Thursday, January 28, 2010

A needed rebuke

You need to read Dave Black's blog posting today. Several important and troubling posts including this one:

But I need to add a careful rider here. Television is not the only time-stealer. How much do I read on the Internet that is really worthwhile and beneficial? Personally speaking, I have stopped reading so-called Christian bloggers whose main purpose in life seems to be to expose the moral failures of others. I call these blogs narcissism factories. They bloat their writers' egos and smother their insecurities under a hubristic penumbra. Their message is as obvious as a Texas two-step: Either you're moral (like me), or you're not. They fail to realize how profoundly unbecoming it is to disclose the dark imperfections of their fellow human beings. "That blogger whose richest pleasure depends on exposing the sins of others -- what secret sin is he or she guilty of?" -- I often wonder. There is something terribly wrong when our blogs shine more brightly than our Savior and when our passion for holiness is replaced by a passion for haughtiness. By working to weaken bad passions we only succeed in increasing them. I struggle enough to maintain perspective without having to read Christian tabloids. I mention this personal disclosure because my experience, I think, is not uncommon.

I read that on my blackberry and immediately went and deleted a very snarky post I had set to post tonight. I guess I realized after reading what Dave had to say that the world doesn't need another blog post about how wrong someone else is about something. There are plenty of places in my own life where I stumble and have fallen. If I spent half as much time working out my own flaws as I do in pointing those in others I would be a far more effective servant, husband, father. There is a lot that I am pondering and praying about but allow myself to be distracted by the foibles of others. Focus! I used to live for the fights, for proving others wrong. I am trying to rid myself of that but I often need reminders and that was exactly what I got today on a tiny digital screen.

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2 comments:

Bethany W. said...

Arthur,

Thanks for sharing this quote. It is indeed a much-needed rebuke.

Bethany

Debbie said...

For me, it's the second line that hit the hardest: "Television is not the only time-stealer." How much time do I waste on the internet? What I read/post is not the only issue. Every minute I spend wandering online is a minute I'm not spending with my family, loving my neighbor, etc. There's something very wrong when I spend more time online than caring for those who have been given to me to care for.