Fear can be crippling. It can become our master and sit on the throne of our hearts if we allow it.

We cannot make fear go away, and even if we could, we might not want to. Sometimes fear keeps us from doing something foolish.

But in 2020, fear is in the air, and it is spreading even faster than the Covid virus. So how do we as Christians and authors operate in a season of fear? How do we write and market our books with courage?

I asked Kate Motaung and Shannon Popkin, authors of Influence: Building a Platform That Elevates Jesus, Not Me.

Why is writing so scary for Christian authors?

Kate: In my experience, Thomas, fear often boils down to worrying about what people will think of us, and that can take many forms. Whether we are posting on social media or planning to write a full-length book, the fears are countless.

• What will people think of me?
• How will they respond?
• What if they become critical?
• What if I get a bad review on Amazon?
• What if nobody says anything after I have put in all that work?

Especially when it comes to platform-building, people wonder whether others will think they are puffing themselves up. And how does that reflect on us as Christians? Is it even right to build a platform if we are supposed to be humble and not elevate ourselves?

What does it mean to be a humble writer?

Thomas: Christians often have a strange view of humility. What does it mean to be a humble writer? Does it mean we never talk about our books and hide under a rock?

Shannon: I do not think humbling ourselves means denying that we have gifts or talents. That is not humility. Jesus did not do that. The question is, what do we do with our gifts? Do we use them to prop ourselves up, or do we use them to lift Jesus up?

Humility brings our gifts and everything God has given us before Him and asks, “How can I serve the world with what I have been given? How can I elevate Jesus and serve others with what I have to offer?”

Thomas: Lying about or hiding the truth about ourselves is not humility. Dishonesty is not a Christian virtue.

This is not like the dishonesty involved in hiding Jews from Nazis. This is simply about someone asking, “Will your book on marriage help my marriage?” and you saying, “I don’t know,” when you do know that it truly will. That kind of false humility hurts the reader, and it hurts you. In that way, it becomes toxic.

Shannon: Pretending I have nothing to offer is a false humility. When someone asks me to speak at an event or share the wisdom God has given me, and I say, “Oh, no, I would never,” that is not true humility. It often takes more humility to say, “I will. I may not feel fully equipped, but I will try, and I will rely on God to give me what I need.”

Kate: Relying on God is key. Where do our strengths, gifts, and talents come from? Humility recognizes that they come from Him. If we refuse to use them out of fear of appearing prideful, we deny others the opportunity to benefit from what God has given. It is important to acknowledge our gifts, recognize that they come from God, and be willing to use them for His glory in a way that serves the kingdom.

How are fear and pride linked?

Thomas: Ultimately, love casts out fear. The more you love your audience, the less fear you will have.

Shannon: Fear is often driven by a motivation that is not love. Usually, it is a desire to be esteemed or valued. We avoid situations where the opposite might happen. That is fear talking.

On the cover of Influence, Kate and I used a lifeguard stand as imagery. A platform lifts you up so you can be seen, just like a lifeguard. But as Christians, our goal is not to be admired. Our goal is to serve. We look out and see people floundering who need truth and help. If we look at them and say, “I’m not a very gifted lifeguard,” or “I don’t look good in this life jacket,” that is ridiculous. Our purpose in being lifted up is to serve others.

Thomas: And love motivates a lifeguard to do something dangerous.

When I earned my Life Saving Merit Badge in Boy Scouts, we practiced rescuing “drowning” instructors. A drowning person can pull you under. A trained lifeguard knows that and enters the water with full awareness of the danger. What drives them? Love.

Similarly, the more you love your readers and the more convinced you are that your book will help them, the more willing you are to dive in despite fear.

Shannon: Our motives can get tangled. We may start out wanting to serve and lift Jesus high. But once we are up on the platform, we suddenly realize we are in full view and start worrying about how we are being perceived. That is when fear rises.

When I feel that fear, it helps to return to my motivation. Why did I get on the platform in the first place? Was it to be admired or to make Jesus look great?

Let me share an example from this past week. I am launching a book in three weeks. With the coronavirus affecting everything, I decided to try something innovative by launching online groups since everyone is at home. Things did not go smoothly. Links broke, people signed up unpredictably, and suddenly I feared looking foolish to my publisher or to participants.

