On Self-Promotion and Influence as a Christian Writer and Teacher
Douglas Groothuis, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Cornerstone University
We live in the age of exhibitionism as a way of life. Social critic, Christine Rosen, calls it “ego casting.”¹ We find it pandemic on the internet. We strive to build a “platform” for our influence, mostly through social media. We trade in “likes” and “shares.” Too many people want to become “influencers” when, in fact, they may have neither the content nor character worth influencing anyone. They may be good and influencing and thus become influential. They may have a killer “brand.” In 1961, Daniel Borstin warned in The Image that many people (particularly celebrities) were “well known for their wellknowness.”
But what is, in Kierkegaard’s phrase, “the audit of eternity,” if we seek popularity above truth and good character? It is but wood, hay, and stubble (at best), as Paul warned:
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds. For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
Viewed another way, we live in the grand age of apologetics (broadly understood). As social-critic-extraordinaire Os Guinness writes:
We are all apologists now, and we stand at the dawn of the grand age of human apologetics, or so some are saying because our wired world and our global era are a time when expressing, presenting, sharing, defending and selling ourselves have become a staple of everyday life for countless millions of people around the world, both Christians and others. The age of the Internet, it is said, is the age of the self and the selfie. The world is full of people full of themselves. In such an age, “I post, therefore I am.”
To put the point more plainly, human interconnectedness in the global era has been raised to a truly global level, with unprecedented speed and on an unprecedented scale. Everyone is now everywhere, and everyone can communicate with everyone else from anywhere and at any time, instantly and cheaply. Communication through social media in the age of email, text messages, cell phones, tweets, and Skype is no longer from “the few to the many,” as in the age of the book, the newspaper and television, but from “the many to the many,” and all the time.²
In light of this situation, we need to carefully and critically ponder what kind of influence and self-promotion we should pursue as followers of Jesus Christ.
Developing a Godly Influence
This is the way of the world, but we should be cautious to embrace it. We should, rather, critique the pandemic of ego-casting and the aspiration to be an influencer at all costs. The primary question is: Do I have something true and reasonable and noteworthy to say that others need to hear and that glorifies God? The many biblical passages about sobriety in teaching should give us pause, but not debilitate us if God has called us to write and teach the Church and the world. Here are several of those passages:
Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find delightful sayings and to record accurate words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and the anthologies of the masters are like firmly embedded nails driven by a single Shepherd. And by these, my son, be further warned: There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body (Ecclesiastes 12:9-12).
For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts (Malachi 2:7).
For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel (Ezra 7:10).
In everything, show yourself to be an example by doing good works. In your teaching show integrity, dignity, and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us (Titus 2:7-8).
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body (James 3:1-2).
In other words, if your mind is empty, don’t open your mouth or post online or write books or do podcasts. However, if you are living out your calling as a teacher and writer—and this has been verified through experience, prayer, and the advice of friends—then you should seek to maximize a godly influence.³ This is because the most important truths need to be broadcast widely, since this fallen world is often starved for truth.
My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children” (Hosea 4:6).
Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction (Proverbs 29:11).
Christianity is a knowledge tradition and we must bring the knowledge of God back into the world through our efforts.
Eight Principles for Godly Influence
Once we have a message worth communicating broadly (through teaching, writing, and mentoring), we need to adhere to principles so that we don’t fall into vainglory and noxious self-promotion.
1. Remain or become humble, however gifted or well-received you may be. Your abilities and success come from God’s grace, not from your own autonomous abilities. Don’t believe in yourself and, as Kierkegaard warned, “of all deceivers, fear most yourself.”. Trust in the Lord and return thanks for all your achievements. “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble’” (James 4:6). Read Andrew Murray’s classic work on this, Humility: The Heart of Righteousness.
2. Offer your knowledge to the world, but don’t exalt in yourself or your own abilities. “Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips” (Proverbs 27:2).
3. Although we should rely on others to praise us, we should not court approval for selfish reasons. As Jesus said, “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). And as Jesus also said, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15).
4. Nor should we overdo getting endorsements. Recently, I have noticed that some books feature page after page of endorsements. This is in bad taste. No more than four or five endorsements from respected experts are needed. More than that is showy and ungainly.
5. Don’t let the quantity of your influence exceed the quality of your influence. Getting “likes” is not the same as the applause of heaven, and many endorse popular errors. It was a crowd that called for the crucifixion of Jesus and a crowd that stoned Stephen (Acts 7).
6. Don’t let the desire for a broad audience eclipse your investment in being with particular people, such as friends and students, face-to-face and over a long period of time. The Apostle John esteemed being with people above merely writing to them.
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete (2 John 12).
I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face (3 John 13-14).
The Apostle Paul believed the same:
I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles (Romans 1:11-13).
7. If you have significant knowledge to offer the world, don’t be shy about making it available. Be humble and not vainglorious (as mentioned), but get the word out there! If you have invested in long years of education, research, and writing, you should want others to benefit from your labors.
When I am lecturing, I often mention that I have written an article, review, or book about the topic I am addressing. I do this so people can delve more deeply into the topic if they desire. Your published writing is an offering to the world for the glory of God. Of course, you don’t want to talk about your own work at the expense of other good works.
8. Endeavor to distribute your work as widely as possible, through as many media as possible, in order to reach as many as possible with significant truths. As Paul wrote, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:22-23). But never compromise your integrity or cut corners in so doing. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).
The Preacher of Ecclesiastes wrote of engaging in many financial endeavors because one does not know which one will succeed. We can apply the same principle to the dissemination of our work:⁴
Ship your grain across the sea;
after many days you may receive a return.
Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
If clouds are full of water,
they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.
Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well (Ecclesiastes 11:1-6).
A Concluding Personal Reflection
How have I influenced the church and the world for the cause of Christ through my writing and speaking? I began my public ministry in 1979 at age twenty-two, when I joined the staff of the McKenzie Study Center in Eugene, Oregon, located near the University of Oregon. I had a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and zeal to show that Christianity was intellectually respectable and could hold up and even triumph in the world of ideas. To that end, I taught a course on campus, discipled students, did evangelism, and studied relentlessly. My basic vision for ministry was in place and it has not changed. During that time, I researched and wrote my first book, Unmasking the New Age (InterVarsity, 1986).
Along the way, I received three degrees in philosophy from secular schools and have engaged the world of ideas through my teaching, preaching, writing, and mentoring. I have published twenty books, over thirty academic articles and countless essays and reviews. I regularly give podcasts and do radio interviews as well as regular teaching and lectures around the country. Every day, I reflect on how I might get the word out there that Christ is Lord and that the Christian worldview pertains to every area of life because it is true, rational, and meaningful. I hope I have avoided shameless self-promotion and arrogance. Please join me so you can reach people that I cannot reach because you know things I do not know and you have gifts that I do not have. Let us finish with the eternal words of Jesus:
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16).
1. Christine Rosen, “The Age of Ego-Casting,” The New Atlantis (Fall 2004-Winter, 2005), https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-age-of-egocasting.
2. Guinness, Os. Fool's Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion (p. 15). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
3. On calling, see Os Guinness, The Call (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003).
4. I apply this to apologetics in Douglas Groothuis, “Cast Your Bread on the Water: Taking Risks and Being Creative in Christian Witness,” Christian Research Journal, Vol. 37, no. 4 (2014). https://www.equip.org/articles/cast-bread-waters-taking-risks-creative-christian-witness.