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Postal Pastors: Part 3
I want to talk today to the angry pastor/Christian bloggers.
As Christian leaders, we should work not to be angry or defensive. (Yes we should be angry about injustices, poverty, spiritual apathy, heresy, etc…) But we shouldn’t spit venom back every time someone says something bad about us.
Based on conversations and my observations, most defensive bloggers regularly search to see what others are saying about them on other blogs.
Honestly, I used to search for my name on blogs.
- When I’d see a good blog about me, I’d feel good.
- When I’d see a bad blog about me or our church, my mind would be held hostage for several hours, sometimes overnight. I’d want to defend myself. I’d want to fight back.
Finally, I recognized that this was extremely prideful and a major waste of valuable time.
My advice:
- Don’t always feel compelled to defend yourself. God is your defender.
- Don’t waste your time reading other people’s opinions about you. They don’t know you. God knows your heart. That’s all you need.
- Thank God when you are persecuted.
- Spend your energy doing ministry in Jesus’ name instead of swirling over something you can’t control or change.
- Don’t BLAST everyone when you’re ticked. (Yes, I’m talking to some of you who are my close friends. :)) When you rant and rave because one person said something bad about you or your church, you look foolish and insecure. You’re allowing those people who support and love you to watch you scream over one person. Grow up.
- There are way too many “jerks for Jesus.” You don’t have to be one of them.
Blog with joy. Talk about Jesus. Brag about other ministries. Make a positive difference. Rejoice in all things! There are enough angry people in the world!
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Pastor Craig,
Thank you for your insight. I sometimes find myself losing valuable time by fretting over things that people say about the ministry that I serve. It doesn’t serve Jesus, or my sanity.
Thanks for the reminder.
Louis Tagliaboschi
Bowling Green, KY
Craig, I read a lot of blogs and write my own. Trust me, you’re gonna really mess some bloggers up with this one. If not angry blogging, what would we write about? God?…Jesus?…The Holy Spirit?… Vision for our ministy?…Evangelism?…Relationships?… Family? Come on! I mean is any of that really as compelling as “I’m rubber, you’re glue”, “You stink”, or “Nanny, nanny, boo-boo”?
You might want to rethink this one. Anway, I’ve got to go now. I’ve got a blog entry to write about the poor service at McDonalds. They make me so mad!
It never ceases to amaze me what some Christians will say about another Christian they have never even met.
There’s a lot of postives in the blogging world but sometimes I wonder if it’s worth the negatives. Like you I have found myself wasting time trying to defend something that doesn’t need defending. Human nature I guess.
What bothers me most is the affect this kind of blogging has the lost. I wonder how many lost people have decided to stay that way because of the way we speak to each other publicly.
I recently stopped writing about anything in my denomination because of this. That is why I read this one and others that stretch my thinking and lift up believers rather than tear down.
Craig,
Of all the things that you contribute to the wider church, your passion for working with others and celebrating each other and Jesus stands out the most.
Thanks for being the finest example of how to lead without being threatened by others.
Craig,
Thanks for the reminder. I think the world is usually looking for what we stand for much more than what (or who) we stand against. It is very sad to notice on Christian sites how often the command to love one another goes out the window in favor of embarass or ridicule one another.
AMEN! I used to love to jump in the middle of a fight! But God gave me a wife to help (with the Holy Spirit) change my character. I have learned to walk away, focus on what God wants me to do and just be concerned as to whether I am doing what I should be doing. Most of my defensive reactions came fom a low self-esteem. Although I still struggle with this from time-to-time, but I am becoming more confident in the Lord which has helped this issue more than anything!
Love ya brother,
Bryan
I have been in the blogging world for several years and I have grown so tired of the negativity. At some level it is good to question that status quo, but in my humble opinion we have to move past that and start actually making a change. Share with the world what you are doing to change the status quo don’t just question it. It’s easy to sit back and throw stones. It is another thing to go out and make a difference.
I would like to recommend 3 blogs that I follow of real people doing just this. They are 3 missionaries in Oklahoma City that are making a difference. I have dropped all of the “church has to change” blogs from my rss reader and started following these real people that are doing the ministry of Jesus.
http://ronstale.blogspot.com/
http://undergroundokc.blogspot.com/
http://www.lukesfoodforthought.blogspot.com/
John Eldredge made a good point of this in Wild at Heart. Most of the time people attack others verbally or otherwise out of a fear of being considered less than a man. He referred to it as only fighting the battles we are sure to win (when the Bible also forbids what others are doing). We hide behind “Thou shalt not…” because verbally bombing others helps maintain our facade.
Biblical examples are everywhere of fear dictating what men do. Adam watched Eve and yet was silent, Abraham gave his wife away for his own safety, Peter aggressively denied Christ and Joseph’s brothers turned to violence against him for the same reason we do, jealous anger.
My question is this, how do we stand up for what is right and keep our anger righteous?
I am relatively new to LifeChurch.tv. I came here a few months ago.
But I’m very new to this blog-I learnt about it yesterday from John Blanchard.
It’s a privilage to me to have an opportunity to thank the whole LIFECHURCH on this blog. And thank you Craig and Amy.
Bad and angry blogs about LifeChurch? I don’t care. Why should I? I know it’s good. Free resources from LifeChurch are changing my family, and soon, if God lets me live, will start to change more of my country.
A friend of the Church.
Lublin, Poland.
Righteous anger, that’s one I hadn’t thought of, Brandon. Is that even possible for the created? I’ve always thought of anger as the public face of fear. Still, I want a T-shirt with “Jerks For Jesus!” on it. Maybe over a drawing of fingers in the shape of an L in the middle of a forehead. I bet that could be marketed to the well-behaved. (grin)
Thanks for the reminder. It is always a struggle to want to set the record straight but doing so will often make you look defensive and will likely not change the minds of your critics.
Excellent thoughts on this! The part that really jumps out is that God will be our defender and we should use our energies in other areas, leaving him to deal with people in his own way. Focusing our time and energy on our own ministry will bring far better results!
I have often wondered about blogs that are posing one ministry against another. My thought goes back to the scriptures that talk about dealing with your brother directly first, then up the line. Never once does it talk about going public and shooting for a battle of opinions. The bible never talks about us “going after the hearts and minds of the people” (sorry George).
Rock on, great message!