In a world inundated with blogs, it can seem even to me that another voice is certain to be but a drop in the ocean of the blogosphere if not entirely unnecessary. So, why a blog?
Culturally, we have become conditioned to obtain information online. Especially among millennials, the days of the morning paper and evening news are but faint childhood memories. We can now access a seemingly limitless bounty of information with a few clicks of the mouse or taps of the screen. So a blog seems an appropriate and even necessary means for communicating and interacting with ideas.
The aim of this blog is not, however, to merely communicate or interact with ideas in isolation or a vacuum. As the redeemed people of God who have been knit together in Christ, we are called to orient our life together around the gospel. This blog aims to facilitate our common orientation around the gospel in five ways.
1. Make much of Christ. The efforts of this blog are in vain if not motivated by a supreme desire to proclaim the surpassing worth of Christ. Prayerfully, this blog will serve to proclaim Him in word in such a way that stirs His people to proclaim Him in deed in every sphere of life.
2. Provide a connecting point. We all share the human experience. And in Christ, we share the experience of being remade fully human. This experience is a beautiful yet sometimes maddening tapestry of relationship, vocation, art, science, recreation, rest, politics, economics and theology. We all interact with the majestic and mundane things of life, and this blog is purposed to orient the people of God around the shared experience of being remade fully human in Christ.
3. Extend encouragement. One of the goals of a common orientation around the shared experience of being remade fully human in Christ is to offer encouragement to one another. Whether in seasons of joy or sadness, gain or loss, clarity or confusion, we can and should walk with one another as heralds of the hope of the gospel. This blog aims to be an instrument through which the great balm of the gospel can meet you where you are.
4. Provoke prayerful thought. In the midst of a myriad of opinions and persuasions propagated by our culture, it is necessary for the redeemed people of God to prayerfully and wisely engage the ideas and arguments of culture. If we are to continue in our being remade fully human in Christ, we must give thought to how the Scriptures judge the prevailing ideas of our day and command the people of God to live in our culture. This blog will be a forum in which such biblically-grounded thought can take place.
5. Encourage mission. Right (biblical) thinking about the things of God, ourselves and the culture around us will fuel mission. The end of our redemption in Christ and of our shared experience of being remade fully human in Him is participation with Him and with one another in His mission of renewing all things. There is a part for you to play in this mission whether you are a stay at home mom, janitor, pastor, teacher, construction worker or financial analyst. Prayerfully, this blog will both encourage and equip you to participate in the mission of God with the people of God for the glory of God.
It should be conceded that there are countless pitfalls to a blog. Chief among them is the lack of face-to-face interaction. There is no substitute for personal (in person) interaction. As such, this blog is not a replacement for engaging one another in person. Indeed, we should be “not neglecting to meet together” (Hebrews 10.25, ESV). Rather, this blog is a supplement to a regular assembling with the people of God. It is an opportunity to engage with one another via an accessible and convenient means as we journey with one another and share the experience of the beautiful tension of being remade fully human in Christ.
