“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Over the last few months, I’ve been on a journey with God as I seek literary representation for my next non-fiction manuscript. I’ve been unpleasantly surprised to learn that the majority of publishers will not consider a newish author without a literary agent. And many literary agents aren’t interested unless an author already has a huge social media following and can prove their saleability.
Frustration and disappointment come to mind when I have thought about the traditional publishing world. Christian or not, both types of literary agents can seem incredibly competition driven, making authors feel as if their literary works are somehow worthless because despite all of the heart-and-soul writing, a “lower followers” social media account somehow disqualifies an author’s value and meaningful message.
I’m in my third round of submissions to new literary agents with a small amount of hope left that maybe something will be different this time, and someone may actually be interested. But what if not?
Well, then I am so thankful that we live in an era where self-publishing is a wonderful alternative option! I’ve been working on this one book now for a couple of years off and on, and I’ve reached the conclusion that the message of the book must be shared. It has always been to God’s glory that I write, so I am open to however he desires the message to unfold to others.
A couple Bible verses that keep surfacing in my heart are from 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 where Paul encourages believers to make it their ambition to lead a quiet life, mind their own business, work with their hands and gain the respect of those around them.
What does that mean for an aspiring author with a smaller following on social media platforms? It’s OKAY! God has my next book baby in his hands and he has a plan with it regardless of how it enters the world and how many readers get the message. I can stop worrying about trying to gain a vast amount of more followers. I can stop comparing myself to other authors who have successfully managed to write and get their social media numbers up.
In fact, I think we would ALL do better if we kept these verses in our minds and remembered, when we are scrolling social media and playing the comparison game, that we each have our own beautiful life to live. God has created each one of us for a unique purpose in whatever field he unfolds in our lives. We really can’t do an equal comparison because our stories as so vastly different.
The heart of the issue is really idolizing those who are extremely successful in this world. We are so mesmerized by both Christian and non-Christian authors who have made it big or rather those in the spotlight made popular for their music, art, acting, or other skill and then turned author. Many of us are tempted to emulate these celebrities, but the truth is, the majority of us were never designed to make it so big. Our stories will never reach the billions, millions, thousands, or even hundreds, but that does not diminish the value of what the Lord is doing in our lives.
On the contrary, there is even more beauty in a humble life of serving God through the consistency of everyday life, loving our people, and sharing Jesus in creative ways never even seen on social media. 1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
On or offline, we can make it our aim to be humble like Jesus and even celebrate having very ordinary lives because then God gets more of the glory without pride, ego, and popularity to get in the way. There is no promise of how high God will lift us up, but in due time, our lives will surely have a deeply satisfying meaning that is most attractive to others when it’s clearly not about ourselves.
The most godly, influential people on the planet will hardly ever be seen in the limelight, because they are too busy keeping their eyes, hearts, minds, and souls on eternity with God. They are about their own business, working tirelessly to spread the good news of Jesus through whatever work the Lord has for them to do throughout their lifetimes. They don’t need the praise of those around them, because they are so focused on pleasing their audience of One. God is so pleased with them and will use their life stories to positively impact this broken world for good however he deems fit. No one else’s opinion matters when all of what is offered is for the Lord God’s delight and glory.
Lead a quiet life. Mind your own business. Work with your hands. Win the respect of outsiders. Don’t be dependent on anybody.
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