I was walking on the bike trail, praying and thinking about these fears, when I remembered my motivation. I wanted to serve women who were alone, overwhelmed, and consuming too much social media. They needed truth. That is why I started this. Remember, my reason for writing removed the fear. I still get to serve, and that was the goal all along.

How do we minimize the fear of what others think of us?

Thomas: Not caring what other people think is easy to say, but we still struggle with comparison. How can we reduce the power of other people’s opinions about us?

Kate: For me, it starts with remembering my identity in Christ and who He says I am. We are called to love our neighbors and our readers, but to do that, we first must be convinced of God’s love for us. His word gives us confidence.

Shannon: When fears come, and I doubt myself, I remind myself that if God has called me to something, He will equip me for it. I return to my identity in Christ and who He says I am, so I can step forward into the work He has given me.

How do we become more secure in our identity in Christ?

Thomas: Going back to your lifeguard metaphor, you have to be secure in your own swimming. If you can barely swim and keep your head above water, you are not ready to help someone else who is drowning.

When I was earning my Boy Scouts merit badge, I had to jump in the water and swim a significant distance. At the camp I attended, we swam half a mile down a river and half a mile back. At the time, I was on the swim team, so swimming that distance was no problem. We often swam a quarter or a third of a mile just during warmups.

Because I was secure in my own swimming ability and had put in that practice, the rescue exercise with the “drowning person” was easier.

How do we become more secure in our identity in Christ? What is the spiritual equivalent of swim practice, where you jump in and build strength through laps?

Shannon: I think it helps, when we face a new opportunity, to look back and ask,

• How has God already laid the foundation for me to do this?
• How has He opened doors?
• How has He brought mentors into my life?
• How has He affirmed these gifts through other people?

If nothing in my past has prepared me for this next level of platform, then maybe fear is signaling that I am not ready. As you mentioned, sometimes fear protects us from foolish choices. Often, though, opportunities do not come unless we are ready.

When we fear taking the next step, it helps to look back and say, “God has laid the foundation. This is new, and yes, this is a broader platform, but He will equip me. Everything He has already done helps me trust Him with the next step.”

Kate and I talk about this as the “foreword” of our ministry. The foreword of a book, the F-O-R-E-W-O-R-D, comes before the book and is usually written by someone else. As we step into our writing ministries, there is something that came before, something God wrote.

All of us can look back and say, “God wrote my foreword. He laid the foundation for me to step onto this platform.” And as Kate has said, Jesus is the foundation. Without Jesus, we have no platform for serving God.

Thomas: Another thing that helps is being faithful in the little things. Many people say, “I am afraid to speak on a big stage in front of a thousand people.” But no one is inviting them to speak on a stage in front of a thousand people.

You would be lucky to speak at a Rotary Club. You would be lucky to teach a Sunday school class of five students. But you have to be faithful there. You need the practice because there are lessons God wants to teach you in small things that prepare you for bigger things.

Yesterday, I sent out an email inviting people to a webinar. I mentioned that I was tired because we have two babies at home during quarantine without help, no babysitters, and no ability to go to the park. It was a little self-indulgent, and I felt guilty about that because I do not normally talk about myself.

A woman replied, “I’m offended that you sent this email.” It was a mean, nasty response, and it caught me off guard. I am inviting her to a free webinar, so why does she care? Obviously, she has things going on in her life.

But I have gone through seasons where I received dozens or hundreds of angry messages, or stood in rooms where people chanted against me, cussing at me. Going through that earlier season helped me handle this one angry email. It did not make the sting disappear, but it helped.

Overcoming fear requires doing the small things first. You speak on small stages. Your first book may not sell many copies, but you must be faithful to each reader and try to bless them. When you are faithful with little, God gives you more.

What can we learn from negative critiques?

Shannon: I would add that while critique is hard to receive, there is often a thread of truth in it. If we can be humble enough to receive it, it becomes helpful.

I do not think there was any truth in criticizing your email about being tired. From my perspective, that was completely legitimate. But when we put ourselves out there in small settings and try something new, receiving the feedback equips us for the next step.

Do not despise small beginnings. And when you receive critique, think of it as help. Say “thank you” and keep moving forward.

