5 Reasons Every Disciple Needs a Blog

Have you ever thought about blogging your faith? I personally believe that every disciple should have a blog.

When I say every disciple I don’t mean necessarily every Catholic. I’m talking about anyone and everyone who has made a decision to place Jesus at the centre of their lives, follow him and live according to his teaching. Some people probably haven’t met anyone like this, and would be interested in hearing their perspective.

Are you a disciple of Christ? Here are 5 reasons I think you should have a blog:

1. It will make you more comfortable in conversations about faith

It’s a bit counter-cultural for Catholics to speak of their faith, even within the walls of the parish (Sherry Weddell speaks of this in her book Forming Intentional Disciples). We tend to not get too personal. We don’t share our testimonies. We don’t talk about our prayer lives enough. We don’t share how we see God working in our lives. We consent to a weird culture of silence on the most important topics of our lives.

My blog has offered me a place to overcome this, and doing so has made me more comfortable in bringing these topics into my conversations. It will do so for you, too. I guarantee it.

2. It will challenge you to learn more about your faith

With most blog posts I write I find myself searching for the right quote or scripture passage or catechism paragraph to support what I’m trying to say. In the process I end up reading more, becoming more familiar with things I wouldn’t otherwise be seeking out.

In addition, I read up on current events in the world and the Church (particularly things the Pope is saying or writing) in order to have material to talk about, or to adequately respond to questions people ask. 

Becoming well-read and better informed is a wonderful side effect of the blogging process.

3. It will help you initiate conversations with people in your life

It’s not so natural to bring up religious belief in conversation, is it? The seemingly widespread rule of modern propriety says: “Don’t talk about politics and religion at the dinner table.”

Where can we bring up personal topics of great importance? Funnily enough, the internet.

A blog allows for people to talk about what really matters to them. It ain’t weird at all to write about what you care about on your blog, and it isn’t weird to share your blog posts on your social media channels. So if you’ve ever thought “Man, I’d love to be able to speak about these things to my family/friends/loved ones but I don’t know how,” start a blog already! Writing about your beliefs online communicates to people that you’re open to being asked about them in person.

4. It will make you more intentional in your spiritual life

So you may have noticed that I blog about my battles. Though it’s tough to bring areas of weakness out into the open, doing so has benefited me greatly in that I’ve named the struggle and called it out.

When I wrote about the struggle to get up earlier in the morning and pray, it became a public battle, which means I wanted even more to not lose. That doesn’t mean I never lose, but I think about what I wrote and I feel more accountable to fight than I did before. 

5. Because it’s a key tool in the New Evangelization

Here are some quotes you may want to ponder.

'The Internet can offer magnificent opportunities for evangelization if used with competence and a clear awareness of its strengths and weaknesses. Above all, by providing information and stirring interest it makes possible an initial encounter with the Christian message, especially among the young who increasingly turn to the world of cyberspace as a window on the world.'

'The Internet causes billions of images to appear on millions of computer monitors around the planet. From this galaxy of sight and sound will the face of Christ emerge and the voice of Christ be heard? For it is only when his face is seen and his voice heard that the world will know the glad tidings of our redemption. This is the purpose of evangelization. And this is what will make the Internet a genuinely human space, for if there is no room for Christ, there is no room for man. Therefore, on this World Communications Day, I dare to summon the whole Church bravely to cross this new threshold, to put out into the deep of the Net, so that now as in the past the great engagement of the Gospel and culture may show to the world "the glory of God on the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). May the Lord bless all those who work for this aim.'

-St. John Paul II, World Day of Communications, May 12, 2002

“You must test everything, knowing that you will surely find counterfeits, illusions and dangerous traps to avoid. But, guided by the Holy Spirit, we will discover valuable opportunities to lead people to the luminous face of the Lord. Among the possibilities offered by digital communication, the most important is the proclamation of the Gospel.”

-Pope Francis

A blog is so easy to start and they can cost nothing. What is to prevent us from bravely crossing the threshold, as St. John Paul says?

There is literally infinite space available on the internet. Let’s fill it up with the Infinite. 

You may find helpful: How to Start a Blog, by Michael Hyatt