A few words Jesus wrote |
Well, if Jesus were a blogger, rather than an itinerant preacher, what kind of blog would he have?
1) It would be unique. It’s recorded that people were amazed at his words. No man ever spoke the way this man does (John 7:46).
Oh great. That’s a tall order. And how do I be unique?
By being myself.
Since no two people see the world in the same way, by being honest, we stumble upon the secret of being original, of being unusual.
Each person is unique, as unique as each snowflake, rose, fingerprint, zebra’s stripes, the iris of an eye, or the dots on a penguin’s chest.
As we grow to utter honesty, we discover in the process–unique blogs.
2) It would be full of grace and truth.
Full of graciousness, of course, but it would be honest too. Hypocrisy was the trait Jesus most abhorred in the Pharisees, “who did everything to be seen by men” (Matt. 23:5) and honesty was the trait he adored, for instance, in his foot-in-the mouth, speak-first-and-then-think disciples.
3) It would be a blessing.
There would be life in it, living waters, and nourishment–the bread of life.
4) Would Jesus spend time in gaining readers for his blog, or would he proceed on the “If you build it, they will come?” principle?
Both. He sees Philip and Matthew and invites them to follow him. He invites himself to Zaccheus’s house for a meal.
And the real-life friendships which grow out of blogging is one of its great pleasures.
But I get the impression that Jesus went about his Father’s business and drew people to him because there was life in his words. That he would have delivered the Sermon on the Mount if there were five people there, instead of five thousand.
If one invests time in blogging, it is perhaps only sensible and responsible to invest some time in finding readers for one’s blog. And I do far too little of that…
5) Jesus would not embark on or continue a blog without being sure that blogging was his Father’s will for him, what he was called to do.
He said, “I do nothing on my own.” I think he would be continually checking in with his Father on what to write, and how much to write, and how.
6 A blog written by Jesus would be somehow prophetic.
He would listen to his Father until he heard him speak. He would record what he heard.
6 A blog written by Jesus would be varied, like his teaching ministry.
Jesus used parables and sermons, exhortation and admonition. He taught his disciples spiritual lessons from their everyday experiences. He used metaphor and allegory, humour and satire.
He loved pithy aphorisms—oh how he would have loved Twitter—and stories which, twenty centuries later, reveal fresh depths of meaning each time we ponder them.
He loved questions. His favourite answer, in common with many Jewish rabbis was a question, which silenced his questioners.
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I would love my blog to bear some resemblance to the blog a central figure in my spiritual, emotional, and thought-life might have written.
And how do I do that?
Oddly enough, it begins with relaxing. Slowing down.
Spending more time with him–to catch his spirit. To have my soul filled with his bread of life, and with the living waters He said would flow from those who believe in him.