There was a nice post on the Church Crunch blog a couple weeks ago called Yo, Christian, Don’t Hate on Investigative Journalism, and I’ve been thinking it contains a sentiment worth passing along. Instead of repeating it, I’ll link to it. Then, if you care to, you can come back here to read my take on it.
When Christians begin being “in the world but not of the world,” we are living in a lot of grey area. The fact is, what this verse means to you may not be what it means to me. And because of our differing opinions about it, at some time or another we’re likely to feel that the other person is either overly-sheltered or dabbling just a little too affectionately in things of the world.
At The House we work very hard not to offend our readers either through our blog posts or our products. But we’re not willing to sacrifice the clarity of a particular point we want to make if it means shying away from some particular cultural element that is necessary to the point.
Of course we have to use good judgement in deciding if a particular topic is worth addressing, especially if it means we have to include a lot of garbage just to make the point. And sometimes we’re going to decide that it IS worth it, and you will disagree with us. We will disappoint you. You might even feel that we’ve pretended to be something we’re not. Sometimes we’ll be in the wrong, guilty of using poor judgement. Sometimes you’ll just be overly sensitive and object because we didn’t use the word “Jesus” enough.
I hope we don’t disappoint you often. Perhaps if we do, then it might be best to decide to unfollow us. We realize the nature of our community depends on transparency, so if we don’t feel like people you can sit and chat with comfortably, we promise we won’t be offended if you decide we’re not a relationship worth investing in.
Thanks Bruce. A friend recently left my church to attend another church that he felt was a community closer to his and his families beliefs. This is the tension I find myself wrestling with. On one hand I am happy for my brother and I even affirmed his decision because I know he will be happier there and I felt my affirmation of his decision showed that this other community is a part of the same Body of Christ I am a part of. On the other hand, I grieve because I know this friendship and relationship I have with my brother will most likely diminish due to the decision to leave and be a part of a different community… and this is not the first time I have experienced families and/or friends leave. Unfortunately, in the three cases that I best recall, there remains an invisable line in the sand separating ‘us’ from ‘them.’ We are still cordial but there is an unspoken awkwardness that remains… Kinda like running into an ex, you don’t bring up the past but both of you are thinking about it. Perhaps it is sometimes good to simply acknowledge our differences, say our peace, and walk our own separate ways.
thanks for linking us.
we want to challenge our brothers and sisters to see the internet as a mission-field, not a christian playground.
thanks for linking us.
we want to challenge our brothers and sisters to see the internet as a mission-field, not a christian playground.