exposing ourselves

i first wrote the quoted section of this post as a comment on adam's blog, and realized that it made for a good stand-alone topic for a post on my own blog.

i've been thinking about the strains of conversation that run through blog comments. i read a few blogs, some of which are as casual and without specific purpose as my own, but others which really seek to say something to the world (kudos to that ambition!) and i've wondered: "at what point have we departed from an earnest seeking of God, a true theological dialogue in which we grow in faith, a conversation where we see the Gospel lived out in one anothers' lives...and landed in a cycle of self-involvement, debate for the sake of debate, and (at its extreme) a sad state of mere theological exhibitionism (just thinking about blogging, theology, and the fine line between fruitful discussion and defensive debate)."

people write from all different backgrounds: those who see the Bible as Truth, those who see the Bible as narrative, those who want to stress the inclusive nature of Jesus' ministry, those who want to stress the exclusivity of a kingdom that earnestly invites one and all into its reign, those who consider themselves liberal, those who consider themselves conservative, those who consider themselves neither liberal nor conservative but correct...

many comments push for the acceptance of different ideas and opinions. they want to remind us that there can be as many truths are there are people. i often feel that, ironically, these comments about openness actually care more about getting people to agree with them. they want to convince others that their own idea of multiple truths is the Truth. if you truly want to defend the inclusivity of Jesus' life and ministry, then perhaps it is time to stop arguing and time to start truly including all peoples in Christ's name, whether or not they agree with you.
on the other side of the coin are those who hold to a more absolute (can something actually be more absolute? hrm.... i will ponder that later.) definition of Truth, who sometimes get so carried away in their defense of the exclusivity of the Gospel that they sometimes forget to actually share it. if the Gospel is so exclusive and yet open to all, then perhaps it is time to spend more time and effort sharing the work of Christ in your life and less time arguing on blogs.

sometimes i read comment threads and can only think of one thing: "who cares???" i wonder how much lived-faith time is squandered arguing on blogs. discussing theology is fun. arguing about it is fun. blogs are fun.

but i think that we would all be wiser if we didn't let ourselves get as carried away as we often do with playing theological and semantic games. enjoy the discussion. but then go into all the world!