute and then blaming only them for failure is both unbiblical and impossible. Unbiblical because it removes the work of God and brings glory to man. Impossible because human parents cannot manufacture what only the Holy Spirit can produce.

We forget that every child is an individual human soul, created with their own accountability before God. Worse, we ignore the work of the Holy Spirit in the shaping of a child’s soul.

So what is the job of a parent? Faithfulness. Parents are given the task of creating a culture of faith that intentionally uses all of life to point their children toward a lifelong relationship with God. We’re to equip them for life.

But the job of conversion and sanctification can only be done by God through the work of the Holy Spirit. Only God can shape the human heart. Too many Christian parenting models operate under the subtle assumption that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is incidental to parenting. But gospel parenting is more than simply hoping our kids nod in affirmation at the offer of the gospel in Sunday School. Gospel parenting frees us from taking the place of God.

In a gospel paradigm, parents are both evangelists and disciple-makers, continually retelling the story of creation, man’s sin, Jesus’ offer of redemption, and the promise of the Holy Spirit in guiding them toward their God-given purpose. And we earnestly pray with fervent trust, knowing that it is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost who will do the work of both justification and sanctification.

Children are a divine stewardship. They are not for us to own, but for us to love, carefully guide, and then release to God’s provident care. We cannot pressure, bully or force them into faith.

We parent, not with anticipation of some promised outcome, but out of faithfulness to Jesus, leaving the outcome to him.

The Most Anti-Female Practice In the World

Yesterday I interviewed Marian Liatuad, editor of Today’s Christian Woman and Church Law and Tax Report for Christianity Today International. I was excited to interview Marian, because she has fascinating interests. Besides her writing and editing, she’s a marathoner, running to raise money for charity water and she’s an outspoken advocate for the unborn, particularly against sex-selective abortion. She wrote a terrific book, War on Women. 

You’ve written extensively about the practice of sex-selective abortions, calling a ban on them a “no-brainer.” Why don’t you think more feminists are speaking up about this practice?

I called a ban on sex-selective abortions a “no brainer” because at the time I wrote this, there was legislation being floated on Capitol Hill that included language about prohibiting sex-selective abortions. Some argued that this was added to create a lightening rod with the issue. Gendercide (the intentional killing of unborn girls) doesn’t happen commonly in our country, but the U.S. is standing by silently while it happens elsewhere in epidemic proportions. Hardly anyone—feminist or otherwise—is speaking up on this issue. Most alarming—the church is virtually silent on this issue. I wrote War on Women in hopes of lighting a fire in the church to rise up and confront the horrific genocide that’s happening around the world. Sadly, it’s been radio silence. Very disheartening. Feminists are especially silent on the matter, which is ironic consideThe ring their pro-female posture. Sex selective abortion is the most anti-female practice the world has ever known, and yet I know of no feminist who is talking about it. Primarily, this is because to talk about sex-selective abortion is to risk giving up ground hard-won since Roe v. Wade. You can’t talk about gendercide without conceding that at some level and at least in some circumstances abortion must be banned.

Read the rest of the interview here: 

Shaping Minds Thru Fiction – A Conversation With Trevin Wax

I had a chance to interview my good friend, Trevin Wax about his brand-new book, Clear Winter Nights. Trevin is one of my favorite bloggers and authors. He’s also the managing editor of The Gospel Project curriculum from Lifeway, a fantastic tool that I highly recommend churches use for all ages.

In this video conversation, I talk to Trevin about his foray into fiction and how the power of story and conversation can help shape both hearts and minds.

 

5 Things to Consider Before Rebuking a Christian Celebrity

The new online world has flattened leadership. Most of the time this is good, leading to increased accountability among leaders and allowing undiscovered talent to rise based on the thoughtfulness of their work. But there is a downside to the world of web publishing, particularly when it comes to those called to teach and lead in the Christian community. Criticism comes easier, with the click of a “send” button on variety of media tools, you can “call out” Christians with whom you disagree. But I would argue that a few rules should guide our online rebukes. Here are five questions I try to ask myself before writing about someone or something:

1) Do you have all the facts? 

