Why I Write Hard Posts

One of my friends mentioned that I’d been addressing some difficult topics lately. Modesty is the only one that I’m aware is particularly difficult, or at least polarizing, but I thought it would be helpful to take a moment and explain why I do my best to work through these tough concepts and issues.

I usually try to write posts that I feel will encourage all Christians alike. Calvinist and Arminian, Protestant and Catholic. I do this because I want this to be a place where people feel safe to come without being afraid of whether words will hurt them by unintentionally triggering a wound I didn’t know existed.

I also don’t want to build a platform based on controversy. First, because I don’t find that really beneficial for the kingdom. Second, because I honestly don’t have the time to interact well with as many people as that type of platform would bring, and interacting well is important.

I can’t convince you. No matter how well I write or the amount of wordsmithing I put into blog posts, my words don’t have the power to change minds or hearts. That power rests with God alone. When He chooses to use my words to illumine hearts or encourage people, I am incredibly humbled at the mere thought of it all.

So, why? Why do I write about concepts that I know carry the potential to push people away from this space? Why do I do my best to communicate beliefs on polarizing topics, knowing that if I don’t get the wording right then it will come across the wrong way? Ultimately, because I love truth and want to challenge all of us, me included, to rethink some of what we’ve grown up to think. I mean, when I was 22 I had to chuck everything but the Apostles’ Creed and start over. I started as a charismatic non-denominational and ended up a Calvinist. It was not only being challenged by others that caused this shift, but trying to communicate the gospel faithfully that caused this shift. Not everyone will agree with me, and that’s ok. The point is that I see the value of talking Truth with people who don’t think the same way. I’ve already changed because of it.

There’s another piece of it, though. I talk about hard topics here because I love the Church, and I love the Church as expressed through my blog readers, Twitter followers, and Facebook friends. It would be easy for me to only write things that I know you’ll agree with, but I feel that wouldn’t come from an honest place, and it would be selfish and, for me, sinful. I think Tim Keller expresses this idea well in The Meaning of Marriage.

Parents, out of “love,” can spoil their children. Spouses, out of “love,” can enable destructive behavior in each other. The reason this happens is that we are above all afraid of the displeasure of the beloved.

So, you see, if I only wrote posts that I knew would get high praise and everyone would agree with, it would be motivated by a desire for you to like me. It would be motivated by a fear of rejection and confrontation. It would be wrong.

I’m not deluded enough to think that I have anywhere near the relationship of a spouse or parent to any of you. Yet, I think Keller gives us a great example of what love is and what love does. A parent who loves his or her child will tell their children “No.” Maybe not always, but by their actions they will teach the child that the world doesn’t revolve around them. Out of love, they will help their children grow out of selfishness and into maturity. A spouse may let their husband or wife stay out with friends until late hours consistently, out of fear of upsetting their spouse, instead of trying to get them home early to be with family. A spouse may say nothing about a drinking or gambling problem, and on the list goes. Love doesn’t do this. Love seeks out the other person’s good even if it means the one who exhibits real love gets rejected. I don’t think I hold a position of authority as a parent does a child, or the covenant of a spouse, but these examples of love compel me to speak what I believe to be true, and to try to do so gracefully.

Lastly, I write hard posts because I feel God pressing me to do so. I usually spend days thinking and praying before I actually write posts like that. Sometimes I can’t write anything else until I write that post, even if I don’t publish it right away. I talked with several people for weeks before I ran my latest modesty post.

I felt I needed to put this out there so that you can hopefully see the heart behind it when my words don’t come across perfectly, and I know those times exist. When I write hard posts, I’m trying to combat the fear of man that would plague my heart, being as loving to you as I can be, and be obedient to what I feel the Holy Spirit stirring in my heart to write.

I’m not saying my words are inspired or infallible, but that I feel pressed to write. Maybe I’ll feel pressed to write so that someone will challenge me and God reveal a new perspective. Maybe it’s just to offer a new perspective, or hopefully a more gracious way of communicating an existing perspective. I’m desperately relying on God’s grace in this, both to provide content for me to discuss here and to give me the grace and wisdom to articulate well and to interact well with those who comment or ask questions via social media.

I love you guys. Really.

Grace and peace.

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