Can I get on my blog stump for a moment? We had a great bloggers roundtable down in Orlando at the National New Church Conference. So cool to talk some “philosophy of blogging.” One of my linchpins is keep it positive.

Can I be positive about something negative? It just grieves me when I see infighting in the church. We’re called to play offense. But we’re busy playing defense against people who are supposed to be on our team. So we waste all kinds of energy fighting with each other when we ought to be fighting the enemy. Think of it as sideways energy.

Here’s a thought: what if we used all that sideways energy and converted it into forward energy expanding God’s kingdom?

Honestly? I’m shocked that I don’t get criticized more than I do But what’s frustrating is that most of the criticism comes from people who don’t know my heart and have never heard me preach. Am I beyond criticism? Are you kidding me! I’m so flawed. And I’m so not omniscient. But I’d rather pick a fight with the enemy than pick a fight with a brother.

I just got an email from an NCCer–written with a genuine spirit. And I’m so glad she emailed me about it. But it came from a google search. Almost all of the 150,000 google listings are positive. But there is one from an unnamed source that is really negative. And it planted seeds of doubt. Again, don’t get me wrong. I never want NCCers to take my word for it when I preaching. Test it against Scripture. And take God’s word for it.

My friends, life is too short and the mission is too important to get negative and play defense and waste all that sideways energy! I honestly used to try to chase down negative posts or defend myself on other people’s blog posts. But life is too short. And I’m not called to play defense.

So much of the criticism and controversy boils down to theological or methodological differences. And I’m not saying that they aren’t important. But do we take Titus 3:9-11 seriously?

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

I’ve always subscribed to something attributed to Rupertus Meldenius. In fact, it is the preface to our core beliefs. This is a great guiding principle:

In Essentials, Unity; in Non-essentials, Liberty; in All Things, Charity.

May we have the heartbeat of Jesus expressed in Luke 12:49:

“I must be about my Father’s business.”