Posts that struck a nerve in 2012

Why do so many blogs recount their biggest posts at the end of the year? I thought about not doing it this year, because in one sense it just seems tedious and terribly unoriginal. However, I DO find it interesting to survey the past year’s posts and think through the reasons for whatever trends I observe on this blog. In 2011, I clearly noted that posts that did not gain attention from any big blogs nevertheless received a lot of attention by individuals on Facebook. Posts on parenting, singleness, and pain at the holidays seemed to strike a nerve and gained a lot of attention by word of mouth. That was interesting to me.

This year, corrective posts caught attention over encouraging posts. I’m contemplating why that might be. Is it good? Bad? I don’t know, but it’s clear that there is a big concern among the women (and men) who read this blog that centers on blind spots in how conservative complementarians understand women’s issues. When we inaccurately label the problem, our proposed solutions inevitably miss the mark.

Today, I’m thinking about how easy the gospel makes it for us to correct our mistakes and repair with those we’ve hurt. Yet, I haven’t seen too much of that in evangelicalism this year. I see a lot of castigating of those who draw attention to sin issues. “How dare you point out abuse in our church!” Instead, Christ has made the way for us to say, “Wow. I’m sorry. I did not handle that right. Will you forgive me?” I still believe that is the great gift the gospel brings us for living in unity in the Body of Christ. We teach the value of repentance to outsiders best when we strongly embrace it for ourselves.

Post number 10 was the one that is my personal number 1 post for the year. This post echoed my heart after the negative book review that is the technical number 1 post for the year. Warts and all, I still very much love the Church, but I do not love it as much as Jesus does. He loves it strongly, and none of us should give up on the Church despite the pain believers often cause other believers. Derek Webb said it best–we can not live for Him with no regard for Her. If we love Him we will love His Church. Folks, please do not give up on the Church, local or global. Suffer with her and for her, enduring the bad with the good. She is God’s heart.

Here are the 10 posts that had the most views over the last year. 

10. The Dysfunctional but Cherished Church

9. 50 Shades of the Curse

8. A Mother’s Day for all Women

7. The Value of Quiet Husbands

6. Don’t waste your divorce

5. A Christian Perspective on the Explosive Child

4. A Somewhat Scholarly Analysis of Gen. 3:16

3. 50 Shades of Complementarians

2. Things that Undermine the Complementarian Position

1. Our Review of Real Marriage