Drive By Blogging (by Jon Allen) Part 1

 

Today in a university chapel, Dr. Dan Boone promoted his newest book: "A Charitable Discourse". In the book Dr. Boone includes ways of talking about the tough issues that are dividing the church. Some of the tough subjects that Dr. Boone presents are: Homosexuality, Women Preachers, Drinking, Emergent Church and Science. Now I have been a student at Trevecca Nazarene University since Dr. Dan Boone was appointed as the President. I have developed a great respect for the man and the work he does. This book he promoted today was the same that he promoted at M11 conference where I sat as he took some tough questions from the audience. The same thing happened today as the chaplain opened the forum up to the chapel for questions. Never have I met a man who is able to take the amount of criticism and tough questions with such grace as Dr. Boone. Most of the book "Charitable Discourse" was taken from the once a year tough subject chapel sermons that Dr. Boone has hosted in his last five years here at TNU. I was there for most if not all of those chapels. I recommend taking a look at his book. You may not agree with everything he has to say, but Dr. Boone has reminded us with this book, just how Christians are supposed to be able to handle their issues. Which leads me to the point of this article. From the pulpit today, Dr. Boone mentioned as a main reason for writing this book, "Drive By Blogging" among other forms of tearing each other down. 

  I have been in the religion department for five years now here at Trevecca. Throughout the span, I have seen the welcoming/honeymoon of a new president. But I have also seen the backlash to what I think has been a great attempt to reach out to this younger generation. I think our university has done a tremendous job of reaching this generation and assisting them in changing the world for the good. Dr. Boone touched on it somewhat this morning. People are generally scared of change, but sometimes change is necessary. The question is: how do we stay faithful to our story as the people of God and yet make changes? Well honestly getting on your computer and tearing down the reputation of other people in the church is not the answer. They are starting to call it drive by blogging. I fear as a new blogger I already have the stigma that is put upon bloggers because of the way in which some people chose to use it as a medium to vent their frustration with certain people or issues. It has been clear in the last few years at Trevecca that a very small community of online hurt dealers have been attacking our university and our faculty. As bloggers we have a unique outlet for our voice. Often times the most controversial material gets the most views, but as a Christian blogger, it is my responsibility to make sure that the articles I post online remain faithful to the story of what it means to be a person of God. Just for a fun fact, my most popular blog post has not been anything controversial or damaging at all. In fact it is what we as bloggers strive for, that rare post that offends no-one but still keeps people coming back or interested. Here are the stats for my most viewed article in the last few months:

Best Youth Group Game Ever Dec 22, 2010     933 Pageviews This post has almost 2x more views than any other article I have posted on the youthstory.org.

But Jon, I don't want to blog about Games and Mushy stuff that nobody cares about!

Well that's fine, we will take a look at some methods in which you can avoid being a drive by blogger, but still tackle the tough subjects, in Part 2. Thanks for Reading! Until next time -Just Jon