Top Ten Google Searches Ending Up At The F-Word
You can't turn around these days without tripping over somebody's top ten list of something or another. I've got a few lists of my own. Here's a fun one. Using a little widget from Sitemeter, that tracks visits to the F Word, I can see what people have "Googled" to get here. This is my list of Top Ten words or phrases somebody typed into the Google search engine this year that led them to this site:
#10 - How do Lutherans listen to God?
It's not clear, of course, whether this was typed in by some Lutheran who really and truly wants to know how to hear what God is saying...or by somebody who is suspicious, for some reason, that Lutherans haven't been paying enough attention. Either way, their curiosity led them here which is just pretty cool. They might have ended up reading any number of F Word posts that talk about listening for God...through the stories we read in the Bible...through the conversations we have with each other...and through the voice of a stranger. It's likely that they read this post, for example:
Excerpt from Chapter 3 of Reclaiming the E Word
#9 - Where in the Bible does it say we can’t say the f word?
In spite of the playfully provocative name of this blog, it's rated PG. For real.
This website rates your blog based on the words you use. I get a PG rating because I've used the word "sex" a couple of times. (How can you write about religion these days and NOT write about sex??) Nevertheless, a lot of people searching for information on that OTHER "f word" end up here. Somebody typed in, for example, "movies that use the f word most often." Somebody else (a kid, maybe, who heard it on the bus or something?) searched for "What is the f word?" I think of it as a way of meeting new people, here on the web. According to Sitemeter, a lot of them actually stay awhile once they get here. My hope is that they've found something helpful...even hopeful.
#8 - ELCA Jonah and the whale
This is one variation of the "How do Lutherans interpret Scripture?" question that often leads people to this blog. They probably end reading posts like these:
Following Jesus To The Other Side
#7 - Explain the theology of Rolf Jacobson
This is just funny. Rolf teaches Old Testament at Luther Seminary. He is a good friend of mine. And he's a good friend of a lot of people who stand on the other side of the street from where I usually hang out on a bunch of important issues. He leans to the right, both theologically and politically. But he and I have collaborated closely on a couple of projects, including the No Experience Necessary adult Bible study series. No wonder people are confused. We live in a time when the left hand knows but doesn't LIKE what the right hand is doing. And the right hand thinks the left hand needs an exorcism. Rolf is one of those guys who doesn't let the lines we draw stop him from engaging...or loving...his neighbor...no matter who those neighbors happen to be. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?! We could use a lot more Rolf Jacobsons across the church today.
#6 - J.C. (Hans) Hoekendijk
Earlier this year I argued that Hoekendijk is a 20th century theologian who, for a variety of reasons, disappeared from the missional conversation, but whose ideas need to be resurrected. He lost the argument to Lesslie Newbigin and others back in the mid-1900's, and the missiological conversation has been stuck "in the church" ever since. Hoekendijk reminds us that God is on the loose in the world. He critiques the hierarchical, clergy-centric, church model we've been saddled with throughout the era of Christendom. And he calls us to turn the church "inside out." Back when I wrote that first post, I wasn't seeing Hoekendijk's name appear anywhere other than as a foil or a footnote in academic articles. But lately I've seen his name popping up in theological conversations all over the place. And he gets Googled in a way that leads somebody to the F Word about once a week. Cool.
More on Hoekendijk:
J.C. Hoekendijk
The Church is So Not The Point
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Next up: The top 5
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