ChurchMag Staff Writer Jeremy Smith brought up this week’s podcast topic in our backchannel, as he was writing a blog post about Whitney Capps’ article about blogging open letters to the Church.
Here’s an excerpt from Jeremy’s post as he asks the question:
Are Open Letter Blog Articles To The Church Okay?
“Jesse Gruber shared this with me a couple of weeks back and I posted my thoughts on my Google+ page which received a lot of conversation. As I read through it, I found myself feeling several different things, of which I wanted to address them here. Also have included a couple of great responses from some of my friends who agreed and disagreed with my own interpretation.”
You can look forward to Jeremy’s full post—here!
Now, here’s our discussion:
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What do you think about these open letters?
Let us know in the comments below.
Do you have a question, comment or an awesome idea for a future podcast? Email us: podcast[at]churchm.ag or use our fancy contact form.
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Riley Adam Voth says
I’m a firm believer that “man cannot do anything with pure motives” (and pretty sure there’s some Spurgeon or C.S. Lewis quote out there about that too so that makes it true enough for a blog comment), and so I’d say any “open letter” that’s written and published online in the public really is written with a whole bag of mixed motives – one of them quite obviously being for popularity.
Otherwise, it plain-and-simple wouldn’t have been published online and “open”. So wrapped in that, will always be vanity: “What I have to say is something you need to hear (1) cause I think it’s what God thinks is right and (2) just cause I think it and I’m kinda pretty much second in command under God when it comes to correctness and I need more people to realize that so this will help cause it is actually right and wise.”
However, I do think there can be a good purpose for them. Say you’re trying to add your voice to the Rob Bell silliness and tell “all buyers of his books” a message. Well, that’ll need a mass public that you couldn’t possible mail a direct letter to. Or say, a specific person that is out of your reach of contact…
I would just say this though: I’d love to see more POSITIVE messages to churches or to those specific people (which is 90% of the time probably going to be actually just to the specific person’s audience at best but would be edifying for them). And, I’d love to see more SPECIFIC messages to the church. If you think you’re wise enough to be called to write an open letter, be bold enough to call out, specifically, who you’re writing it in concerns to or because of so we can be challenged and edified. Paul did this.
Without those things, you’re preeetty much giving it away that you’re doing it by far primarily for the sake of self-publicity…
There’s two cents. Don’t spend it all at once. 🙂 Ha!
Eric Dye says
I think this is more than two cents, man. 😀
Great thoughts. This reminds me of how we often focus on things ‘we can’t do’ instead of focusing on the two things that God has called us to do.
Riley Adam Voth says
Haha you’re right… maybe a couple nickels…
Right! That’d be a way to say it much shorter and tweetable. 🙂