Proverbs 18:3 seems wise counsel in this social media age: “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” We mock news organizations when, in their rush to break news, get the details wrong. But when Christians do this, either on Twitter or in their blogs, by pushing out accusations against people they either a) don’t know or b) don’t know except from afar, they look foolish, not only to thAll Usersose who do know all the facts, but in the sight of God.

We should be wary, really wary, about writing about, acting on, publishing information based on hearsay, half-truths, etc. We shouldn’t simply read headlines and react to them. We should read the whole story and know the whole truth before opining. Now, once the story is out, there is a place for winsome, thoughtful critique of other believers. But we have to guard against our carnal desire to believe the worst about people with whom we disagree, which violates the law of love (1 Corinthians 13:7). Knowing this, we should not comment unless we have all the facts.

2) Am I the best person to write about it? 

Just because I’m a blogger and I have a Twitter account doesn’t mean I’m the best person to opine on someone else’s poor choices. There is a carnal pride in being “the one who took down so and so”, but this is not the spirit of Christ. I’m not saying we should have thoughtful, sober, robust engagement with ideas we consider unbiblical. What we believe matters. And if God has given us a gift of writing, speaking, and teaching, we should employ those wisely for the good of His Church. But each of us must know his place.

There have been controversies about which I’ve had opinions, but I’ve not felt I was the best or most qualified person to write on them. There are others with more respected voices, whose platforms cry out for a response. Sometimes its better to admit, “I’m not the best one to write on this.” Sometimes its wiser to simply retweet or link to someone who might be more thoughtful and biblical, whose experience and proximity to the situation is deeper than my own.

3) What are my motives here? 

Let’s be honest here: controversy sells and many in the church are willing to sacrifice unity for a few more clicks. There are some topics that are like catnip for bloggers. But we have to ask ourselves this question: what is my motive? Am I building a platform on the mistakes and foibles of others? Am I a Christian tabloid, trafficking in all the stories that will make people click? Is my ministry, over the long haul, building up the body of Christ or tearing it down? Note: this doesn’t mean everything we write has to be toothless mush. There is a needed place for robust, deep, theological reflection. There is a place for warning the body of Christ about aberrant theologies that can shipwreck souls. But before we write any piece, we should ask ourselves, “Am I doing this out of genuine concern for my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord or am I doing this to increase my platform, to create controversy to help sell books, build traffic, etc?”

I haven’t always done this well, but God is teaching me to steward my words well. I can think of two instances in the last six months where I was deeply convicted by the Spirit of God to not publish something out of impure motives.

4) What’s my tone? 

There is such a gotcha mentality among some precincts of the Christian blogosphere. There are some who thrive on the misfortunes of others, ready to pounce on the smallest infraction. Ready to expose the falleness of the leaders they despise. I’m not defending anybody or anyone here. Some leaders have made mistakes that they should answer for. Some eschew accountability and have created protective bubbles that keep them from genuine shepherding. But there is also a tone of nastiness among some, an elevated sense of self among some bloggers and writers and sadly, even Christian journalists, that looks for the smallest character flaws through which they can ram their Titanic agendas.

There is a place for winsome, public rebuke. But it should be done with tears, not with glee. 1 Corinthians 13:6 says that love doesn’t “rejoice in inequity.” We could all do better with our tone. We could do without the sort of snarky, arrogant put-downs found so often online among God’s people. We should remember that at the very least, the person with whom we disagree was made in the image of God and very likely is a brother or sister in the Lord knit to out souls by the blood-bought sacrifice by Jesus at Calvary. We need to understand that there is a way to be right about an issue and yet a way to sin in the way we deliver the truth. Humility is the oil of human relationships.

5) If this was ready publicly in 25 years, would it make me blush with embarrassment? 

This last one is a hard one, because those of us who have spent our adult lives putting words together have work we hope nobody ever sees. We even have published pieces that, in hindsight, we wonder what in the world we were thinking. But, as we are composing that blog post or that article, especially ones we know will be controversial, we should ask ourselves: “Am I giving this my best effort?” “Will I read this in a few years and be embarrassed about it?”

I’m not simply talking about the quality of writing, but of the people about whom I wrote. Will what I write damage relationships? Is what I wrote fair? Is what I wrote kind and loving? Is what I wrote even true?

Bottom Line: The bottom line for all of us is that we should heed the words of James 1:19: “Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”