*TREVIN WAX: What should a Christian blogger aim for? Let’s start with the no-no’s. Certainly not fame or blog traffic. Someone once asked me what it’s like to be famous in the blogworld, and my response was, “like being Homecoming king of a class of twelve.” It’s just not a big deal. The blogosphere is a neat thing, but it’s also a gigantic echo chamber, and the noisy links create the false perception that we are very important and have something so valuable to say. That’s not to say there’s nothing good in blogging – but we need to remember: to ground our importance or value in anything other than the gospel (including a good thing like a blog) is idolatrous, no matter how well we think we write. (This is one reason I take every July off from blogging. It’s good for my soul. It reminds me that I don’t need to get wrapped up in that world too much.)

First, as Trevin mentioned, aim for God’s glory and the blessing of others. Blogs, like everything else, are about loving God, neighbor, brother & sister, and enemy. I built my blog to gain relationships with like-minded church leaders and Christians. It includes other personal passions (family, music, photography), but ultimately I want it to be God-glorifying & human edifying.

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Tell your pastor about your blog for accountability. Or maybe find a trusted, knowledgeable friend who can challenge you when necessary on what you are writing. When I started my blog years ago and my best friend, Joe Thorn, started his (both of us younger pastors), we read everything each other wrote and talked regularly on the phone about content. We’d often have each other read what we wrote before we posted it to make sure we weren’t being idiots. I’m sure I made a lot of changes before posting things. Build in accountability.

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Second, aim at excellence. I’ve deleted more posts before posting them than I’ve posted. I’ve sat on posts for weeks because I just wasn’t writing clearly on an issue yet. Blogs get feedback, and you want to have thought things through well before feedback comes. One way to be excellent in your blogging is to developing your voice slowly by pointing to others a lot. There are people already out there probably saying it better than you can say it. I have a popular blog and I say things, but it’s best known for being the location of a massive page filled with Tim Keller resources.

Obviously I am interested in some level of influence, or else I wouldn’t post my thoughts in public forums for others to read. But the context of thinking of social media as a “tool” to influence others — and here I think of self-appointed marketing gurus, some of the pastorpreneurial tribe, and anybody who obsessively monitors their stats and rankings — seems so strange to me. In the early days, it was easy to be a big blogger fish in a small blogging pond if you could be personable and interesting. But the emphasis back then was on conversation so much more than self-promotion or influence. Comment threads were where the magic happened. Now everybody’s too busy posting to discuss below the posts. You have to go to the really polarizing blogs to find dialogue in the comments, and even then it looks more like a flame war than a town square hashing-out. At most places where you find lots of comments, most of them are just one-shot “Good post; I agree” type stuff. It used to be a few bloggers, many readers/commenters. Now everybody blogs, the conversation has quelled, and the drive to distinguish one’s self can be very tempting. I suppose that Fast Company article may discourage some folks really bent on being “agents of change” (as I’ve seen some social media users refer to themselves).

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Can social media have a positive influence on Christianity? Yes, locally and worldwide. But probably not in the sense the Fast Company is talking about, in that sense of heavy influence. But social media edifies me when I’m reading the right people. I know so-called “gospel tweets” have taken some hits in the past year for being sappy or corny or unworthy of the gospel itself — just this morning one fellow told me one of my tweets was insipid — but I love to read others’ chewing on the gospel. It has a positive influence on me. It helps me revel. And all of us here probably receive messages throughout the year from folks who say a particular post or tweet encouraged them, addressed some concern of the day, etc. So use of social media that glorifies God — whether it’s reveling in the gospel, reflecting on a Scripture, or just in the spirit of Christian camaraderie being silly among friends — can be a positive influence in someone’s need of the moment. Our days go by fast; our needs change. I would think a short-shelf-life medium like Twitter might be keenly appropriate for encouragement in that context.

*STEVE MCCOY: Yes, no question. It’s just a tool for communication and relationships. Tweets pass away, but Twitterers remain. Each tweet I read impacts me, develops some aspect of my relationship with the author, etc. Couldn’t we be answering this same question about phone calls? For me social media isn’t about permanence of what is said but the permanence of those saying it.

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In the debate over “Christian Hollywood,” there are two sides: Those who believe that any sort of fame for a Christian is idolatrous or prideful and those who believe that fame is good if used as a platform for Jesus. Is fame something that Christians should avoid or embrace?

*BRANDON SMITH: “Christian Hollywood” in and of itself is nothing new to the church. Men like Charles Spurgeon donned billboards in England and the duo of George Whitefield and John Wesley preached to packed churches and pastures. Today, however, it is definitely at its height. With media the way it is, Christians can become famous through books, podcasts, blogs, megachurches, and getting on CNN like John MacArthur, Rick Warren, and Al Mohler. We also see role models such as Tim Tebow rise up in pop culture representing Jesus, and representing Him well. In all of these examples, there has been an extremely positive impression left on Christianity as a whole, in my opinion. Of course, the flip side is watching the painful fall of pastors’ public ministries which no doubt fuels the detractors of Christians in the limelight.

The question really comes down to motive. Joining “Christian Hollywood,” wherever you define that line to be, is something that should absolutely not be aimed for. Some of the most idolatrous people that I have met are those trying to get famous.  It’s dangerous to even think of it as “fame;” I prefer the operative word “influence.” There is certainly nothing wrong with influence if your motives are to see the lost saved and the church edified. We are all sinners with the tendency to think we “deserve” something and we want to be recognized. This part of our insecure pride is probably unavoidable, but the temptation is manageable if you rely and lean on the grace of God alone. We could all go the Kirk Cameron Fireproof route and smash our computers or avoid technology like the Amish, but I think it’s much more helpful to pray and beg the Spirit to break our egos.

In relation to blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I think Jared made a great admission in an earlier question when he stated, “Obviously I am interested in some level of influence, or else I wouldn’t post my thoughts in public forums for others to read.” If you own a blog or frequently post on social networking sites, then the chances are that you desire to be heard. I don’t think that this desire should be demonized, but you should be sensitive to what is driving this desire. Is it to be the next John Piper and see your name on books, or is it to use your God-given writing talents or theological insights to see the Kingdom advanced? I always remind myself of this: God has given me X number of blog readers, Twitter followers, Facebook friends, and other contacts in order to glorify Him and fulfill the Great Commission in whatever small or large way He has granted me to do so. I would be remiss to prostitute His gifts for my own gain.

*TREVIN WAX: Brandon, I agree that there is nothing inherently evil in thinking you have something valuable to say. Everyone who ever preaches or teaches could be accused of pride if that were the case. Dave Harvey’s Rescuing Ambition has been helpful to me in thinking through the ways that ambition can be harnessed for the glory of God. Yet, I must admit that however much we try, even our best motives are tainted by sin. If we think they aren’t, we deceive ourselves. So blogging (like teaching, preaching, writing, etc.) must take place within a context of continual repentance, with the added hope of stewarding wisely whatever amount of influence God gives us.

*STEVE MCCOY: I think it’s complicated. Some famous Christians are shaming Christ and others are making Him known. Some are getting rich off books for selfish reasons and others are providing resources that are changing lives. Fame seems to be associated with pride, yet some of the famous Christians who have influenced me most are known because they are generous and humble and speak with a sense of God and eternity.

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