The Best of the Worst

We truly live in a global society these days. This blog was mentioned in the April 2007 issue of Youthwork, a British Christian magazine for youth workers. The article, entitled "The best of the worst," looks at some of the categories of worst things that one can find online. The list includes "worst jobs in science," "museum of bad album covers," and "a list of the worst countries for Christians to live in." Then comes this part of the article:

We could also mention Worst Case Scenarios, where problems of real-life survival, involving failing parachutes or sinking cars or hostile alligators, can launch discussions about surviving as a Christian at school; or Worst of the Web, where the most dreadful websites in the world are lovingly preserved - but instead let's spotlight For God's Sake Shut Up!, a Christian blog which devotes itself to an annual hunt for 'The Worst Christian Mouth of the Year'.

The idea will probably be more useful to you than the blog itself, which is pretty American (which of your fifteen-year-olds has ever heard of Tom DeLay?). The blog owner explains, 'Sadly, Christians often do a poor job of communicating... Sometimes I want to just say to those Christians: "For God's sake, shut up!" I don't mean that profanely. When Christians say dumb things it damages unbelievers' perceptions of our Lord and Saviour'.

Who would your kids shut up if they could? Which are the most embarrassing Christians in Britain today? And what do we do when our faith is being sadly misrepresented? (Just for the record, my personal hit-list would include Harold Bishop from Neighbours, Dot Cotton, and Ashley, that unbelievable awful vicar on Emmerdale...)

Apparently, when one googles "worst" and "Christian" one of my posts is the fourth item. The author of this article is correct that my perspective is quite American (we American Christians are not very good at paying attention to the rest of the global Christian community). But I am glad they were inspired to consider the basic argument I have been trying to make. All Christians need to seriously consider the potential consequences of our words so that we will not drive people away.