Truth and Responsibility to the Reader
Truth
Here’s a Bible verse about truth:
“And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper.” — Daniel 8:12
This verse means truth is thrown to the ground, that is, disregarded; the horn (a bad guy from v.11) will prosper for a time with truth out of the way.
But when I heard this verse the other morning, at first I thought it meant the opposite: “Truth is thrown to the ground and it prospers.”
In my mind it was the truth being planted like an acorn and growing roots and sprouting to a massive tree.
Sadly, that’s not what Daniel meant. But we can learn from the true meaning. When the truth is discarded (thrown to the ground), evil prospers. May we all be willing to pick the truth up and publish it.
Responsibility to the Reader
I am a pastor and have been one for over two decades.
The most important thing I’ve learned about leadership is that I am NOT responsible FOR anyone, but I am responsible TO everyone.
This applies to authoring a book for a reader who you love, want to help, and in whose transformation you are invested. Set yourself free from feeling responsible for her. But own your sacred responsibility to her. Speak the truth and entrust it to your autonomous reader to take it or leave it.
Pray for her to take it, but remember when you are praying that God also leaves her their free will with an invitation to live according to the Spirit and the truth, knowing that very often she will not. You have taken responsibility for your part: the writing. Let the reader now take hers.
What I’m Reading
Buy Back Your Time is an excellent book by Dan Martell. It’s about business and ways to think of hiring–not to grow your business, but rather to buy back your time so you can do more of what you love and are great at.
I’m truly enjoying it, not just because I find it incredibly practical, but because it is an example of a book that is put together very well. I recommend it for those of you trying to write any kind of book on transformation (I’m trying to avoid saying “self-help”!).