Christians and the internet

I work on the internet. Rather than a technical job, mine is almost like a sociologist, observing how people behave and use the internet, especially to interact. Let's just say I have some experience in observing online behavior. These are some things I've seen that are "part of the job" for me as a marketer, but deeply concern me as a Christian.

And from this I have concluded that the internet is one of the the biggest temptation sinkholes for Christians.

Nope, not talking about p0rn0graphy. Not online gambling or even internet addiction. I'm talking about sins much more subtle than those. These are the sneaky sins that bubble to the top of Christians' internet usage which we overlook or accept.

Let me preface that I have struggled with all these, and some I still do, although my job has been therapeutic for many of these since I see the bad fruit of them daily.

Gossip

No, you may not be spreading stories about people online, but do you read tabloid blogs? You are giving them your attention and mind share. And frankly, each time you visit you are putting money in their pockets by triggering the ads on their site. Might as well buy the Enquirer. They are profiting from your curiosity.

Remember my Facebook sabbatical? I also touched on this there. Maybe you're not telling stories about people, but do you try to put together pieces of their private lives from what you "overhear" online?

Here's another- do you spread information without making sure it's factual? This happens often in email. Snopes.com is a great resource to make sure what you're saying is true. Take a second to check before you pass it on.

Passive aggression

Blogging hit mainstream about 5-6 years ago. With blogging people found an easy way to express their thoughts to virtually the whole world. In some ways this is a powerful, unifying tool. But as with any good thing, Satan is able to counterfeit it to use it for evil.

I manage our university bloggers, and this year I've added a clause in my guidelines about passive aggression. I shouldn't have to, but because of the example set by so many people in "the world" AND "the Church", I felt I should. I basically state- "If you have a problem with someone, you will not use your blog as a vehicle to vent or rant against them. You will deal with them as the Bible instructs in Matthew 18. I will be more than glad to walk through that with you."

Do you write things for an audience about a person, a business, an organization that you wouldn't say to their face? Do you handle conflicts in a manner worthy of Christ, or do you do publicly disgrace them? (This is one I struggle against daily and still fall into; Twitter is like a petri dish for this right now in the name of "customer support".)

And here's one I see a lot. Do you anonymously comment on blogs and say things that you would never attach your name to? If you won't attach your name, then you need to seriously re-think what you're saying. Seriously.

Pride

I work in marketing, which is the hub of self-promotion and self-righteousness. Well, I guess it rivals ministry in that way. Heh... sad joke.

Anyway, it's good to have healthy self-esteem and self-confidence, but to call someone out for the purpose of making yourself look better is not right. It is pride in its purist form. Again, I touched on this in my last blog about a balanced work ethic. Pride and humility are enemies. You can't serve two masters.

In conclusion (wow this is a long blog), my advice to you would be the same as what I'm constantly reminding myself (with varying degrees of success depending on the day and my mood).

If you hesitate, don't post it.

If you wouldn't say it in person, don't type it.

If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. :)

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Sorry to ride the soap box, but this is what I deal with day in and day out and has been heavy on my heart lately. Sometimes the whole "being in the world but not of it" is hard!

What do you think? Am I the only one who struggles with these? Did I forget any that are common?

Let's hold ourselves to accountability and honor God with how we conduct ourselves online.

Balanced Work Ethic

As a teenager, I never was really typical. Yes, I had more than my share of immature moments and impulses, but for the most part I kept my head on my shoulders pretty well. So when it came time for young adulthood, I mentally psshaw-ed the fact that I would succumb to the temptations that come with early professional life.

I feel very blessed to have a job I enjoy and that I do well. I never really expected for either of those things to happen. But still I find myself at a crossroads of deciding where this road is going to lead. Not my career path, necessarily, but what kind of a person am I becoming as I develop professionally.

Sometimes I think, "I should really invest this time that I'm single and childless into doing the long hours and heavy legwork into laying the foundation for my career." Well, that may be true, but at the same time I don't want to look back at this time and life and realize that my primary focus and accomplishment was professional. I want to look back and say, "Thank God that I was sowing seeds of righteousness to grow in my relationship with God!"

Now I'm not saying that pursuing a successful career and a relationship with God are mutually exclusive. They aren't! I believe and pray that my career successes (and sometimes failures) grow out of my faith. I believe firmly that any skills I have are not my own, but something God has entrusted me with at this time to glorify His name.

