Leave It Behind > Brian Bailey

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Leave It Behind is currently on spring break and will return in a few weeks. While you're waiting, feel free to check out the archives, catch up on a few Top 10 Lists, or learn more about The Blogging Church.

If you're looking for some fresh reading material, I highly recommend The New York Times,  Signal vs. Noise from 37signals, The Economist, The Note, Peggy Noonan and Scobleizer.  And while you're reading, you might as well listen to some great music on WXRT.

Thanks for stopping by!

Afterword: Smile

Is there anything more exciting than the adventure of the Christian life? Our lives should reflect that, and so should our blogs.

A blog is a quick and easy outlet for frustrations and criticisms. Some of the most popular posts are those describing the ineptness of phone-based customer service, the flaws in a new product, or a poor experience with a customer or employee in a coffee shop, restaurant or store. There's something addictive and empowering in the last word, especially when our well-phrased slam is just a Google search away.

We who serve in the church are rightfully held to a higher standard. Our casual venting reflects on where we serve and the God we serve. We should never allow a thoughtless, snide remark to stand in the way of someone giving God a chance. We’re in the ministry, for Heaven’s sake — why are we writing about the rude person in the checkout line instead of inviting him to church?

I'm not talking about giving the impression that the Christian life is one of ease and comfort or presenting a false happiness. Honest stories about struggles and mistakes are a huge part of what connects people in the blogosphere. A relationship is formed between the writer and reader precisely because the words ring true. Blogs do feel like conversations, but a conversation that is relentlessly positive and void of doubt or difficulty keeps people at a distance. There is a huge difference between joy and happiness. Ed Young, pastor of Fellowship Church where I’m privileged to serve, just wrote a book about that very topic called Outrageous, Contagious Joy.

Each of us has so much to be thankful for. We have been saved by His grace. We have the privilege of serving in ministry. And we have the opportunity to tell others about Christ. No matter what we're facing, we must never lose that perspective.

Often it's as simple as sharing what God is doing in your life. I wrote a post last year while I was staying at a hotel to finish The Blogging Church. The post was about a seemingly trivial experience - soon after checking in, I came across the last remaining free copy of the Wall Street Journal at the front desk. For me, though, that small moment was an amazing reminder of God's love and sense of humor. The title of the post was borrowed from Coldplay — God Put a Smile Upon My Face.

If you want to read about this kind of joy, check out the blog of Steven Furtick, Lead Pastor of Elevation Church in North Carolina. This is a man who is on fire for Christ, passionate about reaching people, and in love with his family and his life. He doesn't hide his mistakes and frustrations or shy from defending the vision God has given him, but his pure, infectious joy stands out above all else. No one could read his blog for a week and not want to see what his church is all about. There's no doubt that Steven's eyes are wide open as he looks up and smiles.

U2's latest single, Window in the Skies, says this perfectly:

The rule has been disproved
The stone it has been moved
The grave is now a groove
All debts are removed
Oh can’t you see what love has done?
Oh can’t you see what love has done?
Oh can’t you see what love has done?
What it’s done to me?

Show what love has done for you. Write about it. Tell stories about it. Post pictures about it. Share the love.

And smile.

Part 4 of 4 | Previous

Afterword: Look Up

I know this sounds incredibly naive, but until blogging within the church went mainstream, I had no idea how much Christians love to attack, criticize, and belittle other churches and people in ministry. 

We love to look down, don't we? A virtual industry has been created filled with people determined to tear down other churches. It still strikes me as a bit unbelievable that these attacks are by other believers and not those opposed to the Christian faith. For some reason, people who have never stepped foot in the church they’ve chosen to target feel completely comfortable attacking its theology, style, outreach methods, and even the salvation of people who came to know Christ through the ministry. They offer armchair criticism and mocking commentary of a house of worship in the same callous and disdainful tone that might be used to evaluate a television show or weekend football game. 

Some of this pride and judgment can be found in the blogs of seminary students and the next generation of church leaders. There is often a sense that a few have stumbled upon the one way to do church and any other approach can be dismissed and ridiculed. 

