A People of Influence
At prayer last night we were talking with the Lord about influence - about becoming people of influence, being good stewards of that influence, using influence to advance the Kingdom – and I realized that just as transformed people transform people… influenced people influence people.
Human beings tend to be reactive, responding to whatever stimulus looms large in our hearts. We have a tendency to respond in kind to whatever comes along, like a thermometer. We also have a tendency to take this response and pass it on to others. This is why Kingdom living is so radically counter-cultural. We don’t take what comes and dish it back out – we release the presence of God instead.
No matter who you are, what you do, how you live, everywhere you go you will influence someone in some way. Whether subtle or profound, all of us are people of influence.
When was the last time you had a bad day? Be honest – you passed it on to someone else, didn’t you? It seems like some people have perpetual bad days, and they inflict that on everyone they meet. (Hurt people tend to hurt people, too). Conversely, the last time someone did something really, really nice for you and made you feel good, you went and did something nice for someone else, didn’t you? That’s influence.
Peer pressure is an incredible force, and not just among young people. Adults deal with peer pressure as well: we must conform to “standards” or we will be social outcasts. We live in fear of making a social faux pas, a mistake, a failure, because our peer group may then reject us. The opposite holds true as well – when we are in social situations where we are encouraged and empowered, we bring that empowerment to others within our sphere of influence.
Thirdly, consider our vocabulary. Have you ever noticed that your vocabulary changes slightly, based on who you hang around with? Social groups (work, church, neighborhood, special interest, region) tend to develop set of words and phrases that are unique to that group. New people to the group must pick up on this vocabulary in order to become assimilated into the group. New people who leverage their influence are capable of changing the group’s vocabulary. If enough people begin using the new words and employing the concepts behind them, a cultural shift can happen.
We influence one another.
What if we start speaking the language of Heaven everywhere we go? What if we consciously and deliberately interject Kingdom words, Kingdom phrases, Kingdom concepts into every conversation we have? What if we refuse to adopt the language of our culture and instead use our influence to shape culture?
What if we deliberately encourage and empower people to develop a Kingdom mindset… to begin living the lives that God desires for them…what if we begin engaging in conscious, deliberate acts of love everywhere we go? What if we get up in the morning with the goal of calling the treasure out of every person we meet? What if we take our lives off “autopilot” and become very aware, very engaged, very conscious and deliberate, very focused on advancing the Kingdom in every encounter with others?
We are the house of God and we carry Holy Spirit around inside of us everywhere we go. That means we’re no longer thermometers, that must react to whatever the temperature is in the room. He makes us into thermostats – we can release Him and change the atmosphere.We can shape…transform…reform culture.
Influence.
How will you use your influence today?
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A friend (who is not a believer), read my recent post on the subject of influence. She sent me some questions/comments via email, which I got permission to condense and reprint here:
My reply:
Influence is a fact of life. Everywhere we go, everything/everyone we see/hear/feel/touch influences us. You’d have to be born in a sterile environment with no human contact whatsoever to be influence-free.
From the moment we’re born, we’re influenced by people – our parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and so on…salesmen…doctors… the media, movies, TV, advertising… books we read… things we see in the spirit… we make decisions based off the influences in our lives and how much credit we give to them. Every decision we make is as a result of such influence.
Who did you vote for? Who did you not vote for? Why?
What style of clothing are you wearing? Where does that style come from?
What music do you listen to and why? And how does that music influence other factors in your life?
Who introduced you to that chocolate wine you talk about? If you discovered it on your own, how did you find it? see it in the store… see an ad for it? What drew you to it? (Guessing previous positive experiences with chocolate and wine; if you’d had negative previous experiences with either you wouldn’t be likely to try it).
Now the harder stuff… how did you get involved… and un-involved… with church? (pssst… influence). Why do you retain a negative image of most Christians? (yep, you guessed it)
Influence can be both positive and negative. If something leaves a bad taste in our mouth, we’re not likely to try it again… even if it’s something that we previously liked! It takes a LOT to overcome negative influences. Twenty years ago, I ate some of those teeny-tiny shrimp salad shrimps that come in a can, and got food poisoning. Guess what I can’t eat, twenty years later? Other kinds of shrimp I’m fine with, but those? ::shudder::
Can people be influenced into accepting the Gospel of the Kingdom? Absolutely. (and the converse is true as well – how many non-Christians do you know who have had bad experiences with evangelism)
I don’t think that people can be tricked or coerced into accepting the gospel. Could someone “sign on the dotted line” of the “contract” – sure. people do that all the time. I’m not convinced they’re really saved, if that’s all it amounts to for them
But influenced? yes. Definitely. Jesus went around influencing people. He stepped into a culture and brought about very deliberate transformation everywhere He went: healing the sick, cleansing lepers, casting out demons, upsetting religious applecarts… He was a person of influence. He influenced the culture but more importantly, He influenced a rag-tag band of misfits and through that influence brought them to a place where they could step into their destinies… and they changed the world. One place they went, people said that the people who had turned the world upside down had come there! They influenced. We still feel their influence today… not to mention His!