Has Christian Publishing Lost Its Way?
As an admirer of Michael Hyatt, I greeted the release of his best-selling Platform book with great anticipation. But having read the book, I find myself disappointed at its underlying message and deeply concerned about the overall condition of the Christian publishing industry.
There’s no doubt that Hyatt offers many truths about the difficulty of getting our message heard in a noisy world. And he highlights a dazzling array of useful technological tools for breaking through the fog and gaining a higher platform.
As a preacher and writer, these are issues of great interest to me. I want to get my message disseminated to a wider audience and am eager to learn from experts like Michael Hyatt. Yet I’ve been frustrated by Christian publishers’ increasing reliance on “platform” as the primary criterion for evaluating a book proposal. I sometimes wonder if Matthew, Mark, Luke or John could have gotten their book published today. And as the former CEO of Thomas Nelson, Michael Hyatt is one of the industry leaders responsible for this trend.
I can’t help wondering if much of this is akin to the story in Genesis 11, where some enterprising people sought a higher platform in order to make a name for themselves. Their concern wasn’t to further God’s kingdom but to advance their own.
From my perspective, Michael Hyatt’s book is largely amoral when it comes to the purpose of the platform. Yes, he talks about creating “wow” through great products we can promote via our platform. But communicating God’s truth is a lot different than just creating products of our own hands—products that may turn out to be like the bricks created in Genesis 11. The only true and lasting wow occurs when an endeavor is marked by God’s supernatural touch.
iPhones are an excellent product, and Steve Jobs definitely was gifted at promoting the “wow.” Yet iPhones aren’t inherently virtuous. They can be used either for good or for evil, and the same can be said of a platform. Building a platform can be pointless, or even evil, if our purpose is not God’s purpose.
How would Jesus handle technology if He lived in the 21st century? Would He boast that he had a billion Facebook friends or Twitter followers—or would He purposely “unfriend” people or delete Twitter followers who were followers in name only?
The bottom line is this: Michael Hyatt’s book is unwittingly promoting the Cult of the Celebrity. Before you can get your Christian book published these days, you first must make yourself a celebrity. If you have as many Twitter followers as Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga, your chances are pretty good—regardless of the book’s message.
I dove into the world of Twitter only recently. It was a landmark day when I had the same number of Twitter followers as the number of people in my church when I was a pastor. But although I was excited that my numbers kept growing, I was troubled that only a small portion of my so-called followers even knew who I was. And many were clearly following merely out of self-interest, hoping I would follow them back and increase their numbers.
In Platform, Michael Hyatt makes many references to his use of analytics to evaluate the responses he gets to his blogs and tweets. While I have no problem with analyzing results, I’m grieved that this is what much of the Christian church world and publishing world have become: It’s all about the numbers, baby. While I’m sure God LOVES numbers when they represent transformed lives, numbers on Facebook or Twitter are usually pretty shallow, aren’t they?
In stark contrast, Jesus changed the entire world with a core group of 12 rather dysfunctional men, none of whom started with much of a platform. Yes, He fed thousands at times, but His hope was never that the crowds would change the world. He put His focus on disciples.
And Jesus never told His disciples to seek a higher platform. To the contrary, He told them to kneel down and get low enough to wash each other’s feet (John 13:14-15). He taught that we should humble ourselves and seek out the lowest place at the banqueting table (Luke 14:7-11, 20:46).
Some of the elements in Platform seem quite elitist. Not everyone can afford to get a new headshot taken by a professional photographer every few years, as he recommends. Few people have the resources to follow his advice and get an image consultant and voice coach. (Can you imagine Jesus getting help from an image consultant or voice coach? What a conversation that would be!)
Not everyone is as technologically astute as Hyatt, and here again, this comes across as elitist. Yes, some of us do still have AOL e-mail addresses, which he says is a turnoff to the publishing gatekeepers who long ago upgraded to the 21st century. Instead, we should all have our very own Internet domain, promoting our own name and branding.
Indeed, that seems to be the chief objective advocated in Platform: to promote our own name and branding. At best, this objective is extremely shallow. At the worst, it violates a key precept of Scripture: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory” (Psalm 115:1).
From a practical perspective, Hyatt is probably right about his suggestions. This is how the Christian publishing world works, a world he has been instrumental in creating. But where is Jesus in this Cult of Celebrity? I’m sincerely trying to figure that out.
Jim Buchan
Charlotte, NC
Comments
Great to hear from you, Paula. Thanks for your words of encouragement.
Thanks Jim, i sent this to a friend in Christian books sales.
I have an old Morning Star journal article that i have copied many times over : Preparing the church for harvest!! It is a gem and i believe very timely. Perhaps you could post this here.
Glad i found you visible again.
Grace