God works in many different ways and through many different people to reach the lost. Celebrate what God has revealed to you. Share what you've learned with anyone who will listen. Seek out new ideas and perspectives. But don't be hatin' other churches and your brothers and sisters in Christ. There's no other word for it, and it's wrong.

Last year, a fellow blogger introduced me to an incredible musician, Mike Doughty. Though he wouldn't be classified as a Christian artist, his album, Haughty Melodic, is filled with introspective, thoughtful, and sometimes reverent lyrics. I listened to the song His Truth is Marching On constantly as I wrote The Blogging Church and it has since become a reminder of my place within His grand design. I like to think of it as A Blogger's Prayer:

Let me know your enormity and my tininess and
Help me see your infinity and my finiteness

When we look down, we take our eyes off of the God of the Universe and assume a position of arrogance. When we look up, His perspective will inform and impact our every thought and action and become our perspective.

Part 3 of 4 | Previous | Next

Afterword: Open Our Eyes

When we start blogging, our eyes are wide open and we eagerly seek out information anywhere we can find it. We're naturally curious in the same way as when we move into a new neighborhood, apartment complex, or dorm. We want to meet the guy next door or the friendly couple down the street. 

Sadly, this tends to be a temporary inclination. After a few months of learning and growing and seeking out new friends, we begin to turn inward. We become obsessed with our own voice and those who think like we do. Instead of looking for opportunities to connect with a lost world, we turn our backs and close our eyes.

We have to resist the temptation to make it all about us. Often it appears that our passions are simply new music, edgy movies and great reads. Why are our priorities nothing more than cool cell phones, reality television, and 24?  Sometimes we use our blogs to promote everything but God and his church.

Should a blog be personal? Of course! The honesty and openness of a blog is one of its defining characteristics. Have fun with your blog. Use it as an outlet to try out ideas, post pictures of a night out with friends or your daughter's birthday party, and tell stories. There doesn’t have to be a hidden agenda behind every thought or phrase. Your blog should reflect who you are, your priorities and your passions. 

What those are, though, may surprise you. An honest blog, like a well-placed mirror, can sometimes reveal things about ourselves that we'd rather not see. The time and energy that is poured into a blog can reflect misplaced priorities. The feedback and notoriety, the blogging spotlight, is hard to resist and you may find yourself pursuing traffic instead of people. The blog should never become an end in itself instead of a means to an end.

This message is meant for me as much as anyone. Every blogger struggles with the desire for notoriety and the slippery slope to self-importance. We like to present ourselves as something we really aren’t – a leadership guru or expert on all-things-church. If I'm not currently guilty of what I describe here, I have been in the past. 

A healthy blog, like a healthy church or ministry, reaches both the curious and the already convinced. It's a place where questions are asked, different viewpoints expressed and people are treated with respect. If a new program or ministry does not reach people or help people, it's not worth doing. The same is true for a blog. 

Don't let your eyes become closed to the people who desperately need to hear the Good News. Use your blog to reach out to others as you share your life, your struggles and triumphs, and everything that makes you who you are. Open your eyes and your heart to the people who God has placed within your sphere of influence so that His love can be revealed.

There is no blogging revolution without others. We are here for a reason, and that reason is to point people to the living savior. Our life should reflect that, and so should our blog.

Part 2 of 4 | Previous | Next

Afterword: Introduction

The first time I read a blog was in 2000. Since then, I've read thousands of posts and written 810 of my own. I've watched as blogs launched a presidential candidate and brought down a senator. I've seen companies changed, a voice given to the voiceless, people comforted in times of tragedy, and relationships formed that would have been impossible just a few years earlier.

And I've had a front-row seat as churches have joined the conversation.

In the past, the church often found itself on the sideline as new tools swept through our culture due to limited resources (human and otherwise) and an institutional resistance to change. This time, the local church is a (sometimes) willing participant in the revolution. Blogging is so simple and inexpensive that many churches, pastors, and staff members have made the leap into this brave new world and are experiencing the power of open and authentic communication.

