by Blythe Daniel @BlytheDaniel

When I was a student rising in the ranks of junior high and high school, the tall, full-of-life (and voice!) choir director would distinctly take a stand on a platform so we could see him as we nervously prepared our songs. The prepared platform gave him the opportunity to step up and have a space to lead us. We were in a sense followers of notes and tunes.. a message that came through the space of melodic phrases..

Today, platform has a different context, and with it, sometimes a note that seems off-key for some. It seems as though stepping up on a platform can feel like stepping to announce yourself when, in reality, it’s really the space that others can see you leading. Just like my choir director, we needed him to be above so we could see him to follow along. And he guided us to make the notes come together..

I believe that platform provides a necessary tool today for you to step up and lead in a song of your own. It is the way that others hear the Gospel through your carefully crafted words, your message.

I think about the way that eager and some judgmental crowds pressed into to hear Jesus speak. They gathered on grassy hillsides, dusty roads, in tight-fit spaces I synagogues, an overturned temple, a well, courtyards, and many other platform places. These were the places that people tuned into listen. Their desire to hear and at least entertain his words (if not fully believe them) propelled the need for His disciples to physically mark space for Him and allow others to hear this great Teacher eloquently share the Gospel. Standing higher on a hill or up on a boat – being raised up so others could see and hear him was necessary, not considered self-promotion.

We need to see the rise of platform as a calling, not a title. Stepping up literally to lead others to the Gospel is our mission. Jesus told us to point people to Him. His words were: Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations  baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19, NLT)

If this was so fully on Jesus’ heart, why are we so afraid to create a platform from which we can tell others about Christ? So many writers are so hesitant to build or create the tools from which they will make disciples with the message they are writing with their words.

The rise of the need for the Gospel points to the need for the rise of platform. Why do we shy away with the need to lead others to Christ?

One of the biggest questions I hear as an agent is “what kind of platform do publishers need to see?” While I understand the question, I want so desperately to say “what kind of platform are you stepping onto to make Christ visible? How loud are you sharing His Gospel?

How are you going to be able to share the message God has given you to share unless you step up, literally and figuratively? Jesus was not counting the numbers in front of him but he made himself available to teach wherever His Father sent him. That’s us. Where does God send us? On the roadway of social media where sign posts direct us to the messages our hearts can share. Or down the path of the speeding Internet at a download speed that doesn’t compete with the comets and stars in the sky that God used to direct others to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in a still, small stable.

If the wise men, disciples, prophets from long ago were willing to preach and reach others with and for Jesus, why don’t we?

It may be stepping out of a comfort zone to attract a crowd with a message you’d rather not be delivering. Maybe it’s a life circumstance you are now writing about. You might wish you had a different message to share. Or you may be so excited to share your message that you haven’t fully seen how it’s best to bring others into a message they can relate to, not just your own. But no matter the story, parable, or message, you are offering Christ. You are serving the King who gave His life for you.

The rise platform isn’t so that we increase but so that He does. Are you ready  to rise up for Him?

I typically refer to platform as “audience engagement.” And how engaged was Jesus with those around him? He would step aside to hear a whisper, stop a crowd to hear the one on the side or up in a tree who needed to know Him. How are we noticing others in an attempt to engage with them?

I hope that as we equate the rise of platform with publishers, that we quickly see that rising up as platform builders of the one true Gospel, we’ll have greater effect there than anywhere else. Will you join me in the rise?

Blythe Daniel is a literary agent and marketer and has been in publishing for over 20 years. She has written for Proverbs 31 Ministries, Focus on the Family, Ann Voskamp, and Christian Retailing. She and her mother Dr. Helen McIntosh are the authors of Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters (Harvest House Publishers).

www.theblythedanielagency.com; www.ourmendedhearts.com