Blogging when there is a personal cost

There are hacker and plodder bloggers like me, folks who sometimes foolishly think everyone else might like to drink from their incredibly deep wells of wisdom, wit, and insight. Take these with a bit of skepticism and not always seriously.

Then there are a few bloggers who feel compelled to address what they see as genuine wrongs and serious issues in their churches or in denominational life and who do so at a considerable personal cost.

While I appreciate a number of others, I can only think of two whom I would classify as the latter: David Montoya and Tom Rich.

David Montoya is a pastor and is (or was) the Spiritual Samurai, an odd name for a Baptist blogger in Texas. I've written about him in the past. His ire and indignation over wrongs in the Baptist General Convention of Texas led to the open knowledge of an appalling scandal with BGCT missions money and also led to his being sued. He says he is quitting. I hope not.

David hasn't always been right about things and sometimes says things he has to retract but if not for him I doubt the BGCT valleygate scandal would have been uncovered. I'm not so sure that many SBCers in my lifetime have successfully brought to light such an important matter.

I admire him.

Tom Rich is a layman, the FBCJax Watchdog, one of the early church/pastor critic blogs and to date the most well-known of this genre.

Tom got stirred up by a pastor change at his church and some of the things associated with it and started blogging about it. As is well known, the church played hardball with him and his family, law enforcement got involved, lawsuits were filed and, only recently, finally settled.

I don't buy all of his stuff but his bull-doggedness probably changed the way high profile pastors (those with an ounce of sense which would be most but not all of them) look at some of their church critics. I admire him for not shutting up and going away when his former church ratcheted up the pressure on him.

Any yahoo can belt out their opinions on stuff but there are a few people who do so at considerable personal cost.

Some Not-Too-Shabby Baptist Blogs and Bloggers

As a group, bloggers certainly score high on the scale of self-importance. I suppose it probably is so internalized that no blogger ever asks him/herself, “Why wouldn’t the whole galaxy want to know what I think about stuff, seeing that I am such a witty, insightful, and provocative guy?” Bloggers instead presume that the world awaits their next display of brilliance.

Indeed.

Plodder admits to a degree of that, the self-importance part, not the witty, brilliant, insightful part. OK, I own up to the provocative part.

Here are a few blogs that I enjoy reading and have found to be more than the usual tepid blogfare, annotated of course with my witty, brilliant, and provocative thoughts:

FBCJax Watchdog Tom Rich’s story about FBCJax, his banishment, lawsuit, and settlement was a prime example of how a church member, when denied any effective voice through proper church channels, can easily go public. Tom’s case just happened to be one of the more exaggerated examples of church conflict and a pastor and church’s inept response to it. Since then, Rich blogs about his version of abusive, manipulative, and misbehaving men-of-the-cloth. Sure, some may think it is just a pastor-hate site, but I encourage my colleagues to read it. They might learn something. I don’t buy all of his stuff but I read it all.

Spiritual Samurai David Montoya is the little Latino pit bull whose persistent small voice exposed one of the SBC’s largest scandals. Give a little guy with a high level of indignation a big bullhorn and see what might happen. There could be nothing better for the SBC at every level than an understanding that, ‘No, you’re not going to get away with untoward behavior and decisions, even if all the people who “count” busy back slapping, glad handing, and looking the other way.’ I don't get the samurai stuff.

SBC Voices is a group thing (six guys without a life, perhaps? Don’t they know that six is a bad number?) where a bunch of people contribute, including moi, occasionally. The blogs they feature have introduced me to a few interesting subjects and writers. The pieces written for SBCV are a mixed offering. As in the OT, I wave on a few, burn a few, and consume a few, and scratch my head over a few. I am told this is a Calvinist site but am awaiting divine judgment about that. Until then, I don't hold it against them. One of the calvinists there even has a sense of humor. Quite rare.

The Big Daddy Weave/ comes from Aaron Weaver who is a few light years to my left and a few decades below me in age. He writes well, is quite informed on church/state stuff, and hasn’t learned to trash mouth everyone who disagrees with him. He is a Georgia Bulldawg, which always helps. I don't get the Big Daddy stuff.

SBC Tomorrow. I like Peter Lumpkins. He has the finest hair in the SBC for one thing; however, he seems to generate some ire amongst the brethren. I confess to not quite understanding why. He is zeroed in on Calvinism and such things as ACTS29, et al. He writes well and thinks deeply about SBC stuff. I appreciate his stuff.

From Law to Grace is Howell Scott's blog, former lawyer, something he reminds us of about once a day, so I try and toss in a few ex post factos, certioraris, and a posterioris for him. Howell is far from being a posterior and writes widely on interesting things and I like his stuff.

I'd list other blogs I read but someone might get the idea that I don't have a life.