Kate: Sometimes criticism strengthens us and sharpens our craft. It can also propel us to do better the next time.

Maybe you wrote a book and received negative reviews or fewer stars than you hoped for. Those reviews can help you improve.

But they also force you to face the fear if you are thinking, “My fear came true.”

Now you must decide whether you are going to quit or continue using the gifts God has given. I have felt this myself. When I get a royalty check that is less than I hoped for, I think, “Was it worth spending all those years writing that book?”

Inevitably, the Lord sends a reader I have never met who emails me that week to say, “Your book encouraged me. I’m so glad you wrote it.” That reminds me why I write. Not for royalty checks, but for readers.

Even in disappointments, when our fears come true, we must decide whether to give up and let Satan win, or to press on and continue using the gifts God has given.

How do we discern which feedback to receive and which to ignore?

Thomas: That is really good, and it requires being secure in your identity to sort feedback. Some feedback is toxic. Some is misguided. You need to know when to ignore certain feedback.

Steve Laube often tells the story of receiving three chapters of an amazing sci-fi book. He asked to see the rest. Six months later, the author sent the full manuscript, and it was awful, including the original chapters, which had been rewritten and made worse.

The author had received feedback from romance writers who encouraged him to make the starship captain more in touch with his feelings. Suddenly, the military sci-fi had become a strange hybrid. Readers of military sci-fi do not want the captain agonizing over his emotions. They want him to know exactly what to do in battle.

We tend to fall into two ditches. One is rejecting all feedback, putting on a hard shell, and saying, “Haters gonna hate,” which cuts us off from helpful critique. The other is believing all feedback and concluding, “I am a worm. The whole internet hates me. I should give up.”

How do you discern which feedback to implement and which to ignore?

Kate: One thing that helps me is sharing the feedback with someone close to me who knows me and my work. I will say, “I got this email or review, and I am tempted to take it personally. Can you look at it and tell me whether there is truth in it, or whether I should dismiss it?”

Sometimes that person is my husband. Sometimes it is a mentoring group or mastermind group. I do not mean posting it on Facebook for a thousand people to weigh in. I mean asking trusted critique partners who can say, “This part is valid, this part is not,” or “This is completely false.”

You need someone who will be honest, not someone who simply says, “None of it is true. You are the best.” You need someone who will tell you the truth, and then you must be humble enough to receive it.

Shannon: I would add that as influencers, writers, and speakers, we sometimes back away from each other. We are afraid of each other. It hurts to be in a room with someone who has had more success.

Comparison is hard. But we need each other. Kate and I have been like that for each other. We have called each other, saying, “Look what they said about me. I am undone.” Then we help each other evaluate, think clearly, and regain perspective.

But we could easily have been afraid of each other from the beginning and never formed a friendship or written a book together. As Christians, we must overcome the fear of each other. We need each other. We must stand side by side as soldiers or lifeguards. We cannot do this on our own.

How can Christian authors overcome envy and unhealthy comparison?

Thomas: If you read the ancients, you see that envy and jealousy were considered terrible evils. These themes show up throughout old literature. Today, we rarely talk about envy.

Being in a room with someone more successful can stir envy or jealousy, and that creates a barrier between people. They have done nothing wrong. They worked hard or perhaps had some fortunate breaks. Their story is not your story, and you do not know their challenges. Yet envy isolates you.

Envy is one reason so many of us feel lonely right now. Yes, the pandemic has amplified loneliness, but we were lonely before. It is not as if Western civilization was doing a great job of cultivating deep friendships in 2019.

Now the obstacles to connection feel visible. We cannot bowl together or meet in a Sunday school room. Those barriers are obvious. But the invisible obstacle of jealousy is worse. We are afraid to share our successes because we fear others will envy us, and we envy others when they succeed.

Even worse, we compare at unhealthy levels. Someone says, “You sold 200 books, and I sold 250. I am a better author than you.” It is toxic in both directions, and it leaves everyone sadder and lonelier.

So what tips do you have specifically about envy and how to put it aside?

Shannon: James 3 talks about jealousy and selfish ambition and ties them to the “wisdom” from below. It even describes that mindset as satanic. Our enemy wants us to be jealous. He wants us to inflate ourselves and scramble to get ahead.

