Before Jesus was born, the way (channel) was prepared so that when He stood up to speak to the people, his platform would be assured. God actually prepared that platform over a period of 4,000 years so that His ministry would have relevance to that world. Sin and judgment were two primary concepts that were ingrained in the social conscience before He came.
God also prepared the physical distribution channels, by introducing Jesus to the world only once the Romans had completed their roads and the Greek language had universalized communications. This also shows great attention to detail, which reflects how deeply serious God was about the process of salvation and judgment.
Then Jesus built on that platform to establish a higher platform for the cross. Jesus used His three short years of human life to meticulously prepare for the cross, approaching His destiny with absolute single-mindedness. Indeed His miracles were far more about laying foundations for the cross rather than a gratuitous act of mercy.
Once He had made His great sacrifice and written our salvation story in His own blood, God raised up heralds (apostles and followers), who could take the message to the nations and then He kick-started the process by scattering those believers to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.
Thus God left nothing to chance – He knew how to prepare for life after the cross and He prepares in advance for the conclusion of those projects that He entrusts to us – things will not catch Him by surprise, but you will need to follow His lead and apply your faith to see your writings successfully birthed. He will almost certainly continue teaching you His ways in the process of getting your works to market, but then He is a very good marketer – He executed an effective marketing campaign to disseminate the gospel to the four corners of the earth.
He also used channels that were relevant to that culture, notably the Greek language, Roman roads, Jewish synagogues, Greek debates, etc. Our channels today include the Internet, email, networking, e-books and blogging, amongst others. Paul would have recommended using all of those, that “by any means some might be saved”.
I advocate a similar multi-channel strategy. One new writer harnessed all these channels including networking through established networks, like Christian magazines – to get her books to market. She has seen a steady increase in orders and hits for her various marketing channels, a great example worth following.
Relying on a single channel, like a publisher or a pulpit, simply does nothing in terms of adding real value to your readers. You have to go to them and stop assuming that they should come to you. God set the example, reaching out to the world and meeting us at the crossroads of life, without waiting for us to come to Him. Its hard enough to build a following or get published, so better you get used to trying every channel you can find and keep doing so long after you succeed, because it takes substantially more to win an audience than sustain one. Besides they deserve to be rewarded for their support.
(c) Peter Eleazar @ www.4u2live.net
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