On Ongoing Blogging… (and mentorship, and inspiration, and…)
Posted: December 28th, 2011 | Author: Peter | Filed under: Uncategorized, church, writing | 3 Comments »I have to confess (I guess it’s pretty obvious) that I’ve lost a lot of my momentum in blogging over the last several months.
When I first started this blog back in late 2004, it was one of two blogs, simultaneous with one called “WorldSpeak,” where I wrote about encounters with Christianity’s various manifestations in popular and often secular culture. By 2008, I found I couldn’t maintain two blogs at once, so I let WorldSpeak die and focused on EmergingChristian. In 2010 I hit 500 posts, which was a big feat after a fairly slow start.
But life happens: seminary and full time work and… perhaps disappointment: in years past I encountered too many “would-be mentors” who seemed to care about not only my development as a writer and provocateur, but as a disciple of Christ and as a young friend open to guidance. But instead, time after time, when I couldn’t jump through the hoops to meet their professional or ministry needs, they seemed to fade quickly away. Maybe it’s selfish to expect mentorship to be about my own development, and I’ve got no qualms about hard work, but it’s disappointing to encounter too many people who seemed interested in me, who were perhaps more focused on fulfilling their own endeavors through me. But maybe I’m just a narcissist. I don’t think I feel upset about it anymore, although it’s taken me several years to work out… but I have a nagging sense of disappointment, and a lot more cynicism than I started with. I have some great friends in the industry now who remain huge encouragements, and who continue to help me find opportunities to get my writing out there, but real genuine mentorship? Is it out there? I don’t know. Maybe that’s just an inhumanly tall order…
The other difficult aspect of continuing a long-term blog is finding fresh material. Perhaps it’s simply chronic writer’s block, but I can’t help feeling like my last few dozen posts have rehashed the same ideas, or the same rants, or the same political/social observations.
The reality is, I don’t want a new kind of Christianity. A few months ago I joined the United Church of Christ, and I love the combination of mainline liturgy and old-school liberalism. I don’t want the church to be more “hip.” Worrying about being “hip” is what got us into all this attractional, pop-Evangelical trouble in the first place. If winning people over is our modus operandi, instead of doing what we’re deeply convicted is true and right, we’re bound to sell out again and again.
What’s all this mean for this website?
I’m not giving up on the blog — I’m not going to stop blogging. But there are so many reasons why my priorities are changing, and my passions for “transforming the church” have hit a different kind of wall. I still feel passionate, but I’m not so arrogant as to think I’m smart enough to “re-dream” a brand new way of “being the church.” I just want us to be a better old kind of church.
Several things resonate…
-rehashing old ideas. Chances are, the OT prophets and even Jesus may have felt that they kept saying the same things, but no one was listening. We have our own life message, and keep seeing the world through the same glasses. No wonder we keep saying the same things. We wish that our words would have great impact, and change things. But it's a slow process.
-New kind of christianity vs. an old kind that works. I guess we each have to find out what we see is our purpose in being a follower of Christ. Since we aren't all the same, we won't all fit into a particular mold. Some of us seem to have to build something new that suits, others are able to find an existing model that works. As long as we honor each other in the decisions we make, we are probably headed in the right direction. I certainly see great strength in many of the old-line denominations, but don't really feel at home there entirely either.
-Mentoring. I can only speak for myself, but expect I have others who share my sentiments. There are ways that you have been a mentor to us of an older generation. As we have (finally!) begun to rethink our own place in the Kingdom, we are encouraged by those younger than us who are thinking deeply, and sharing their thoughts with us. We are blessed to know that we are not alone, that there are many others who are asking similar questions. I'm sorry you haven't found the level of mentorship you have been looking for. But you have been a mentor to others.
I'm glad you aren't ditching blogging altogether. I will continue to enjoy following your ongoing journey.
Al, great points about continuing to restate, reword and revisit some of the same messages. It reminds me of Martin Luther responding to complaints, "When will you preach something other than the Gospel?" He said he would keep preaching the Gospel because – essentially – the people weren't getting it.
And as usual, thank you for your gracious words – more kind than I think I deserve. You're a good friend.
Hi Peter,
Coming from the mainline (Episcopal) and always intending to stay within its borders, I've felt a similar struggle. One thing that has crystallized for me is that it really isn't so much new vs. old or maintain vs. replace as it is being reminded always that we are a part of something that evolves to meet the needs of the people. This is why "ancient future" (which still sounds a bit hokey) is an important term for me because it speaks not only of the 20th or 16th Centuries, and not just the time made subject in Scripture, but to the patterns of ancient, pre-Schism, pre-monastic, pre-Constantine Christianity and how those patterns resonate through the ages. It makes it a lot easier for me to grab hold of what we do on Sundays while still working toward a more worshipful approach to our liturgy.
And the church can be strangely brutal, can't it?