The Temptation of Bombastic Notes

and the possibility of meaningful online community

Welcome to the first-ever ‘Weekend Edition’ of The Long Renewal. Lord willing, I’ll still get another regular post out the middle of next week. I don’t think I have the bandwidth to make two weekly posts a regular thing. But since this one is a departure from the usual topics, I thought I’d sneak an extra one in. So here goes. . .

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I shared this note about a week ago:

I was preaching to myself with that one.

See, I’d originally come up with an idea for a very different note. It would have been a response to a hot topic, a controversial news event. I had a contrarian take. A truly unique perspective? Surely not. But it was distinct from what I’d seen anyone else say on the subject. And I’d come up with a real zinger, a particularly pointed way of putting my thoughts.

Who knows? It might have challenged a few people in a positive way. I could have just flung it out there to find out.

And yet. . .

Something didn’t feel right in my gut. I didn’t trust my motivation.

Even though the topic was completely different, I found myself thinking of a note I posted a few weeks back:

It’s one of my most popular notes. And surely the most unpopular as well. There’s a lot I personally like about it. I still believe the statement is true, and I don’t regret calling out a moral plague in our world. I enjoy how it throws some people off-balance by highlighting the inconsistency of those who claim to be both pro-women and pro-pornography.

But I have mixed feelings about posting it, all the same. Maybe because I could also have put my thoughts like this:

In a country where the people ultimately govern, if a critical mass of our citizens really saw how profoundly pornography devalues human beings—often women in particular—I think you’d see at least an effort to make it illegal.

The sentiment behind each statement is the same. But the difference is obvious. Bluntness has its place, and not every statement needs to be qualified from fourteen different angles. It’s valid, from time to time, to cast nuance aside in order to drive home a point. But it’s also easy, especially online, for barbed communication to become the norm. And that’s something I’d rather avoid.

In his reply,

Christopher Lind

of Future-Focused helped remind me why:

One clue that his response is thoughtful is that it’s too long for an embedded note. Here’s the rest of it, including some overlap:

At the same time, I don’t know that in a broken world, we solve it by trying to force our moral convictions on people that don’t share our value system through the legal system. Not only is it an impossibility, but the messaging and approach people often use to push their agenda leads to a different flavor of sinful behavior.

I’ve had a lot more success helping people recognize its destructive nature and change their behavior by modeling the right behaviors and attitudes about it, having thoughtful and open dialogue about the matter, and being open and vulnerable about my own journey.

If we live for Him daily, He can use us to be a light to others, hopefully reduce the demand while helping people out of the darkness, and let God work it all out.

This was my reply:

Lately I’ve been thinking about the character of the community I hope to see develop around The Long Renewal. And Christopher’s response captures that: confident, yet humble. Practical and wise.

In real life and online, I want to interact with people who love Jesus and understand the meaning of the cross he bore. I want to connect with people who pray with fervor, who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves, and who might even sing the occasional psalm.

All of those examples are means of grace that God uses to bring about what 2 Corinthians 3:18 describes:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

I truly hope that The Long Renewal can bring together people who embody that verse, and display God’s image powerfully in their families, their communities, and their churches. But of course, a key factor in whether that becomes possible is how I choose to communicate.

I’m not done with hard topics. In fact, I’m praying right now about how I might take some of the controversial subjects that I’ve touched on in notes and address them in full posts. But speaking to hard subjects isn’t in conflict with Christian virtues like humility and wisdom.

And by God’s grace, I hope to display those here.

Thank you for reading. I think exciting things are ahead for us.