That was it. The last straw. Simmering under the surface with only a few bubbles coming up occasionally, I can’t hold it in any longer.
I’m gravely concerned – okay, angry – that a Christian blog has become a battleground for professed Christians, and I’m mostly angry that this Christian blog has let it happen, and even encouraged it.
Her.meneutics is a women’s blog from Christianity Today. I read most of its content because it comes in a link with a daily e-mail I get called “Encouraging Words Today: Your Daily Devotion.” Yet what I’m reading in some of her.meneutics’ posts are far from encouraging.
The blog explores opinions on a variety of issues pertinent to women. Some of its posts are beneficial, like exposing the Fifty Shades of Grey book series for the poison that it is. It has also educated me on real, concerning issues such as human trafficking. But more often of late, it’s a breeding ground for controversy. In the past months, I’ve watched women use their computers to attack one another on issues such as a woman’s role in the home, whether a mother should let her baby “cry it out,” and most recently, how a Christian should feel about gay marriage.
The latter was the last straw for me, not because of the subject but because of the battle that ensued. The conservative-leaning author had it coming on this blog whose commenters tend to slant toward the liberal side. Many tastefully disagreed with the author’s stance and offered some valid counter points. But eventually it started getting heated. Growing tired of the hate spewing out of both sides’ mouths (or keyboards), I admit I started skimming and eventually just closed the window. I had a sick feeling in my stomach watching professed believers abuse one another with their words.
“The world will know you are My disciples by your love”? (John 13:35)
Not by reading this blog.
I don’t even want to think about what a non-believer would perceive about Christians – and about the Christ we profess – after reading this. My heart aches.
But I don’t place the blame entirely on the commenters. I place blame the blog itself.
Understand that I work in Internet marketing, so I view most of these things through that lens. What I do know is that blogs like these are businesses, and their ad revenue is determined by the number of visits to their page.
So here is my problem. Based on my watching of this blog’s subject matter over past months, this thought has come to mind frequently: Is it possible that Her.meneutics is specifically choosing subjects that they know will be controversial because it will drive up visits?
If so, it is done on the back of the very Church it claims to serve. Jesus threw the moneychangers out of the temple for similar reasons. We, as the New Testament church, ARE God’s temple now (1 Corinthians 6:19). And whether intentional or not, I fear that this blog is earning revenue by sparking controversy within its own ranks.
If this is the case, it sickens me.
Paul exhorts Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:23-26: 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Paul doesn’t tell us to shove the issues under the rug. He says not to be quarrelsome (and this is what IS happening on this blog) and to correct opponents with gentleness (in fairness, I do see quite a bit of this as well). I believe the issues that are explored on this blog are REAL issues worthy of discussion, but I shudder to think that some of these people would talk to others face to face with the venom that spews from their keyboards.
In my opinion, if a Christian blog is not going to hold those comments to the Ephesians 4:29 and Philippians 4:8 standard, they shouldn’t post these blogs in the first place.
On the “About Us” page of Christianity Today, they say they are an advocate for the church. If they’re going to be an advocate for the church, they need to put a stop to what tears it down.