I think one of the ways I can glorify His name by being good at my job is by not doing business the way the world does. Already (and in increasing measure) I am finding myself doing battle with the beasts of pride and jealousy. In hindsight, it was so naïve to think that I would be above these, but I almost daily catch myself responding with anger to some way I feel someone is slighting me or disrespecting me. It's such an ugly thing, and I want to emphasize it is a constant battleground.

I've also faced the fact that sometimes, if you choose to die to yourself and live the way of Christ, you will lose by earthly measurements to those who act only in their own interest.

But I have great peace with the fact that regardless of what happens, and no matter how difficult it may be at times, if I sow the seeds of righteousness now in my professional life, there will be a spiritual harvest to reap. But really, tilling up the ground is the hardest part. And this is only a process I am now beginning. Many more rows to hoe!

Don’t be misled- you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
-Galatians 6:7-9

Do not lose heart

I'm sitting here in my office on a Saturday afternoon, eyes swollen and red, tear tracks down my face, nose stuffy, and my heart broken.

I just came from the funeral of Dr. John Thompson, Professor of History at OC and a truly extraordinary man. I think I heard of Dr. Thompson before I even heard of OC. My youth minister adored him and told stories of his big hands and booming laugh and storytelling lectures that would enthrall students. Since I was a student here, and I found out recently for the past 20 years, his health has been pretty bad. His body ravaged by diabetes, kidney failure, and other health problems.

But it seemed as his body withered his spirit flourished. I think there are actually very few great teachers in the world, but Dr. Thompson certainly was one of them. Oh, to sit at his feet for another class or two or twenty. He was such a scholar. And he loved what he did. Stories abound of him padding around campus in house slippers, being rolled in his wheel chair up the big hill to the history building, and even delivering lectures from his hospital beds via speaker phone. He loved what he did, and he was outstanding at what he did.

There are people who love what they do and throw their hearts into it, and people who do enough to get by. Lately I've been having this crisis of conscience about my job. I love what I do, where I work, and the people I work with. And while that is a blessing that I know many people don't have, it puts you in such a vulnerable place. The more you love something, the more susceptible you are to it breaking your heart.

Even at Oklahoma Christian University, some days the faculty can be arrogant, the students can have bad attitudes, the staff can be apathetic and the administration can be distant (I myself have fallen into all those categories). And those days break my heart, because Satan makes me doubt that what I believe and am throwing my heart and career into is all for naught.

But then I am brought back to the truth on days like today, looking around an auditorium of hundreds of people from this dear community mourning the loss of a friend who stood for all the good we work towards. Dr. Thompson could have had a great job at another university with more money and prestige. He could have just retired when his health took a downturn, rather than joyfully and uncomplaining continuing to serve our campus. And I know over the years he must have had his heart broken, because he so freely offered it to all of us who crossed his path.

So although my heart is broken, I'm praying that it will be broken open to this community that I love and I will one day be able to in some small way leave a legacy like Dr. Thompson.

I'll leave you with the verse that Dr. Thompson left for all of us:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. -II Corinthians 4:16-18

Yeariversary!

Today marks a year that I've been at my job! It's hard to believe. Those who knew me last summer know how gut wrenching it was to not just find a job but think about a career post-Brazil and post- the realization that I didn't want to be a public school teacher.

I remember one friend in particular kept telling me that he had complete faith it was going to be not just okay, but great, and how hard that was to believe at the time. But now, that is so true and then some.

I am blessed to work for my alma mater, Oklahoma Christian University, in the marketing department as a web editor/writer. I love what I do, I love who I work with, and I love the mission of the university.

It is such a blessing to be excited to go to work everyday and look forward to interacting with your coworkers. They are not only incredibly talented, but such good people who I consider my friends, so let me take a minute to brag on them.

Risa (Dean of Marketing)... I honestly believe she is my biggest fan at the school. It gives me so much confidence to know that someone so knowledgeable and experienced in this field has so much faith in me. And she not only cares about my work, but she has been my biggest cheerleader personally and spiritually, as well. She is one of the women I most want to be like "when I grow up."

Judson (Director of Marketing) is a great example of servant leadership. He sets the bar high for not only quality of work but in attitude through his own daily interactions with us and the rest of campus. I like that he really seems to love to learn, and he likes to hear my opinion on things, even though he doesn't always agree. :)

Stephen (Webmaster and my direct supervisor) gave me a chance. I had no web experience (other than this blog) and he believed I could learn and gave me a great opportunity with this job. He's a fantastic teacher, very patient, and remarkably talented. I've known him for years, and the reasons I respected him before have only been proven by working under him.

