In one form or another I’ve been blogging since 2004. Kingdom in the Midst was launched in 2009.
Two weeks ago every blogger’s dream happened to me: a post went viral. For God so loved Caitlyn Jenner became the most read post I’ve ever written, by far. It was picked up by the Washington Post and Faithit.com, where it also reached a wider audience. I received many compliments both written and verbal, and am grateful for every one of them. Soli deo gloria.
The comments of several of my friends really made me think about why I blog, and what, if anything, is accomplished by it. Those comments could be paraphrased like this:
You write on issues in a way that makes me comfortable sharing your blog with my unbelieving friends and loved ones. It provides them with a Christian viewpoint they don’t usually hear, but is faithful to the Bible. It shows them not everyone is shrill, and helps me have better conversations.
A text message:
I have a relative who has been very anti-Christian and pro-LGBTQ issues lately, slamming Christians on Facebook whenever she gets a chance to. I know she’s been hurt in that area having grown up in church. I prayed for her to read your post and engage and she did. So thanks for writing and helping plant a seed. Say a little prayer for me to engage well, if you think of it.
Another:
We need people who can help Christians learn how to engage the big issues of our day.
Christians use the biblical phrase “grace and truth” regularly. It appears in John’s gospel twice in the space of a few verses.
The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (1:14)
and
[F]or the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (1:17)
Today, depending on who is doing the talking, the emphasis may be on grace, or it may be on truth. It is infrequently both. Sometimes one is leveraged against the other: “Well, we can show them grace, but we gotta tell’em the truth, too!” Similarly, “speak the truth in love,” leans heavily on the “speak the truth” part as if we should not love people just the same. “Speak” morphs crudely into “yell” more often than need be, and no one likes to be yelled at. When we show grace and truth, however, we display Jesus.
In fact, if you want to see what grace and truth look like together, read the Gospels. Jesus is the literal embodiment of them.
If this blog has a purpose to serve in the future it will (hopefully) be to bring grace, love, and truth into the important conversations of our time. When a post here rings a bell, or “gives voice” to something inside you, consider sharing through your social media channels. Sign up in the right hand sidebar for email alerts to catch every post, or subscribe via RSS. Show a world that’s grown deaf from shrill there is another way.
Perhaps, if we are quick to hear and slow to speak (and write), we can gain a hearing for the gospel.
