I must confess, this inaugural excursion into the blogosphere is not by choice. I have resisted for over a year but am finding I can do so no longer. The list is long and distinguished of those unwitting people and events complicit in the perpetration of this experiment—the experiment to determine if indeed “the web is mightier than the sword.”
The Daily Detour (partial) Blame List:
First, there is my good friend, Andy, who recently started his own blog because as he points out, you can’t challenge someone else to create a blog if you’re not willing to take up the challenge yourself. Not that I’ve ever encouraged someone to start a blog, but when your career is centered around teaching people to find creative ways to strategically impact the world, one must “practice what you preach.”
Secondly, Hugh Hewitt bears some responsibility because of his compelling little book, In, But Not Of, which gives very practical advice on how to effectively influence the world (book review forthcoming in a future post). Included is chapter 32, a two-page little missive that you’ll miss if you blink. In it, he encourages people who are serious about seeking to exercise greater influence in the world to start and maintain a blog. So, Mr. Hewitt, I’m holding you responsible for whatever this becomes.
Third, is my brother-in-law, Dave, an accomplished entrepreneur and all-around genius with all things techie. Not only did he sic me on Hugh Hewitt’s book, but it was through his late-night cajoling this past Christmas that my long-standing resistance began to crumble. Yes, I did give into his peer pressure, but only on the condition that if I write for the blog, he would be in charge of the technical/marketing/research/everything else side of the blog. He agreed, so here we are!
Finally, and most importantly, a revisit to Mark Noll’s classic book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, was the tipping point that brought all of this together and led me to the inevitable conclusion, “It’s time.”
In the very first line of his exposé on evangelical Christianity, Noll pens the following statement: “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” For many of those who claim the label, “Christian,” his proposition is telling. Granted, there are some notable exceptions to his observation (i.e. Chuck Colson, Ravi Zacharias, Lee Strobel, and others), but truth be told, among the masses of professing Christians there is a conspicuous absence of thoughtful reflection from a sound Christian perspective on the issues of the day. To make matters worse, an ongoing series of well-intentioned, yet seemingly-mindless, gaffes from some of evangelical Christianity’s leading spokesmen have undermined intellectual credibility further still. And, tragically, the rest of us are often guilty by association.
The Daily Detour is one attempt to turn that tide by capturing your mindspace for just a few minutes in order to illuminate the issues of the day from what may be a new perspective for you. The lens through which this blog comes to you is largely filtered through a philosophically-conservative orientation embedded within a biblically-centered, Christian worldview.
My attempt through this blogging endeavor is to steward that perspective in a reasonable and intellectually-responsible way. In the minds of many people, the Christian perspective only brings cotton-candy contributions to the marketplace of ideas—exhortations that that are nothing more than sugary platitudes devoid of any lasting substance. And, to our detriment, the unique and integrated contribution of the genuine Christian perspective is too quickly dismissed.
In fact, The Daily Detour is just that—a detour from the common thinking about the times in which we live. This blog is intended to be an eclectic synthesis of cultural critique, worldview analysis and thoughtful commentary about culture, politics, God, and spirituality.
Feel free to join the conversation. The content of The Daily Detour, as with all matters of substance, is certainly grounded in conviction. But, my hope is that this blog will move beyond merely the corrosive intellectual pugilism that often dominates the topics which matter most to each of us. Instead, within a spirit of mutual respect and community, The Daily Detour is intended to subvert the status quo, challenge conventional secular thinking, provoke candid conversation, and ultimately, influence you toward action.
And, if at the end of the day, you are thinking (and acting) a bit differently about life, then The Daily Detour has served its purpose. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you can make The Detour a part of your daily routine. 