I’m not afraid to be edgy. But as I was writing my blog post last Wednesday, I felt very uncomfortable with the post I was writing. It was one line. See if you can find the line:
The world needs brave artists. There’s far too much safe art. It’s the art you keep hidden in that shoebox. It’s that art you keep buried in your computer’s file system. (And no, I’m not talking about pornography.) I’m talking about the art you’re afraid to show people – the art you know people will hate.
Ya. You guessed it. It was the pornography line. I wrestled with this line for about 30 minutes.
On one hand I wanted to include it. I liked the way it jarred me when I read it. It was edgy. And it feels good to be edgy.
But on the other hand it just didn’t sit well with me. It felt vulgar. Worse than that, it felt vulgar just for the sake of being vulgar.
After wrestling with the idea I finally decided to leave it out. And that set a standard for me. I made the decision that I wouldn’t be edgy just for the sake of being edgy. I decided I would only use the “edgy tool” when I needed to make a point.
I don’t want to numb people to rhetoric just so I feel like an edgy Christian. I don’t want to cuss or add shock value just because I can. I want to be life giving. I don’t want to drag people through the mud as a way to celebrate my liberty.
There’s nothing wrong with being edgy. But let’s be edgy for a purpose. Let’s shake the world when it needs shaking. But let’s also be gentle in a world full of roughness. Let’s be edgy Christians that don’t live to shock people – let’s live to love.
Hey Jonathan- great thoughts! I have always found the sort of thing you describe here somewhat baffling, and I think one the reasons is that the whole ‘being edgy because I can’ generally ends up feeling incredibly forced, which generally reveals one isn’t.
Personally, I don’t think the line you cut out would have necessarily fallen into this category, since, at least statistically speaking, it’s sadly more ‘accurate’ than ‘edgy.’
At the risk of a comment nearly as long as the original post- a risk I am always happy to take!- I applaud the conscientiousness you are applying. There is definitely the danger that over-wrought rhetoric can turn people deaf, and the words we use are probably far more important than we usually realize.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Jason! It was a personal decision…mainly because it didn’t add to Wednesday’s post. 🙂
Hey Jonathan- great thoughts! I have always found the sort of thing you describe here somewhat baffling, and I think one the reasons is that the whole ‘being edgy because I can’ generally ends up feeling incredibly forced, which generally reveals one isn’t.
Personally, I don’t think the line you cut out would have necessarily fallen into this category, since, at least statistically speaking, it’s sadly more ‘accurate’ than ‘edgy.’
At the risk of a comment nearly as long as the original post- a risk I am always happy to take!- I applaud the conscientiousness you are applying. There is definitely the danger that over-wrought rhetoric can turn people deaf, and the words we use are probably far more important than we usually realize.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Jason! It was a personal decision…mainly because it didn’t add to Wednesday’s post. 🙂
Well said. I think a lot of people are edgy just to be edgy. The thing is, so many young Christian bloggers are edgy that it’s almost not edgy to be edgy anymore. Even with the word “pornography”. Everybody is like “we’re real, we talk about pornography and masturbation.”
Well said. I think a lot of people are edgy just to be edgy. The thing is, so many young Christian bloggers are edgy that it’s almost not edgy to be edgy anymore. Even with the word “pornography”. Everybody is like “we’re real, we talk about pornography and masturbation.”