Investing in people

Years ago Calvary had a radio program on a local station. It was a "call in" show where people could ask questions about the Bible...or almost anything. Usually two of our pastors would share the mic and when no one was calling, we would just "jabber" on .. . sometimes about the Bible, and sometimes just "jabber." I viewed it as a good investment of my time to reach people in a public space.

Most everyone in our church thought the broadcast was a great outreach, and hence, a great use of their pastors' time. I don't disagree, but in retrospect would have to acknowledge that a few hundred people were probably the actual audience on a good day. The total who could have tuned in for the 30 minutes (you listened at that time or it was gone forever) probably numbered in the thousands -- maybe 40 thousand at the very most if every person in the county had their radio tuned to that station at precisely that time.

Sometimes I hear people criticize pastors who blog as if it's a poor use of their time. That's interesting. I find blogs to be a wonderful source of spiritual instruction and thought-provoking insights--free if charge to anyone who cares to "click." Of course, the blogisphere has junk too, but then, so did the radio station.

It is estimated that at least 45 million people all over the world currently go to the internet to find spiritual instruction. That potential audience (and its global makeup) causes our old radio outreach to look rather puny at best -- 40 thousand to 45 million. Actually, that's the wrong comparison. The number of people who now have access to the internet is estimated at over a billion. The real comparison between the potential audience of our old radio broadcast and THIS BLOG is: 40,000 to 1,000,000,000+. And the neat thing is that a blog stays available without cost 24/7 virtually forever. Wow!

I wish I were more disciplined about blogging. Maybe I will be. There's no question that I should be. I'll try. Mean while, I'll keep reading blogs that help me a lot.