Influencer

By Connie Pinkham

It has become a job description in the age of social media. The word regularly finds its way into conversations.  People speak about an influencer they follow like we used to talk about our favorite weather man or news commentator. They operate through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and probably others I’m too old and out of touch to know about. 

I remember when my mother-in-law talked about Ron Young like he was a personal acquaintance.  She called him Ron. Daily, like she had just had a visit with him! 

Walter Cronkite told us ‘the way it is’ every night.  Tom Brokaw defined who was the ‘Greatest Generation’.

Now, I talk about Brenda Gantt like she is a family member, admire her for passing down her precious recipes in the cookbooks I buy, and find myself trying techniques I once thought were too old fashioned. Think I was influenced??  Chuckle….

Influencing others is not an original idea with social media. God always intended His people to be influencers. I am to be an influencer, and you too, if you wear the Name.  We humans were created to be His imagers, to commune with Him. But things went awry, and humans were influenced. Rather than BE the influencers, humans were influenced to exercise the will God had given in making very poor, rebelliously disobedient decisions. 

Still, after all these years, we are influenced to choose poorly. 

Still, we are influenced from an external deceiver, the satan. 

Still, we are influenced internally, from our fleshly nature to sin. 

Still, “The temptation to give in to evil comes...We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust.” (James 1:14 from The Message)

From the very beginning, God intended us to be caretakers.  “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful…fill the earth and subdue it. Rule…over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28 NIV) 

That is a huge charge, and an even bigger realm in which to implement our influence!  How do we do that?  How can I BE the influence, rather than be the one who is influenced?  

What I allow to guide my mind shapes me, and in turn, impacts the world around me.  I have some control in that regard.  I admit that some days for me, it is an hourly battle.  

We are bombarded from all directions.  Paul and Timothy’s advice to the believers in the city of Philippi have been helpful to me time and time again. 

 “Celebrate God all day, every day….Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you are on their side…help them see that the Master could show up any minute.  

Don’t fret or worry.  Instead of worrying, pray….let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.  Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness..will come and settle you down.  It is wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.  

Do your best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable…the best, not the worst; the beautiful not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse….do that and God, Who makes everything work together, will work you into His most excellent harmonies.”  (Philippians 4:4-9 from The Message)

 All that stuff we fret over?  All the things we ‘hope’ won’t happen?  All the scenarios we dream up?  Stop!!  

Is it the best?  Or the worst?! 

Is it beautiful, or is it ugly? 

If it true?  I mean…is it even true?!?!  

In those anxious moments, am I being influenced by the steadfast Word of The Eternal God of the universe?  Or am I being influenced to question Him, just as Eve was?   

The incident in the garden is far behind us.  But never-the-less, we can learn from it and make better choices than our ancestors. Obedient decisions. Eve didn’t have a copy of scripture, but she had access to The One who authored every word.  She could have gone to the Source.  Reader, we have access to Him now!  His written Word, and the privilege of prayer. Let us make the decision to search Him out, find out what He says, and trust Him in our obedience to the light we are given.   

The apostle Paul tells us   “Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out… recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you…” (Romans 12:2 from The Message)

We will not find a way to avoid strife in the world we live in.  Not on this side of eternity will it be absent.  We are not promised that, but just the opposite.  “In this world you will have trouble..” (The words of Jesus in John 16:33). There is a tension, a living in the “now” and finding hope in the “not yet.”

Let us purposefully BE the influence.  Let us sprinkle our salt and shine our light.  And let us believe that “…He will guard and keep us in perfect and constant peace when our minds…are stayed on Him.  Lean on Him! Hope confidently in Him forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock, the Rock of Ages” (Isaiah 26:3-4, AMP with my own emphasis) 

Hallelujah