The PuritanBoard - View Single Post - What is the Purpose of the Puritanboard?

JohnV · #47 (**permalink**) 11-02-2006, 03:53 PM

Thanks to this being bumped I've had a chance to reflect on these posts, and especially my own. I think I need to amend my post above somewhat, now that it's about two years old.

I've come to realize the characteristics that are intrinsic to an internet discussion board. There are many peculiarities, such as the coming and going of people, the wide margin of subscription to the standards of faith, mixture of different topics going on at once by the same people. Some things that we took for granted at first become sharp differences over time and exposure. Some assumed orthodoxies change with the membership and participation changes. I could go on. The point is that it is not as simple as a communion under the authority and leadership of elders who are answerable for their rulings and leadership. Mutuality takes on another dimension on a discussion board. I don't think that we've tackled that problem head on. And because of that we experience problems that at times cannot be resolved by any means available to us. Good men have left the Board, and some have stepped back on their participation. It's kind of like a lowest common denominator type of ecumenicity, only with the lowest bar a bit higher than that of evangelical churches.

The changes we've seen have a lot to do with the maturity of the Board itself, not just its members. Its been around for a while, and some patterns have emerged that take on the face of how things are done here. We have to be able to differ with these patterns freely, without reproach. On the other hand, we also have to be ready to recognize truths even when we are in disagreement.

On the whole, I've come to be aware of trends that transcend this board, that show the philosophical or cultural foci of our time. Being embroiled in an irreconcilable difference with my own church has made it more clear to me how people are taken up with current trends and persuasions, and often beyond the reach of the standards they claim to subscribe to. This cannot help but be reflected in my posts on this Board. There comes a time when some things cross lines that are not of personal views, but of cast-in-stone principles. How to deal with these in a loving, admonishing, and self-examining way is often hard to do because of the more free nature of the Board compared to a church setting. Some refer to this as getting a thicker skin. I tend to think that it requires a more careful and thorough approach.

All in all, we have to learn to deal with matters of our own maturity, as well as matters of the Board's maturity. We've hit a plateau, just like any discipline does after the initial steep curve. So let's be patient, and not expect the newness of the Board to continue forever.