3 Tips for Not Sucking at ‘Christian’ Blogging
Being a ‘Christian’ blogger is tough, for a number of reasons.
The biggest reason why it’s tough is that our title of being a Christian can oftentimes be limiting in terms of the audience and the respect that the internet affords.
But typically we do this to ourselves.
The reason a Christian oftentimes doesn’t get the respect (and subsequent traffic) is because most Christian blogs are so disproportionately Christian that no one reads their blogs unless they go to the same church, adhere to the same practices, believe in the same doctrinal foundations, or belong to the same denomination.
What a shame. You see, Christians, generally speaking, are straight-up bad at being bloggers.
Some ooze a Christianity that is so offensively bad (even to other believers) that it isn’t even close to “inviting” and some work too darn hard at making sure that every post comes off “the right way” and that it’s obvious that yes, that person is a true freak for Jesus, in the bad way.
What’s even more of a shame is that this impacts a number of ‘Christian’ bloggers who are doing a darn good job of reaching the multitudes, both saved and unsaved.
You give us a bad name. Thanks for that.
In anycase, covering web technology with an evangelical slant has produced a number of interesting lessons-learned for me, even if I’ve been blogging for awhile (you can never stop learning in the blog-world).
Slightly random fact before I continue: Perhaps one of the best kept secrets is that one of the most successful blogs that I’ve ever run wasn’t actually Christian at all.
Huh.
Ok, so here are 3 Tips that I’ve learned that really helps to “not suck” at being a ‘Christian’ Blogger:
1. ‘Get Over’ Being Christian on the Internet
You’re a Christian. Congratloooooooooooooolations. So is everyone else in your blogroll.
Perhaps you should read and subscribe to some other stuff that’s secular? Perhaps you should join a few conversations where the other sinners hang out? Perhaps you should get over the fact that being Christian doesn’t mean you can’t go comment and interact with people who aren’t Christian?
Get over it. Go engage. Go meet other people. Blog about stuff that isn’t obviously Christian. You must have other interests other than your faith 24/7, right? Being super-spiritual on your blog doesn’t prove anything to me and certainly not to the unbeliever.
2. Provide Unique and Tangible Value to the Blogosphere
The reason why some of the top blogs in the world are the top blogs in the world is because they provide unique and valuable content day in and day out for those that read them.
When was the last time you offered anything of value to the local blogging community, not just the Christian one? You, Christian, have access to the Unique-Creator-God who made the world and yet you can’t create content that’s unique and helpful to others?
Sad.
Trust me, it’s in you. You just need to practice and work on it. It’s like “working out your salvation” but on the internet, if that makes sense. It’s not going to come naturally to you… you’ve actually have to try.
Read some more thoughts on Creating Value and Being on Mission from a Guest Post on LifeChurch’s Blog.
3. Don’t Be Afraid of the ‘World’ and It’s Strategies
“Be in the world but not of it” right? Sometimes I think people incorrectly interpret this to mean that they can’t do what a non-Christian does or blogs about on the internet.
It’s completely fine (and smart) to analyze the strategies of the secular and, if proven to be valuable, imitate and copy them. Doing so doesn’t mean you’ve renounced your faith or anything ludicrous like that, all it means is that you’ve seen “what works” and you’re using it to gain valuable readers to the content that you believe matters.
To me, that’s good blogging stewardship.
I’ve studied the patterns of successful SEO, the strategies of blog posting and content development, analytics/metrics, conversation management… and 100% of these best practices were from people and blogs that were the farthest from being “saved” that you could possibly imagine.
And I thank God for them. Because their valuable content and strategies are working for me.
So do your homework on those that have come before you, because the vast majority of those that have indeed “come before you” and have proven to be wildly successful are certainly not Christian.
[Images from Stephane]
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26 Responses to “3 Tips for Not Sucking at ‘Christian’ Blogging”
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[...] ChurchCrunch’s 3 tips for not sucking at ‘Christian’ blogging. I can’t say the post is entirely insightful, but there are some good portions. The problem is it makes some big assumptions and oversights, namely assuming that every Christian blogger wants to become a large blog with diverse readership. That overlooks the very nature of niche blogging. You aren’t going to have diverse readership because your content is very narrow. I do talk a lot about non-christian music and topics but it’s always how it relates to or impacts worship. [...]
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Preach brother! Or was that too Christian of a response
puaha. appropriate.
Thanks for this post. It's nice to get a kick in the pants every now and then. Keeps me (at least) honest. We truly have to add value to be successful. If we're noise, then we are left behind.
I know that not everyone's going to agree with this post, but, it's one perspective on the matter. thanks josh. i hope it is a kick in the pants for a few of us.
now I KNOW that I need to quit blogging…
(by the way, I have 'non-Christians' in my blogroll)
chilly. you're awesome.
Good stuff!! Love it and hope people take this to heart. I really don't understand why Christians are so afraid of the world. I think it is exciting and I know that I am "on mission" if I am regularly interacting with the world and in dialogue with the world.
jake, keep it up man! start a revolutionnnnnnnnnnnnn!
Love it John.
You are setting the good example.
not the best example perhaps, but an example…
Great post and something I've long thought about. I truly abhor the Christian Ghettos that we've created.
thanks bill. Retweet this FTW.
Online Christian Ghettos… that's a strange combination of word.s..
I found this quote this morning:
"I have a problem with people who live 24/7 in what I call the 'Christian Bubble.' By Christian Bubble, I simply mean people who live so deep inside the influence of Christian radio, publishing, TV or music that they have no other perspective…at which point we stopped preaching to the world and started preaching to each other."
Phil Cooke, "The Last TV Evangelist"
It's from the Wired4File site: http://www.wired4film.com/inside/2009/04/christia...
Thought it was appropriate…
Thanks John. I do some 'Christian' blogging and suck at it…. I'm updating my site and we'll see if I can use these tips to get past the suck.
Very amazing post! I'm so happy that I found this website. i have just started my new blog which will soon be a daily devotional for everyone and the tips you've given are very useful to me. Yes i am on a mission and I'm proud i'm a christian blogger. hmm… let me share a discussion about me being proud of being a christian. you'll be blown away with the reactions of the world. I am a Certified Christian Blogger. Whew! That was weird! Anyway the second tip is my favorite. It is really right to give vaue and contribute to the blogosphere. let's ask God for it! Not necessarily Christian but anything God has revealed. thank you very much for this post! thank your for the inspiration!
Mikes,
Thanks for dropping me a line! I hope we can take this to heart… seems like you're already there…!
great stuff.
At last I have written something about your blog and about this post here: http://your-dailyword.blogspot.com/2009/05/christ...
wow, i'm liking that! i think having other interests is definitely important… it's also \”human\”…!
Perhaps a good idea on sermon writing too? Not that I write sermons… but we shouldn't be tied down to writing sermons for those that are already "saved". We should be preaching in a way that the secular… perhaps "unsaved" world will be able to interpret. Preaching on stage at worship is a lot like blogging in this way… at least I see a connection…
I'm starting to follow and read Christian blogs… and I'm enjoying it. I'm not Christian but I'm a devout Catholic.
John,
Thanks for hanging out here…! where are you located? Which church do you attend?