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.
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