Many of you are already part of the blogging revolution. You've joined the conversation and blogging has become part of who you are, so much so that you no longer see a distinction between your life and your online life. For you, asking whether the church should use blogs is like asking whether the church should use the telephone or the internet. You see the limitations of broadcast marketing and four color brochures and the potential of blogging.

The blogosphere is blessed with many innovative blogs written by pastors and people on the front lines of ministry. There are churches using blogs to reach and teach and share the life of the church.

Unfortunately, the status quo looks quite different. The reality is that many blogs written by people in ministry reflect little of the promise of blogging or who God has called us to be. These blog are often filled with their own unique combination of pettiness, self-promotion, negativity, derision, and the all-consuming pursuit of traffic.

Blogging isn't worth doing poorly or for the wrong reasons. It's too demanding and too distracting. In God's economy, we don't have the luxury of pouring ourselves into good things when he has so many great things for us. There is simply too much at stake.

It doesn't have to be this way. Christ-followers can be a light in this new world and help make the blogosphere a better place. We just need to open our eyes, look up and smile.

Part 1 of 4 | Next

Spring Break

Leave It Behind will be quiet over the next few weeks. I'm going to take a break from blogging and focus on Ben's last few weeks of elementary school, our annual father/son trip, summer planning, and some surprises for Lori. There is also a lot to learn, a few exciting possibilities to explore, and an idea for a second book I need to flesh out.

When I return, the blog will likely head in a slightly different direction. After three years of blogging and investing nearly two years in The Blogging Church, I'm beginning to feel like a band that's been touring for months supporting their latest album - it's time for some new songs.

As I look forward to the next chapter, I thought I'd share a piece over the next few days that I wrote recently for Relevant Leader. When they asked me to write an article about blogging in the church a few months ago, I was confidant I had said everything I wanted to say about the subject.  but it turned out I had two thousand more words in me. In many ways, it feels like the epilogue to the book.

Thursday > Introduction
Friday > Open Our Eyes
Saturday > Look Up
Sunday > Smile

10 Best Shows for Families

We love to watch television as a family. Though we greatly limit Ben's screen time (television, computer, Wii) and Lori and I watch The Office and little else, we do have fun sitting on the couch together and sharing a show. Through the beauty of TiVo, we can grab all those episodes that are buried at 2am, meaning we always have a collection of quality options to choose from.

Top 10 Shows for Families

Little Bear (Age 3-5)
One of our favorite shows of all time and the perfect first show for a young child. Incredibly sweet, lovely music, and filled with imagination and kindness.

Anatole (Age 4-6)
A somewhat obscure cartoon about a mouse family living in Paris. Entertaining, intellectual, and infused with an odd appreciation for culture considering it's a show about mice.

Jimmy Neutron (Age 6+)
We saw the movie when Ben was 7 and have enjoyed it ever since. We laugh almost as much as Ben and he loves the technology theme.

SpongeBob SquarePants (Age 6+)
Hilarious show that often reminds me of Monty Python. It seems that every child in America watches this, so I don't have much to add. My only perspective is that I would try to save it until they're a little older. Every age finds it funny, but it's a very loud show that I think is better for school-aged kids.

Leave it to Beaver (Age 7+)
One of the best shows to watch with the whole family. The quality of the writing, acting, and story-lines is very strong and there are endless, basic lessons about life, growing up, and respect for parents. It's unfortunate that the show is assumed to be simplistic and written off as irrelevant to today. In the few cases where it is clearly dated, it's a great opportunity to talk about how and why things have changed.

Green Acres (Age 7+)
I know this is a funny choice, but we started watching Green Acres about two years ago and loved it. Just pure fun in a vaudeville way with running gags, misunderstandings, and a talking pig.

Andy Griffith (Age 7+)
The humor and sense of values is the main draw, but my favorite part of the show is its perspective. Andy never loses sight of what's important, he treats everyone fairly, and clearly understands that who he is is more important than his circumstances. The black & white episodes are excellent, but I would skip the color ones.

