Step up and
become an influencer!
You can be an influencer! You should be an
influencer!
Yes. I just said that. Now, before you go thinking
that I’ve lost all my marbles, and decided to take the blog in another
direction, please, calm down and read on.
I wrote on this topic a few years back and I feel like
bringing it up again for those, like myself, who need to hear it again, or for
the first time.
My jumbled thoughts began bouncing around in my easily
distracted, slightly scrambled brain and got me thinking about this idea of
being an influencer.
This word is tossed around so much in our present day it
got me thinking, what if we, as Christians, began to consciously,
wholeheartedly, determinedly and steadfastly, set our eyes upon the goal of becoming
influencers for God?
Before I go into more on this subject, I want to
refresh your mind as to what an influencer is, in the world’s definition.
Firstly, an
influencer is someone who has the power to affect the decisions of others,
because of his or her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with their
audience. Secondly, an influencer is someone who affects or changes the
way other people behave, and they have the ability to influence opinions. Thirdly,
an influencer is a person who is paid by a company to show and promote that
company’s products and services on social media, encouraging others in their
sphere of influence to buy them.
With those thoughts in mind, switch your thinking
caps on, focus and be ready to be influenced by me to influence you to be influencers
for God!
Did you know that we are all influencers? When
we decide to trust Jesus as our personal Saviour and ask Him into our lives, we
become influencers. Not just influencers, but ambassadors for Christ. Official
representatives, messengers, commissioned by God to share the good news.
2 Corinthians 5:20 - Now then we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God.
As an ambassador for Christ, we have been
approved by God to be entrusted with the precious gospel message.
1 Thessalonians 2:4 - But as we were allowed of
God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men,
but God, which trieth our hearts.
As we go through our lives here on this earth, we are
representing another kingdom. The heavenly kingdom where our citizenship lies.
And we need to take the message of God’s love to everyone we meet. We need to be Godly representatives of the
heavenly kingdom. But we have to be wise.
Matthew 10:16 - Behold, I send you forth as sheep
in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as
doves.
This world is full of wolves, and we are sheep. So, we
must be wise. God is longing for His children to be good influencers. Wise
ambassadors. People with clean testimonies, pure hearts and minds, Godly
character, love, hope and joy.
As Christians, we are watched by the world. They are
watching and judging all we do. We can choose to have a Godly influence over
them and our fellow Christians, or we can choose to bring dishonour to God and
have a bad testimony that brings shame upon God’s holy name.
The Bible reminds us that we are salt and light.
Now that’s definitely an entirely different sermon on its own for another day.
But let’s read what the Bible says.
Matthew 5:13-16 - Ye are the salt of the
earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?
it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under
foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an
hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We need to be salt, making the world thirsty for the
living water. And we are to be light. A light in the darkness. Sharing the hope
that lies within us. Letting God’s glory shine through us. When people see us,
let it be God they see.
In the world, an influencer is all about getting
attention. They want the glory and all eyes on them. Sadly, what starts as a small
hobby or something to pass the time, can quickly become an obsession and a
place of self-gratification. More likes. More great comments. More tags. More
follows. More more more.
But as an influencer for God, we need to be
turning all eyes upon Him. We need to be continually turning
the focus back on the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be influencing those around
us to turn to God.
We can become ‘someone who has the power to affect
the decisions of others’. By our
testimony, we can help show others the way that in turn, Lord willing, will see
them come to know Christ on a personal level. We can ‘affect the way others
behave’, just by setting a Godly example. Lives are changed yes, by God,
but He allows us to have a part in that by being an example. Now, we may not be
selling anything or encouraging anyone to buy a product, but we can encourage
others to learn about the marvellous gift that God so freely gives to those who
will accept it.
So, how can we be influencers of God? Allow me to
share with you 5 ways.
We need to be examples. Good and Godly examples.
1.
Be an example in our speech
Our words need to reflect the love of
Christ and be edifying and thankful, full of grace and seasoned with salt. Your
words are important. What you say matters. (and how you say it)
Ephesians 5:4 - Neither filthiness,
nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving
of thanks.
Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of
edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Colossians 4:6 - Let your speech be
alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer
every man.
2.
Be an example in how we act (our
testimony)
Our conversation, or testimony, our
manner of life, our conduct, needs to be a good and Godly example. We can’t
expect to be influencers for God if we act like the world.
1 Peter 1:15 - But as he which hath called you is
holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
3.
Be an example in love
Now, I know this is a lengthy and
well-known passage, but can I encourage you to read it all the way through? We
need to be reminded about the importance of love in our Christian walk. We need
to show love for others. Without love, our efforts are worthless. A tinkling
cymbal.
Interestingly enough, the Greek word
for tinkling is Alalazo which means to ring loudly, or clang. So,
it’s not a nice little ching, ching sound. It’s a clanging sound! An annoying,
loud sound. Hmm, our words are annoying without love. But so are our actions.
Without love, there is little profit.
1 Corinthians 13:1-8 - Though I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as
sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have
all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity
suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in
the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies,
they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be
knowledge, it shall vanish away.
4.
Be an example in faith
People need to see our faith, not
just hear about it. They need to see our faith in action. We need to practice
what we preach. We need to share what we believe, and we need to live what we
believe. We need to live out our faith.
James 2:14-17 - What doth it profit,
my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save
him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of
you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye
give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
5.
Be an example in our pursuits
Jeremiah 29:13 - And ye shall seek
me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all our heart.
What is it you pursue? The praise of
men? Attention? Money? Fame? The Lord wants us to pursue Him with all our
hearts. He promises that if we seek Him, we shall find Him. It’s not wrong to
have goals, but we need to make sure that they are the goals that God would
have us have.
We are all influencers.
In some way or another. We are influencing those around us on a daily basis.
Whether it be our families, our co-workers, our ‘friends’ on social
media or our church family. Any number of people come across our path as we go
about our business, and any one of them can be influenced by us. The attitude
that emanates from us is often more powerful than our words.
To honour God with our influence, we
need to start by remembering who we are and who God is. Put God in His rightful
place, high and lifted up, and us, in our proper place, in a place of humility.
Remembering that we came from the dust of the earth and God in His love and
mercy, came down to this earth to rescue our wretched souls from eternal
damnation. He doesn’t owe us anything, and yet, He chose to extend to us His
free gift of salvation. Get the right perspective and be content to live in the
shadows, letting God get all the glory.
John 3:30 - He must increase, but I
must decrease.
Be on the lookout to always be pointing
others to Christ and away from ourselves. The influencers of this world
want all the attention upon themselves, but God wants us to give Him all the
glory and be humble and meek.
Don’t compare yourself to others
around you, or those you see online. Be content to serve where
God has placed you. In the town, in the church, in the family He has put you
in. Don’t worry about what others are doing, just concern yourself with what
you’re doing and where God would have you.
Be an influence on those in whose
circles God has put you in. If God gives you the opportunity to share with a
wider audience, then grab hold of it with both hands and pray that God would
keep you humble and that you will be able to be an influencer of good in
other’s lives.
And lastly, remain in the vine.
John 15:5-8 - I am the vine, ye are
the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he
is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them
into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in
you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
The Bible is clear that if we remain
in the vine, diligently seeking His heart and His wisdom, remaining close to
Him, we will bear fruit. Much fruit.
I pray that as you’ve read through
this post, that you have been challenged to be an influencer for God. I want to
encourage you to take seriously this idea of letting your light shine forth
into a dark world, influencing those around you for good.
Let’s encourage each other, as brothers
and sisters in Christ, to be the kind of influencer that God would have us be.
1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
We are here
to influence the world, rather than to be influenced by the world!