I am not someone who would simply say, “Stop comparing.” I do not see that instruction in Scripture. In fact, Jesus frequently used comparison in His teaching. He would place two people side by side in a story and invite His listeners to compare them. Think of the widow who put two coins in the offering. Jesus highlighted her gift and said she gave more than everyone else.

But Jesus invites us to compare in a completely different way. Not with a “measure up” mindset rooted in envy, but with a me-free mindset rooted in humility. It is not about elevating myself or feeling terrible when someone else does well. It is about serving.

If I approach other Christians and influencers with a me-free mindset, then I am free to compare in a healthy way. For example, I can say, “She is gifted to do that, and I am not,” or, “Her writing voice is different from mine, and God is using her over there and me over here.” That allows for collaboration.

I am not invited to speaking engagements because I have a dramatic life story. I am not like Kate, who lived in South Africa, married a South African, and lost her mom to cancer. Kate has a powerful story to tell. I do not have a defining story. My house never burned down. I have never lost someone to cancer. So what do I have to give?

When events want a speaker with a dramatic story, I often say, “I am probably not the right person. I tell little stories about my little life. People usually say I am relatable.” And God can use that, too. Even though I have a small life and small stories, I still struggle with big things, and God works through that.

Thomas: That is where God uses you, and that is okay. I love that. I remember volunteering for 40 Days for Life. These folks pray outside abortion clinics and sometimes counsel women as they go in, encouraging them to consider crisis pregnancy centers.

We would set up booths at churches, make announcements, and invite people to sign up for prayer shifts. The goal was to have someone praying outside the clinic around the clock or at least for twelve hours a day.

I remember one man who came up to me and said, “I totally support what you are doing. I am so busy with prison ministry that I cannot help, but I am glad you are doing this.” And my reaction was, “I’m so glad you are doing prison ministry, because I am doing this.”

It was a special moment. Much better than people who dodged us. This man said “no” honestly. He was busy doing the work God gave him to do. It felt like one part of the body saying to another, “Thank you for being a foot. I am an eye, and I am not equipped for what you do.”

That is the beauty of the church. God made us all differently. One of the toxic effects of unhealthy comparison is that it makes us forget this. How do you compare an eye and a foot? They are entirely different.

How does your quiz help people evaluate how they are approaching influence?

Shannon: You can take the quiz and find out whether you are thinking biblically about influence. Are you viewing influence the way Jesus wants you to, or have you been shaped by the world’s mindset?

It is a diagnostic tool to help you discern whether you need to spend more time with Jesus, examining your desire to build a platform.

Do either of you have any final tips or encouragement?

Shannon: Your example about the man in prison ministry and you working with 40 Days for Life is beautiful because you were focused on different things. Sometimes it is harder when two people are focused on the same thing. Then the sense of competition grows, especially if one person has a wider or taller platform.

Maybe you speak to groups of 5,000, and I speak to groups of 100. We need both speakers.

The 100-person group cannot afford the speaker who draws 5,000, and the one who is gifted to speak to 5,000 is needed in those contexts. God equips each of us for the ministry He assigns.

There is humility in saying, “I am a 100-person speaker,” and being content with that. I want to take every opportunity God gives me to serve those hundred people.

Imagine the church as a long pier with many lifeguard stations. People need to be watched over, and each of us takes our assigned spot. We are not comparing ourselves to the lifeguard next to us. We are simply serving faithfully in the space God gave us.

Kate: I would say remember who you belong to and remember who you are in Christ. Let that confidence in your identity propel you to use the gifts He has given you for His glory.

To help us deal with the issues of fear and comparison, we have the authors of Influence: Building a Platform That Elevates Jesus (Not Me). Kate Motaung and Shannon Popkin, welcome to the Christian Publishing Show!

Links

• Influence Quiz
• Kate Motaung’s’ Website
• Shannon Popkin’s Website

Sponsor: Christian Writers Institute

The Course of the Week: Deeper: Spiritual Formation for the Writer

A strong spiritual life is the foundation on which a writer can build their writing. It is important that every writer think deeply about this. God’s Word is a powerful source of strength and comfort.

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