To Blog or Not to Blog...

That is the question.

The truth is, I'm not a big fan of blogs.

Not that there's anything wrong with them. For the record, I'm pro-blog. But, so often when I come across a random blog, I wonder: "Doesn't this person have something better they could be doing with their time?"

I know, I know. Blogs are supposed to be an outlet for people. So, regardless of whether the substance of the blog is worth reading, that isn't really the point. People blog because it gives them a soapbox to stand on or an outlet with which they can vent. Some blogs I've read have been informative, inspirational, and thought-provoking. But more often than not, I skim the first few paragraphs only to find myself grieving over the fact that I'll never get those 2 minutes of my life back.

The most unfortunate kind of blogs that I've run across are the kind that seem contrived and artificial. Admittedly, they're almost always church-based blogs written by pastors. When reading them I get the sense that during a weekly church staff meeting some good-intentioned soul spoke up and said: "You know, blogging is pretty popular these days. I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who'd love to see what's on your mind, Pastor. Whadda ya say?"

And with good intentions in their hearts and perhaps the unspoken hope that this might draw a few more folks into the church, they create a blog...or maybe more appropriately spelled, a "blahg." And because this just becomes one more item on the pastor's "to-do" list, the substance is almost always shallow and uninteresting.

So why would I want to start a blog?

That's the question I've been struggling with over the past few weeks. And while there are quite a few reasons I can think of why I wouldn't, the one reason why I would is simple: I love to wrestle.

Not wrestle in the WWE sense of the word. You won't see pictures of me dressed in ill-fitting spandex shorts or with copious amounts of face paint on my face or even with an over-sized championship belt hoisted just above my aforementioned spandex shorts. (Although it might be kind of cool to have a ridiculous wrestling moniker embroidered on my clergy robe, like the "Sermonator.")

Rather, I mean wrestle in the theological sense of the word. Like when Jacob wrestled with God. Because I've found that it's only when we wrestle with matters of faith--when we really lock horns with the deepest and most difficult questions of life-- that we ultimately are blessed with the experience that Jacob had: He saw God face-to-face.

Now, of course, I don't mean that in the literal sense. But figuratively speaking, I don't know of any other way to truly get to know and understand the holy mystery that is God than to roll up my sleeves and grapple with this thing we call faith. Because in my experience, it's in the tussling and toiling that God reveals Himself to us.

And so, my conclusion regarding a blog was this: What better place to wrestle with the thorny issues of faith than right here in the blogosphere? A place not only where I can post my own questions and thoughts, but where others can respond, dispute, disagree, and debate.

Because, after all, the most profound truths aren't stated in a monologue; they arise out of a dialogue. And that's my ultimate hope for this blog. Not just to have a place to post my own contemplations, but more importantly to create a place where we can engage in conversation.

Do you like to wrestle? If so, grab your spandex shorts and jump in the ring. The Sermonator is waiting.