Wes (the lead editor) is a great writer, and I have learned so much about media writing from him. He works well with all kinds of people and all kinds of hours to do a great job for our university. Plus he is one of the wittiest and funniest people around.

JC (graphic designer) is the creative genius behind so much that looks great at OC. Like Risa, he's really believed in me and trusted me with projects that I didn't think I could handle. He also watches my back, and I appreciate that.

Micah (web team) is one of the hardest working people at our school, probably. When she does something for someone, you know it is top quality. She is also great at working with different people who need help figuring out what is what around our office.

Rachel (graphic designer) is such a pal. She cracks me up and has helped me learn so many of the ins and outs of working in marketing, especially with the technical stuff I'm too embarrassed to ask anyone else.

Scott (graphic designer) calls things like he sees them, which is needed in our line of work. When I see his work, my jaw generally drops because it is so dang good. His skill raises the bar and makes us all want to be better.

I could go on and on to list all the people I work with across campus who I adore and respect. I really do lead a charmed life and am so grateful for this opportunity the Lord has trusted me with. Here's to many more years! :)

Answers, Redux

A little Saturday night blogging with the new questions.

Amanda asks, What exactly is this job that you love so much?

Good question! I thought about whether or not I should put it online, but frankly, I am very googlable. I have an extreme web presence. :) I work at my dear alma mater, Oklahoma Christian University, as the web content coordinator in the marketing department. I also do some technical writing. I work a lot with news stories and keeping the content of our site up to date. If you go to the new, amazing www.oc.edu, I worked a lot on the organization of menus.

Rachel O (one of my fabulous co-workers) asks, what is the scariest thing you have ever done?

I've had a lot of scary things happen to me, but I'm going to guess this means something I've willingly done. Definitely getting on a plane to move to Japan. I'd never been there, was moving to a town where I didn't know anyone, had no idea what to expect... oh man, I don't know if I've ever been as scared as I was when I got on that plane. Talk about a leap of faith.

BONUS QUESTION! Rachel also asks, WHAT QUALITIES DO YOU DESIRE IN A HUSBAND?

LOL! Alrighty, well here is a short but serious list.

• Involved, Christian leader already active in ministry
• Someone who encourages me to pursue my spiritual gifts
• Humble
• Kind
• Gentle
• Shares quite similar viewpoints (theological, political, family roles, etc)
• Compliments me (not like saying nice things, but accentuating who I am with who he is)
• Push back. I don't know how succinctly phrase this, but I have a fairly strong personality and opinions, and I have found that I need someone who will push back at this- not argumentative or debating, but challenging me with their own thoughts, perspective, and experience rather than just agreeing with me.)

There ya go. Fascinating, hmm? If you know any good fellas who match this list, drop me a line. :) I promise I'll be back with real content soon.

Normalcy

Hello Blogland,

I realize it's been a while since I've written. For me, at least. 5 days between postings would be probably a 1000% increase in frequency for some of my friends, but for me it's pretty bad. :) I've just felt thoroughly uninspired to write, which is too bad because I really have a lot I could write about.

The weekend before last I went to Texas once more to visit my favorite Canadianette, Pamela. I met Pamela in Brazil last year. She lived in Itu for 2 years, so we understand each other and our experiences there in a way few can. She was down from the northernlands to take a short course at ACU, and I figured this may be as geographically close as we are for a while, so I took the chance to visit. And it was wonderful! She wrote on her own blog about the excitement of my flat tire, so you can read the story and see the pictures there. Pamela's going to Brazil this week and I am inexpressibly jealous. I have been incredibly blessed by her since we met!


What else is going on... the cat and I are doing fine. She has taken control of our relationship, with me answering to her beck and meows. But I still like her. :)


I passed the teacher certification test. Believe it on not, on the general academic test I actually got a perfect score on the math area and didn't pass the writing. Go fig. Now I'm looking for a teaching job.

