Lines That Should Not Be Crossed

I used to post to a blog with a different name. Back then I spent way too much time focusing on my stats, riding a rollercoaster that climbed and dropped with my daily reader count. With each post I learned a bit more about my core audience, my stats telling me what they would read and what they would recommend to their followers. Armed with this knowledge I would dive into my next posts both on my blogs and on my other social media channels. Over time I found that I could, with the right set of words, draw attention from many people including some who were much more famous than I. But as my stats improved, I noticed something I didn’t like. I noticed that I was bending over backwards, compromising what I truly believed in order to make my audience happy.

One event in particular served as an eye opener that forced me to change course. My audience was abuzz about a teenager who ran away from home out of fear for her life. This young woman received Jesus as her Lord and Savior, a decision that put her at odds with her family. Forced to leave home for her own safety, she found a group of Christians in a different state who received her with open arms. But eventually, the authorities caught up with her and the courts ordered that she be returned to her family. With help from her new found brothers and sisters in Christ she was able to appeal this decision and I learned about her while she was waiting for her appeal to be heard.

Many in my online group spoke out against the court decision, encouraging the family hiding the young woman to defy the court order. I found myself wondering if in fact this was the right way to proceed. Yes, I understood why the young woman felt that her home was no longer safe but at the same time I feared the possibility of setting a precedent where children could be hidden from their families simply because of a difference in opinion over religious belief. I was torn between my belief that we all should do our best to follow the law and those online voices telling me that the law was wrong.

And so I started asking questions, hoping my audience would enlighten me. Instead I was treated as if I had lost my mind. My audience wondered how I could even begin to question other Christians who were simply trying to protect the life of a child. I pointed out that God could protect her whether or not she went home. To this I was challenged to read the pages of another religion’s book in order to understand the real danger this young woman was in. Back then, and still today, I wondered why I needed to read a book from another religion when my Bible told me all I needed to know.

There, on the pages of the Bible, I find God. The Bible tells me that God is more than up to the task of protecting His children. With no compromise, my Bible told me not to give into fear but instead to trust in God. This seemed to contradict my audience who seemed to fear the power of another religion and its followers. I knew at that point that I had to make a choice. Either I stood in confidence in what God could do, even if I lost my audience, or I could stand in fear with my audience knowing that my stats would continue to grow even if my relationship with the Almighty did not.

For the record, the young woman had a birthday while waiting for her appeal to be heard. At that point she was able to legally choose for herself where she wanted to live, disappearing from the headlines as she went on with her life. Wherever she is, I pray she continues with the Lord, standing as a witness of how He can and does protect His children. As for my old blog, well it became harder and harder to write knowing what I would have to do to hold onto my audience. Eventually I took a break from blogging. Then I decided to let that old blog disappear, starting fresh here with these posts.

I thought about that old blog following the events of January 6, 2021. I thought about the mob and the riot, wondering how many were pulled along in the river of emotion that welled up at that moment. I suspect the large majority are normally law abiding citizens but on that day they got caught up in all of the excitement. In the heat of the moment they committed crimes against the very nation they claim to love. They crossed a line that just should not be crossed as they tried to win favor with those around them and with the world leader they came to support.

I recognized when it was time to draw a line: time to walk away from my old blog and the audience that followed. It was time to stop bending over backwards at the expense of what I truly believed and so I moved on. I hope that those who took part in the riots on January 6 recognize that they crossed a line they shouldn’t while bending over backwards for their audience of one. I also hope that our former president learned that there are lines that should not be crossed, especially when doing so means attacking that which you are called to defend.