I recently wrote a post about the need for pastors to blog as a way of writing “e-pistles” to their congregations. I think I made my point clear, but I’d like to back up a little and talk about the phenomenon of the “pastor-blogger” that has emerged in the past few years.
Two Peas in a Digital Pod
I have three jobs: teacher, pastor, and blogger. All three jobs force me to communicate large amounts of potentially complex information to an audience of varying learning styles/abilities in a small window of time or text. That being said, I think that being a pastor or a teacher lends itself quite well to blogging. Granted, there is a vast difference between a written sermon and a blog post. My first blog posts were essentially short sermons. They were well written, but too long to be engaging. Once a pastor learns the challenges that the medium of blogging presents, I think that most pastors have that innate communicator skill set that will enable them to become a good blogger.
Pastor-Blogger = Celebrity Slugger Shepherd
And I do mean “good.” Not “great.” Not “world-renown.” The whole point of what I am advocating is that pastors need to provide their people with more content. This is “flock-focussed.” Who cares if the larger Christian culture notices? If you’re feeding your sheep, equipping them with quality, sharable content, then that’s all that matters. We don’t need more celebrity pastors. (Nothing against those guys. We just don’t need more.)
Most likely, you didn’t become a pastor to become famous, and you shouldn’t start blogging for the sake of fame either. You were called to shepherd a local congregation, right? Well, they’re still your flock online. Blogging is just a digital way to extend your shepherding further into the lives of your people. It’s the same message, the same calling. Only the medium is different.
Rick Warren has a quote that I love, and if I may do a violent paraphrase, I’d like to apply it here:
Preaching (and blogging) are like baseball. You don’t need a homerun every time. Just consistent singles, doubles, and triples.
Your people don’t care how many likes, tweets, or pluses that your blog posts earn. They merely appreciate the truth that you’re bringing into their lives, truth that they can easily share with others.
Conclusion
Pastors can be use blogging as a method for guiding and shepherding their flock, but the point I think I want to leave you with is that this is “pastoral blogging.” The pastor never stops being a pastor. He (or she) doesn’t surrender the “pulpit” to pick up a laptop. It’s the pastor who has been called to care for The Shepherd’s sheep, and it’s out of the pastor’s heart, which he or she has received from Christ, that sermons and blog posts ought to come.
ThatGuyKC says
As someone who manages the social media presence for a senior pastor this is a great perspective. Even pastors can get sucked by the lure of “fame” in the blogosphere and forget to keep the main thing the main thing. Jesus.
Phil Schneider says
Thanks for the comment, bro. I totally agree. I don’t know the whole story, but I think that’s partly why Francis Chan took an extended time out from public ministry.
Modern Ekklesia says
I blog, but it’s not actually focused for my church members at all. I blog for other pastors and leaders. They’re the audience that I’m actually writing for.
Phil Schneider says
I think that’s great, and I’ve toyed with similar ideas.
I guess my one concern—not sure if that’s the right word—is that too many pastors try to do this and forget that they were called to their flock. They were called, and hired, to do a job in the local church. Too many pastors forget that.
Does that make sense?