This is a strange time of the year, because I feel like I should be getting ready to go to Brazil. It's even harder to see my friends getting ready to go to Brazil, to the very churches I worked with. I never wrote too much on the blog about deciding not to go back. The primary reason I didn't move to Brazil is because I was so weary of uprooting and moving. I just wanted a nice, "normal" life. I've never been a rolling stone in my heart or personality, so all the moving I've done in the past 3 years has really worn me down. But I miss Brazil. So much I can hardly stand it sometimes. I miss my friends, the church, the lifestyle, the food, the language... and I don't know if I made the right decision. I don't really doubt my decision; I just wish there were some way to make it all work. But right now there's not, and I am okay with that and happy where I am and what I'm doing. When I decided not to go, I was afraid I would become bored quickly and regret my decision, but honestly I haven't. I almost feel guilty for that. Almost, not quite. Bloom where you're planted, right? And I happen to really like where I'm planted right now.

Well, that's a lot of what's going on with me. Just living my "normal" life. :) What's going on with you?

Good stuff

The new job started today, and is going well! In fact, I got a nice surprise when I got home from my biggest fans :) --
Thank you!

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I don't know that I've mentioned them much on the blog, but I have been so blessed to be part of a Bible study group here for the past three and a half years. Granted, I've been away for two years of that time, but you wouldn't know it. It's an amazing and diverse group, and we laugh and discuss and cry together and truly share each other's lives. A few weeks ago the ladies of the group were talking about wedding and baby showers during our snack time afterwards, and I mentioned that it's not fair that only marrieds and the impregnated get showers. Single people need stuff, too! :)

Well, one sweet woman who I'll call CA remembered I'd said that, and tonight came in and told me she'd brought me a "shower present." :D She bought me a recipe box and had put my favorite recipe of hers in it! Then all the ladies there took some of the cards and told me they'd give me recipes to help fill my box. It was so funny and touching that I was between laughter and tears. I absolutely love my Bible study group. They're a big reason I'm back in OKC, to tell you the truth. I'll write a whole post about them sometime. We're an interesting bunch. :)

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Oh yes, and on Saturday I went to a baby shower for my college roommate, Angie. It was so so good to see her, since I don't remember seeing her for over two and a half years, although she told me she came to the hospital when I was sick (I really don't remember hardly anyone who came). And it was a little shocking. :) She was about to pop! Little Silas is set to be born somewhere between two and four weeks from now. I'm going to predict more on the two side. Angie and Brian are some of the most godly, faithful, loving people I know, and they will be amazing parents.

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Because I started a real job today, that meant that Friday was my last day to be with my Special Ed kids as a sub. As their goodbye present to me, they each performed their little victory move. The first video is the child who started the whole movement. He does this Heisman Trophy-like pose and says, "Oh yeah, Uh huh, Awesome!" :) Well, the other kids learned it and they all do it sporadically, but they all performed for me before I left. So the first video is the boy who started it, and the second is the other kids doing their versions. :) I'll miss them so much!





Most subs request to not be put in Special Needs classes, and it really blows my mind. These kids have been such a gift to me over the past several weeks. Yes, the work has it's unique challenges, but also it's unique joys. I'm very grateful to them and the other teachers I worked with.

Tenaciousness

Tenacity is more than endurance, it is endurance combined with the absolute certainty that what we are looking for is going to transpire. Tenacity is more than hanging on, which may be but the weakness of being too afraid to fall off. Tenacity is the supreme effort of a man refusing to believe that his hero is going to be conquered. The greatest fear a man has is not that he will be damned, but that Jesus Christ will be worsted, that the things He stood for - love and justice and forgiveness and kindness among men - will not win out in the end; the things He stands for look like will-o'-the-wisps. Then comes the call to spiritual tenacity, not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately on the certainty that God is not going to be worsted.

If our hopes are being disappointed just now, it means that they are being purified. There is nothing noble the human mind has ever hoped for or dreamed of that will not be fulfilled. One of the greatest strains in life is the strain of waiting for God. "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience."

Remain spiritually tenacious.

--Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

I'm telling ya, good old Oswald always knows what I need each day. :) I can't believe I haven't written about this yet, but I'm employed! I hate the phrase "God thing," but if I were a person who used it I would totally say that this was a God thing. :) After an extremely frustrating month and a half of job searching, Monday I had the idea to send my resume to the local big school district (LBSD). They called me the next morning for an interview that afternoon, and they hired me to write curriculum for their ESL program! I'm STILL in shock about the whole thing. The job is so well suited to my interests and talents, and the best feeling of all is that they actually wanted me! I am finally unrejected! :) I start on Monday. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. Some of you know how much the job hunt was wearing on me, and God provided in his own time and way. And he provided so many wonderful friends to cheer me on, help me, and now celebrate with me. Yippie for tenacity!