The ability of pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and Christian brothers to stay connected with one another has never been greater. Facebook has given us the opportunity to see pictures of our friends’ ministries with a single click of a mouse.
Skype has given us the privilege of conversing with missionaries who live on the other side of the world. And many of us have received a tweet from a friend on Twitter that has encouraged us in a time of discouragement. Advancement of technology is a wonderful thing.
In this age of increased technology, I have several friends who blog on a frequent basis. And, to a large degree, most of my blogging buddies have been a great source of encouragement to me.
Some have the gift of discernment and have warned me of potential dangers through their blogs. Some have the gift of helps and have offered powerful suggestions that have been of tremendous assistance to me. Some have the gift of encouragement. Their blogs contain words “fitly spoken.”
For all of the benefits that I have received from blogging, however, there are a few bloggers that are giving the rest of us a bad name. These fellows do not offer “apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Rather, they are bad apples. Bad apples are known for spoiling the rest of the barrel of good apples, and so many bad apples in the blogging world have ruined it for many good guys who are out there.
Here are a few suggestions to help all of us keep our blogging pure:
1. Seek to Be an Encourager
Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Much of the venom that is spewed in blogs is not edifying at all. Seek to give grace to the hearers.
2. Never Go Publicly Against a Fellow Brother Without Talking to Him First
If we have a problem with a brother, we are to go to him privately (Matthew 18:15). When we go public with an offense against a brother, we are assuming we have the full story. This is often not the case. Idle gossip is just as sinful as the sin we are supposedly exposing.
3. Don’t Crawl Around in Trash Cans
How often has a fellow minister exposed a minister across town because he used a song that was supposedly a bad song? One wonders, how does the blogging pastor know that the song came from a CCM artist? Many of these “discerning” bloggers are more familiar with the CCM movement than the pastor who happened to find an isolated song in a choral club membership that ministered to his heart.
4. Don’t Go Looking for Stuff
Years ago, on the popular sitcom Alf, the furry alien came home with gossip about the next-door neighbors. When asked how he came across such gossip, Alf responded, “Hey, if you crawl under basements, you hear things.” Too many bloggers are crawling under basements.
Some pastors spend more time criticizing other ministries than they do developing their own.
I think if we bloggers spend more time in intercession than on the internet, we will see the cause of Christ expanded rather than exploded.
Reposted by permission from The Sword of the Lord Publishers.