Influencers
I’m fascinated and a bit saddened by the phrase ”mass media influencer.” It seems there are people who make a living “influencing” others to buy, to protest, to join and to share –all of it via social media. It’s a new medium, but the idea is as old as the Greeks on the pavement of the Acropolis. Think it, share it, take it apart and relate it. Turn it over, wring it out, take pleasure in its emptiness and lack of substance. Make someone laugh; make someone cry; make someone mad. Be the first to get two billion followers. For what?
Last Monday one of our church saints went home to meet the Master. His long life was marked by hospitality and kindness to his very large extended family and his neighbors. I knew him as my school bus driver when I first moved to Florida, but he touched the lives of many people in retail, as a mail carrier, and as a farmer. His good humor and friendliness brought many new people into our church. Over the years, he had served as deacon, Sunday School teacher, custodian and groundskeeper. He could be found sweeping the front church step or cooking fish for a crowd. I knew him for almost fifty years, and I never heard him say a critical word about another person. In fact, he had the sweetest way of deflecting negativity by changing the subject to God’s goodness. As he lay struggling to recover in his last days, when the nurses would ask him questions regarding his health, he would say, “I have a question for you. Do you know the Lord?” His celebration service was powerful because of his testimony. I left thinking, “Wow! What a standard he set!”
Not long after the day of Pentecost, the disciples ministered within the temple grounds. The crowds who worshiped in the courtyards that day watched the lame man healed and go off running and leaping. They heard Peter and marveled at his expressive message. It seems that the crusty fisherman had been changed by God’s power and charged with a new compelling energy. The Sanhedrin couldn’t believe what they were seeing and hearing. They thought the Jesus “matter” had been settled at Calvary. “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 NIV).
They took note that “they had been with Jesus.” That expression has been with me all week. Ordinary people become extraordinary when they are motivated by the love of the Master. They become empowered with supernatural, God-driven love. They become the ultimate influencers. Last Sunday morning our pastor closed his message on daily living with the same idea. Can others tell that we’ve been with Him? That idea is a litmus test for us all. Have our acts and words each day reflected His influence?
Oh Jesus, I want to set a standard so that others can see you’re in me. I want a testimony that shows your imprint, your mark, your anointing. I want to be an influencer to this world for Jesus.
Amen to that Luwana. I took want to reflect the grace and love of Jesus in my daily living.
What a great story of a true “influencer,” your friend who lived for Jesus, of whom people could say “he has been with Jesus.” May that be true of us. Our first calling is to “be with Jesus.” Thank you for this encouraging word today, Luwana.