How Hugh’s Book Will Help You Get It: A review.

I’ll return to my series on The Bono Effect and Christianity as a “practical romance” soon, but I have to interrupt it for two posts on Hugh Hewitt’s new book, called, appropriately enough, Blog.  And these posts are aimed mainly for pastors (and for church members who are trying to figure out why their pastor does this "blogging thing.")

Today, “How Hugh’s Book Will Help You Get it.”  Tomorrow, “Blog, for Christ’s sake.”

Hugh as most any reader to this little site knows is the grandfather of my blog.  You see, he harassed Mark Roberts until Mark started a blog, and Mark harassed me until I started mine.  (Today Mark offers a great blog roll of Blogging Pastors.  And Mark is really the unofficial dean of this group.) 

Truthfully, when I started this blog on October 7 I still didn’t get it.  I wish had read Hugh’s book then.  Because that is what that book does best.  Hugh sees blogging as a new information reformation and the book documents his case.  (BTW, like an anecdote that Hugh tells, the spell check in my current version of Microsoft Word thinks that “blogging” is misspelled.)

As I said, back then, I didn’t get it.  I just blogged because Mark said it was a good way to get some ideas out and get some people to interact with my writing.  Now, three months and 20,000 hits later, it’s coming into focus.  This blog thing is powerful.  If you read his book, you will get it much easier.  Bottom line: There is no more effective, cost efficient, time efficient and growing way to communicate something as important as the truth of Christianity than through a whole hosts of pastors and teachers blogging.  And, if Hugh is correct, this is only the beginning of a whole "reformation."

Hugh uses terms like “swarming” and “long tail” and the generosity of bloggers to describe a way of communicating that is revolutionary just because it lets little guys like me get some of my thoughts into the world of ideas.  While this may not seem like that big of a deal, consider this: 

Every Sunday, I preach to 850-1000 people.  But by Tuesday of each week, my blog that is only a few weeks old is read by another 850-1000 people.  By the time Saturday rolls around and I am putting the finishing touches on my next sermon, my writing ministry has touched 3000 more people. (And if Hugh links to this review, I will get—no lie—2500 more hits in one day.)  That is an amazingly effective use of my pastoral time. 

Another thing to consider: The impact of the blogosphere may even lead to longer pastorates. (Something that I believe in very deeply.) I once had someone tell me that every pastor longs for a bigger audience and that the lure of leaving one (smaller) church for another (bigger) church will always loom before them.  That may or may not be true.  (The size of my church really fits me well.) But I do know that pastors put in a lot of time on their sermons, and to have those messages, easily, quickly and cheaply go far beyond the wall of their sanctuaries seems to me to be a no brainer.  It is quite effective to be able to reach more people without having to leave their current call or without having to travel at all. 

Frankly, unless you are Tony Campolo or Rick Warren, you are not going to get asked to preach to an additional 20,000 people beyond your church in the next three months.  But, if you started a blog today, by Easter you will.

I predict that ten years from now, church leadership boards will almost require their pastors to blog so that the ministry will be more effective and the pastor can have a bigger ministry without having to leave home to get it.

Tomorrow, how blogging for Jesus can make a much bigger difference than we have ever imagined.

Comments

[Bill Hobbs]

I think you are exactly right - and I am launching ChristianPundit.com soon to help pastors and preachers start blogging. I also plan to have it pull RSS feeds from existing Christian blogs such as your excellent blog.

[Byron Harvey]

SteelerDirtFreak above is my "nudge" and my web-enabler, and he does get credit for getting me going. And like you, when I started (nearly a year ago, but just changed to current URL 2-3 months ago), I didn't "get it", but it's coming into view, and I need to read Hugh's book, for sure.

I'm with you, Tod, except why are all "cool churches" Presbyterian ones in California?

[rob]

Bleated welcome to the blogsphere, Tod. I just learned of your blog via SteelerDirtFreak. I'll be watching your blog now. I also blogged about you today. Great vision for bloggin. Thanks.

