Here We Go Again!

Recently, I came across a blog post over at http://www.desiringgod.org/ by Abraham Piper. It was entitled, "6 Reasons Pastors Should Blog". The following is an excerpt from the article. Read on, afterward I'll give you my thoughts.

1. To write -

Through writing, you delve into new ideas and new insights. If you strive to write well, you will at the same time be striving to think well.

2. To teach.

Here is where a pastor has an outlet for whatever he didn’t get to say on Sunday.And more than just a catch-all for sermon spill-over, a blog is a perfect place for those 30-second nuggets of truth that come in your devotions or while you’re reading the newspaper.

3. To recommend.

With a blog, you can recommend something to hundreds of people instead of just a few. Recommendation, however, is more than pointing people to helpful things. It’s a tone of voice, an overall aura that good blogs cultivate. If you use your blog to encourage people through suggesting and commending everything from local restaurants to Jesus Christ, it will complement the biblical authority that you rightly assume when you stand behind the pulpit.

4. To interact.

There are a lot of ways for a pastor to keep his finger on the pulse of his people. A blog is by no means necessary in this regard. However, it does add a helpful new way to stay abreast of people’s opinions and questions.

5. To develop an eye for what is meaningful.

For good or ill, most committed bloggers live with the constant question in their mind: Is this bloggable? It nurtures a habit of looking for insight and wisdom and value in every situation, no matter how mundane.If you live life looking for what is worthwhile in every little thing, you will see more of what God has to teach you. And the more he teaches you, the more you can teach others.

6. To be known.

This is where I see the greatest advantage for blogging pastors.

Your people hear you teach a lot; it’s probably the main way that most of them know you. This is good—it’s your job. But it’s not all you are.Ideas are a crucial part of your identity, but still just a part.You’re a husband and a father. You’re some people’s friend and other people’s enemy. Maybe you love the Nittany Lions. Maybe you hate fruity salad. Maybe you struggle to pray. Maybe listening to the kids’ choir last weekend was—to your surprise—the most moving worship experience you’ve ever had.These are the things that make you the man that leads your church.

Sometimes your people need to look in—not all the way in, and not into every room—but your people need some access to you as a person. A blog is one way to help them. You can’t be everybody’s friend, and keeping a blog is not a way of pretending that you can.

It’s simply a way for your people to know you as a human being, even if you can’t know them back. This is valuable, not because you’re so extraordinary, but because leadership is more than the words you say. If you practice the kind of holiness that your people expect of you, then your life itself opened before them is good leadership—even when you fail.


My Thoughts:

After reading this article I truly felt convicted. I had started my Pastors Corner Blog with lots of good intentions, but life always seemed to get in the way of me sharing something. It became in some ways almost "busy work". It seemed as if it was more difficult to do than preparing for Sunday worship.

This article and the reasons contained in it got me to thinking about trying again and shifting the focus from making sure I had the latest and greatest idea or thought for the world to see and just use it a opportunity for share myself. So comment, ask questions, offer a suggestion, maybe even be a "guest author".

I hope to use the reasons listed the the article to guide what I write. Hopefully, with God's guidance it will be a blessing to me and to you. So come along on the journey with me as we see where this blog takes us together.

Blessings
Pastor Vic