My Most Important Posts

This is officially post #52. Let’s have a party!

Because I’ve been regularly posting twice a week, this post marks a full 6 months of challenging Tertullian. I’m realizing that 6 months is no slouch when it comes to blogging.

According to a 2008 New York Times article, 95% of blogs ultimately get abandoned. And, according to this article, 60-80% of them get abandoned in the first month. When you consider that there are now over 181 million blogs worldwide, that’s a lot of cyber-carnage!

Here at Tertullian, it’s so far, so good.

To mark this milestone, I thought I would offer a top 5 list. Not counting the initial post, these are the 5 posts that I consider to be my most important. What does “most important” mean? I’m not exactly sure. Maybe they’re the ones I’m proudest of. Or maybe they’re the ones I think you need to read. Or maybe I just think I did a good job with the writing.

However it is that they came to be–in my view–important, enjoy the list!

“About that Time I got Called a False Teacher…” (10/18/12): This post, my 4th ever, makes the list because I continue to see the sentiment behind it–the idea that you hold convictions with humility–as fundamental to how we engage around this conversation. When Jesus-loving and well-meaning Christians disagree, it’s critical that we figure out a way to stay at the table and be civil. Too much discourse just doesn’t go this way.

“In Our House as Well” (11/26/12): After spending two whole months examining male privilege in the broader culture, with this post I turned the microscope on the church. I remember that pushing the “publish” button felt scary with this one, like it was the proverbial point of no return. Here was my main point: “Male privilege is firmly and tragically entrenched in the offices and pulpits of the American church.” See what I mean?

“Christmas and Power” (12/24/12): This journey of reckoning with male privilege has me thinking a lot about power: who has power, what are they doing with it and how power can be better distributed. Looking at the Christmas story through the lens of power was a significant revelation for me last Christmas. If Jesus so freely gives away power, how can I not?

“On Really Respecting Someone” (2/4/13): There I was, just minding my own business and posting on how Jesus related with the women of his day, when the internet floodgates broke wide open. That day I got 464 views, for me a record, which goes to show that I really have no idea which posts are going to strike a chord and which ones won’t.

“Will You Join in My Crusade?” (3/11/13): This post was conceived in anger. Really. In my 6 months with Tertullian, I’ve been sort of “reluctantly OK” with posts gaining a wider audience; with this one, I wanted the post to go viral. It did pretty well, and I’m proud of it, but I’d be OK if more people read it. Please feel free to pass it on.

There you go, my 5 most important posts. Now here’s to another 6 months duking it out with Tertullian!

What about you? Which posts have been important to you?