Fetch (Age 8+)
Wonderful show on PBS that started last year. It's essentially an adventure-filled game show with a great sense of humor for smart kids. I wrote about it last year and the second season is around the corner.

The Cosby Show (10+)
If I ever rewrite by Top 10 Shows of All-Time, Arrested Development will be replaced by The Cosby Show. I watched it when I was growing up and loved it, and his albums were a huge part of my childhood and now Ben's, but I had no idea how good the show was. A child will definitely enjoy it, but it's really made for parents.

The show has sparked so many family conversations. It's perfect to watch with children who are on the verge of junior high and high school. There is a lot about dating, friendships, dealing with parents, and maturing in general (physically and emotionally). Cosby used the show to introduce so many cool people and so much cool music to a wider audience. The show had no hesitations about being an example. Like Leave it to Beaver, there are elements that are unrealistic, but what's wrong with a show that inspires rather than settle for the lowest common denominator. There are many subtle aspects to this: the parents are almost reading when they are relaxing, the television is almost never part of family life (ironic, I know), the older generations are treated with enormous respect and celebrated, church is a regular part of their lives, work is highly valued, and romance is a huge part of a loving relationship.

The parenting lessons are endless and better than most parenting books and seminars. The show makes it abundantly clear that the most important relationship in the house is the one between Cliff and Claire - everything else flows out from there. Their relationship has so many lessons for couples, both in how to respect and value one another, but also how to teach, train and love your children with the understanding that real goal is to prepare them to leave.

The Wonder Years (12+)
After searching for The Wonder Years for the past year, we were thrilled to see it start airing on a local channel last week. (Quick aside: apparently, the reason the show is not available on DVD is huge licensing issues - it used so much original music from that period and they don't have the necessary rights to sell it in a new format.) I watched it in high school and college and absolutely loved it. We were so eager to share it with Ben and when we watched the first episode, I realized why. The show starts with 12-year old Kevin preparing for his first day of junior high. Ben will turn 12 and start middle school in August.

After experiencing family life from the parent's perspective with The Cosby Show, it's the perfect time to see life through a child's eyes. Since The Wonder Years features a struggling family and takes place in the tumultuous 60's and early 70's, there are definitely some challenging story lines that are a little beyond Ben's age. Those are good opportunities for conversations within the comfort of our family.

I still believe that the less television the better, but if you're looking for something to share with the whole family, one of these might be a good fit. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Note: This is my first blog post written with Google Docs. So far, I love it! Plenty of room to write, easy access to the HTML, and auto-save.

21 reviews

The twenty-first review of The Blogging Church has been posted on Amazon! Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read the book and post your thoughts about it. I never dreamed the book would have more than 20 reviews a 5-star rating in less than 3 months. I really appreciate all of the feedback, kind words, and helpful criticism.

It's exciting to hear stories of how the book is being put into action by a wide variety of people and churches. In fact, I was recently contacted by a large church that was interested in purchasing copies for their entire staff!

If you or your church has a blogging story, feel free to post it or drop me a note. And if you don't have a copy yet, you can pick one up online.

3 years

Today is the 3-year anniversary of Leave It Behind.  I've loved the chance to meet so many interesting people, think out loud, become a better writer, and have some great conversations. Thanks to all of you for reading, commenting, and tolerating the wide variety of seemingly unrelated topics!

Since today is April Fool's Day, feel free to enjoy my favorite post of the last year if you missed it the first time: Apple Buys U2 for $1.2B.

Congratulations also to Dave Winer and Scripting News, celebrating 10 years of blogging. As I've mentioned before, Scripting News was the first blog I ever read and my inspiration to start blogging. I've now been reading Dave for seven years and it was one of my great pleasures in writing the book to include a contribution from him.

Dave loves to quote a great line from the Grateful Dead, "It's even worse that it appears." For his 10th anniversary, I hope he'll consider another option, at least for a day: "Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile!"