I guarantee you that the moderators of this board care about the people who come and go. We wouldn't be here if we didn't.
We're a Christian board which is not the same thing as a church, but we try to be open to all who come here. To be honest, sometimes the greater challenge is not with the people who come and go, which is typical of forums like this, but with the regulars who over time tend to begin to feel at home (which is great) but then begin to relax and behave toward others, other regulars and newcomers alike, as if they have a favored status, or they assume that others are famiiar with the history of the board and their participation which may or may not be true.
Moderators here are not only in that role but also participants and that can at times complicate things because we have the same dynamics that are at work for us.
It's very easy to throw out accusations of favortism. Truth be told, we're sometime accused of being too lenient on folks that have been here for a while and there may be some truth to that. We're not here to be cops. We're here to try to be senior members and I'll be the first to tell you that we don't always execute things perfectly. This isn't the first time we've had brush ups like this. In the past we've usually been able to broker some peace but it doesn't all depend upon us. When participants choose to take offense, withhold forgiveness and then transfer their frustrations onto the moderation of the board, then we're faced with how to react in a way that preserves this as a safe and polite a place as we can for all participants.
I'll tell you after being a participant and moderator on this board for more than 4 years that there's times I've shared with other moderators a desire to leave because sometimes I get tired of the flack and accusations that come for something that is really a labor of love but without the respect and recognition that comes in other forms of service. I've written enough here (maybe not well enough) but enough volume anyway, to fill a pretty good size book. That doesn't make me better than anyone else or worthy of anything more than anyone else, but it's easy to get discouraged and frustrated.
It saddens me to see what has taken place here not only because of the impact that it has on the individuals and personalities involved that I know and in many cases love. But I also think of how many people will find these threads later. These forums are indexed to search engines. For every person who posts here I would dare say there are 7 or 8 or more who come by who just read and say nothing. Some lurk for quite some time. For some that window may leave an impression that gives them an impression of christians as a whole, whether fair or not. Far more people will read the record left here than will join in coversation. What does it say?
What about them? Egos can get pretty enlarged over time when others continue to stroke that ego and tell you how smart and spiritual you are. That's as true for others as it is for me.
The question asked on this thread is Do Christians Apoligize, and so far the answer I see is, we may sometimes but not always or sometimes in a manner that really doesn't go much deeper than a superficial word or two.
I appreciate zeal for truth. I care about truth, but I care more about love because that is what God says will characterize His people more than anything else.
I'm reading this more and more lately.
1 Corinthians 13
Love
1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Apologies are important and a part of this, but allow me to challenge myself first and if any want to come along with me, who name the name of Christ, are there any others here with courage to admit that they're not always loving and that some of the behavior we've engaged in ties more to our pride and egos than the love described above?