Posted here
http://eministrynotes.blogspot.com/2005/01/power-of-blogs.html

[Jeff Moore]

Um, what does your spellchecker think about "anecdot"? ;^) Not that I would do any better, but it seemed a little funny in the context...

Thanks for your notes on pastor blogging. I think you're pushing me over the edge to buy Blog.

[livingthedream]

I am not a pastor, but a Christian and friend to several pastors and currently reading BLOG. You are spot on with your review. As a request, I would suggest that you next review Hugh's book In, But Not Of if you have not already. I have posted twice about it and have left a few nuggets from the book at www.theweeds.blogspot.com. Every youth group should have that book and our young people will learn how to be the leaders that the church needs outside the pastorate as the pastorate grows its influence through BLOG. livngthedream

[jon]

1. Blogging is a great way to carry on a conversation with the larger Christian community. In a strange way, this carries with it some degree of limited accountability because one discovers rather quickly if their thoughts are valid or out to lunch.

2. Blogging may be less effective as a means for disseminating the faith because of the inability to develop a face-to-face relationship and communicate truth through personality.

3. Blogging provides a forum for the local church to interact around a large range of topics. Sunday worship, mid-week services, or small groups may not provide this opportunity.

4. Blogging allows a pastor the chance to provide running commentary and scriptural application to areas he will never have time to address in the pulpit.

5. Blogging allows a pastor to be even more transparent. He can be more than just a guy in the pulpit on Sundays talking about the Bible. The blog provides a format for discussion around a variety of topics not related to church. The blog also provides a forum for feedback with a number of people almost simultaneously. It would take a lot of coffee and donut meetings to make that happen during the week.

6. Blogging allows the pastor the opportunity to point people to important reading for challenge and edification. The congregation can almost read along with the pastor. Sunday mornings can become an extension of the conversation they have been having all week long.

A couple caveats:

I do not buy the "I am looking for a bigger church" mindset. The pastorate is not a career path that always gets bigger and better. The pastorate is a call to shepherd a flock for the long haul.

I am not sure I buy the "influence" piece either. I am wary of that word. If I can have a more "effective" ministry so be it. I want to take advantage of any tool that enables me to do my job in a better way.

[i12know]

I agreed with Jon above (especially the caveats), but I want to add this:

1) If a pastor could produce "bad" sermon, he could also produce "bad" blog. Unlike real church where your sermon is "authenticated" by the life you lead; no one really know if your ideas and words have been tested by your life or not. (I have a friend (and cousin) who are internationally famous for creating, running and writing on a Vietnamese Christian forum. It was his "cyber-church". And he was invited to speak at other churches in the US. Yet, no one care to check with us about why he apparently hold no-position whatsoever in our local church here.) Without knowing who you are in real life, I wouldn't link to you. And once I trusted you, I then could link to Mark.

2) A corrolary of the problem above is that blogging could be too much abstract thinking and thus remove pastors from the concrete mundane issues of the church. It might be fine if your main job requires lots ob abstract work (as Sr. pastor of a large church), but for small church folk, it is just too time consuming.

3) Blogging is not that conducive to build community. It is too impersonal. People can interact with you, but not with one another. (And even when they do, there is no way for outsider to observe the context). I preferred the local church's web forum much more (which I relied on for ministry). And it's also encourage share ministry so that other believers can minister to one another much more effective rather than the pastor. And if you really want to push the envelope of a "leadership community" some more in cyberspace, then you should also explore another blog-like medium for a community of like-mission-minded people called wiki.

Well, I am a geek so I couldn't help theorizing about biblical community aspects in cyberspace anyway.

Later...

[Thomas Pfau]

re: i12know

A pastor that posts to a blog is making his statements available to the entire internet for inspection. If he's spreading BS, someone who knows better is likely to come across it and leave comments explaining why it's bad. I think a pastor could be more accountable while writing a blog (provided he's accepting comments) than if he weren't. Even without allowing comments, commentary will be posted on other sites and blogs with references to the bad material.