Success?

I recently attended a christian writers’ workshop along with other aspiring authors, all hoping to learn how to get ahead of the other 550 attendees. The keyword on everyone’s lips was new to me: “platform,” whatever that means. I am an engineer so a platform is something wooden to stand on.

The opening keynote, as expected, was professional, funny, and inspiring. The key take away for me was the line “As christians, we do not write to be seen, but so others will see God.” What I heard was that the size of the audience is irrelevant.

This flies in the face of american culture where everything is geared to being seen to be bigger, brighter and better. It’s all about the impact factor, the dollars, the records. Being average is not sufficient and below average is failure.

As both a christian and an american, there is a tension. At work I am chasing the successes so that I keep my job. As a christian, I should be humble. This is particularly jarring when it comes to teaching and writing. At work I have an audience, recognition and credibility. It feels worth doing because someone is going to read it and change the way they do things. As a christian, I have an audience of about 4 including my family. Why bother?

I write because it helps me to think. It forces me to make order of the jumbled stuff in my head. It forces me to open scripture and to listen to God. I think what I have to say is truth because it is based on scripture, and meaningful because it is exposing my struggles. I write to persuade others to think about whether the way they are living is reflecting the glory of God. Wait, is the way I am living reflecting the glory of God?

I wrote a blog a while back saying that an audience of one God is far bigger than one with any number of people. His approval is paramount, and should be sufficient. I almost convinced myself. It is still hard to carry on, to keep challenging the body of Christ to stay true to Him.