Seth’s words today are worth a pause:
If you’ve built your life around service to others, how much more could you accomplish if you were a little greedier?
If you’ve built an expensive lifestyle around a well-paying job, what would happen to your life if you downsized and sought out more joy or generosity?
No right answers, but some good questions.
It is a good question, and certainly one that I’ve encountered and discussed a numerous amount of times.
What if you spent more time building your blog out so that you could generate more money through it? Would you be more “effective” in your efforts overall (perhaps to reach a dying world with the Gospel), even though your explicit motivation was the greenback?
Is it even possible to entirely escape the more “sinful” temptations of the world and flesh in terms of our blogs?
I think there’s a little “ego” wrapped in all of us who blog; I think it just comes with the territory.
Ego? Pff. I don't know what you're talking about.
When you ask, "Is it even possible to entirely escape the more “sinful” temptations of the world and flesh in terms of our blogs?" it reminds me of Peter Rollins' post from today, in which he discusses how we receive a perverse pleasure from sacrifice – he states: "the real challenge involved with giving someone/something up does not so much lie in the renunciation of what we love, but in giving up the pleasure we receive from the renunciation itself."
For me, what is more important is my integrity, my motives, and my intentions – not the overall "achievement" for the gospel. I think it's dangerous if we start to try to quantify how much "good" we are doing for God's kingdom. That's not the point or the goal – I follow God in the environment, the setting, and the way in which he is leading me right now. And it will probably take a lot of sacrifice, but also provide a deep sense of fulfillment as well.
Jesse,
Great thoughts here. Thanks for sharing them. I'm tracking with you and that Rollins' quote is gold!
Thanks for that.
I believe you are right, and it is hard for me not to even question your motives when you continue to add advertisement spots and expect to rake in a few thousand each month in ad revenue. There is a lot of great information on ChurchCrunch and I'm glad it keeps coming, but I wonder how many else believe you are in it for the "greenback."
J. Carter,
Your thoughts are definitely worth evaluating and considering, and definitely I've been thinking about this a lot. I've crossed that “boundary” where my blog is starting to generate income and I hope that I've been able to provide “high value” for those that come. I'd love to dedicate even more time to the blog than I already do but not without interfering with my full time commitments, my family, etc. What the ads are helping me do is understand if this is even a viable source of income long term.
I think i'll blog about this, thanks for that!
Good stuff