CovenantBlogs.net

Thanks to Bob Smietana, Features Editor for the Covenant Companion magazine, for clueing me in to Covenantblogs.net, a blog for members of the Evangelical Covenant Church (of which I am one). A couple of posts there that caught my eye recently:

Who are we?

An administrator of the Covenant Blog asks, “What does it mean to be an Evangelical?” A very good question. What do you say?

Let’s be real

Gary Means at Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit has some Thoughts on Revealing Who We Are. I loved this post.

It's very common on that forum for a newcomer to apologize when they begin posting. They generally feel that they, and their post, are unworthy of consideration, or somehow wrong. They fear being perceived as whining, or being told that they are making a mountain out of a molehill, or that in sharing, they will be perceived as "unspiritual". The last thing they want is more judgement, and they DO NOT want more scriptures thrown at them. Sadly, the church has usually given them plenty of reason to fear all those things.

So then why does a newcomer press on, and post?

First, they are saying that they trust the people in the forum enough to risk revealing a bit of who they really are. They are giving the gift of trust. They also are saying that they value the company, opinions, and support of the people in the forum enough to risk reaching out to us.

Mr. Means considers this a gift, and rightly so. He goes on to say,

But it's also a gift to the person who shares. As we share who we really are (in any context), and are met with understanding and acceptance, this begins to dispel the lies that we are unworthy of love, or "that if others knew who I really am", they would reject me. We also know that we are NOT ALONE.
I think it's safe to say that we've all had bad experiences being open and vulnerable with other Christians. We have learned that it is not safe to be authentic in the Church. That is so NOT what God has in mind!!

We need to confess to one another (James 5:16), with proper discretion, and allow other Christians to exercise compassion, exhort us, and pray for us. We need to do this for others. We all need the give and take (give and give?) of true fellowship, and not just online.