The Bane and Blessing of Blogging

The Ugly
Everyone who has spent anytime on the blogosphere knows that the ugly comes out when the comments section gets nasty. Blogs seem to attract the anonymously “courageous”, the sarcastic, the conspiracy theorists, and even a troll or two. As I’ve said before, hell hath no fury like a blogger with too much free time. Thankfully, I’ve not seen a lot of nastiness on my blog. A few spats of needless diatribe, but not much. Thank you.

The Bad
Besides the danger of being drawn into cross-blog warfare (which I steadfastly try to avoid, despite a couple missteps), the bad of blogging has mostly do with the blogger himself. There is a temptation to pride when people like what you say and a temptation to anxiety when they don’t. There is a temptation to narcissism when a lot of people seem to be talking about what you wrote, and a temptation to jealously when you think you are or should be getting more traffic than other sites.

And then there is the sheer effort it takes to post with relentless consistency. I really like writing so most of the time I look forward to blogging. But there are times when I don’t have anything to say and don’t have time to say anything anyway. I should really just go into blog silence on such days (or heaven forbid even weeks), but the type A-can’t-let-people-down part of me forces me to write. I’m convinced that’s a mistake. No blog is that important, no one has that many fresh ideas every week, and no one has time to read a deep thesis every morning. When I’ve thought about ditching the blog it’s been because I was tired of worrying about who might get upset this time (my problem) and tired of cranking something out for one more day (my problem too).

The Good
Despite my own ambivalence toward blogging at times, I must admit that I have found it more beneficial than I imagined. For starters, blogging helps me write better. Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it does makes for improvement. I also like the discipline of having to articulate what I’m learning or reading, rather than just underlining passages for myself. Blogging helps me learn too. The comments can be lame, but they can also be insightful. The interaction with others sharpens me to think more clearly.

There are other positives about blogging. It’s given me an opportunity to “talk” more to my own congregation and to communicate with people all over the world. I love that I can recommend good books, weigh in on important topics, share a nugget from a great classic, and when necessary warn against bad ideas and false teaching. I love that I have a venue to share what I’ve been mulling over in my brain. As Doug Wilson says, “I blog to make the voices in my head go away.”

The most surprising thing about blogging is how humbling it can be. Yes, there are plenty of dangers to pride and self-absorption, but I have found the whole enterprise very humbling. It is humbling to have people pray along with you when you offer a prayer request. It is humbling to think that there are people who have made you a part of their daily reading. That could stroke the ego, but usually it strikes me as a serious privilege. Most of all, it is humbling to realize that your writing has so many typos, your ideas are occasionally half-baked, and sometimes others know more than you do. I rarely respond to comments because I am a busy guy and simply have to draw the line somewhere. But I almost always read them. Often the comments make me think how my own argument could have been stronger or needs to be tweaked. Blogging is helping me reason more carefully and more clearly.

So all in all, I’m glad I started blogging. I’ve learned a lot and hopefully some people have been able to learn from me. On a bad day, blogging becomes a “have-to” duty that has you scrambling for something to say. And on the worst days a blog can ruin your day. But on a good day, it trains your mind to look for lessons around you and read books with an eye to teaching others. On a fun day, blogging forces you to watch Duck Tale reruns and sing songs about Chick-Fil-A. And on the best days, blogging gives you the opportunity to put in a good word for Jesus and the good book. For the Lord has exalted above all things his name and his word (Ps. 138:2).