Influencers
I. Introduction
An influencer is a new breed of individuals who wield significant sway over consumer behavior and industry trends. An influencer is more than just a social media personality; they are individuals who possess the unique ability to shape the opinions, preferences, and purchasing decisions of their audience. Famous influencers are regarded as authorities within their respective fields. Here are some the top influencers right now:
Cristiano Ronaldo a soccer player has 500 million followers on instagram alone. Rules the influencer world.
Leo Messi another soccer player has also surpassed the 500 million mark on combined platforms.
Singer Selena Gomez has 376 million instagram followers. Justin Bieber, The Rock, Kim Kardashian and of course Taylor Swift.
Paul would have been called an influencer today. He literally wrote the majority, 12 or 13 of the 27 books, of the New Testament. He planted at least 14 churches. He single handedly shaped the opinions, structure and position of the New Testament Church. Many believe he is the most influential person in Christianity second only to Jesus. His influence is still wielding power today in the modern church.
Influencers today tend to share their opinions, their preferences, their knowledge to shape their followers lives. Paul, in addressing the church in Corinth, however, took a completely different approach. Even though he was brilliant, classically trained as a Pharisee, an expert in the Law I want to draw your attention to what he says to the church of Corinth as perhaps a jumping off point on how we should operate as influencers today . . . and rest assured that even though you may not have 500 million followers on social media you are an influencer. You are not neutral. You are either influencing the people around toward Jesus or away from Jesus.
Notice what he says . . .
1 Corinthians 2:12 (MSG)
You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s sheer genius, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.
Vs. 2 in a couple of other versions . . .
ERV - I decided that while I was with you I would forget about everything except Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.
CEV - In fact, while I was with you, I made up my mind to speak only about Jesus Christ, who had been nailed to a cross.
With all of the knowledge and wisdom that Paul could bring to bear. With all the information at his disposal. Paul, when addressing the church, states I chose to forget everything except Jesus Christ and His death on the cross.
He says no polished speeches. No commentary on the latest philosophy. If he was here today in our climate he would have added no dissertation on the political turmoil or spending time composing our latest Facebook rants. Instead, he teaches us that if we are going to be the influencers that we have been called, designed, anointed, set apart and tasked with being then . . .
Jesus must become central again! ?Not added on but THE thing about us. We know so much that we don’t influence to what we should know best. Our ability to influence is going to be determined by our willingness to make Jesus our central message again. We don't need anything else - eloquence, special gifting, gimmicks, gifts. We need folks who will just begin to focus on the knowledge of Christ and bring that to bear in every arena of their life . . . not just their church life. We try to influence by ever other means. Just bring Jesus into the mix. Just bring Jesus into work. Just bring Jesus to school. Just bring Jesus to the neighborhood. Just bring Jesus home. Where is Jesus located in your life? Is He central? Does everything else revolve around Him or does Jesus orbit your hobbies, your opinions, your positions, your job? If we are going to influence this generation it is going to require us to make Jesus the main thing again!
As we re-present Jesus we must present Him . . .
Consistently
Paul tells his spiritual son in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Be careful of how you live and what you believe. Never give up. “
”Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.“
1 Timothy 4:16 NLT
Notice the order Paul lists for Timothy. Life comes before teaching. Paul is telling Timothy (and us) that we must be careful how we live because our consistency in walk, talk, and attitude either preaches or unpreaches the gospel. We contradict the Jesus we talk about by how we live, behave, act, respond. Our life speaks louder than our words. St. Francis Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words”.
You will remember that James 1:8 informs us that "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." Another version says it like this . . . "Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."
Our lack of consistency makes us appear to be unstable in all we do. Which means even our relationship with Jesus is questioned and determined to be unbelievable. You can not influence to Jesus if your inconsistency influences people away from Jesus. Consistency determines if your message is considered.
How consistent are you?
Contagiously
We draw or repel. Would your version of Jesus draw you to Jesus? Would your presentation of Him cause you to be attracted or distracted? Does the way you represent Jesus make Him sullen, boring, mean, cranky, critical, complainer? Or does your life reveal Christ as patient, grace filled, slow to anger, empathetic, passionate, loving, sufficient, strong? Does the way you re-present Jesus make a relationship with Him Irresistible? People catch Jesus from you!
2 Corinthians 5:21 - So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
An ambassador is the highest-ranking diplomatic officer, designated by the government as its resident representative in a foreign state or before an international organization. The primary duties of ambassadors are to maintain diplomatic relations with the receiving state and promote foreign policy strategies through international organizations.
We are Jesus' resident representative! We have the duty to maintain diplomatic relationships with those around us so that they will be willing to receive the good news of the foreign policies that Jesus brought to us! His kingdom comes to earth through us!
Paul states in Philippians 1:27, "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." (Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ.)
Correctly
Accurately. The Bible version of Jesus. Not cultural Jesus. Not American Jesus. Not white Jesus. Not black Jesus. Not weak Jesus. Not comfortable Jesus. A correct version! To present the correct version you have to know the correct version of Jesus. This is absolutely essential because if you don't represent Him correctly then when they find out Jesus isn't like what you told them He was like they will throw the good news aside! You can't make it seem like Jesus has no issue with sin. You can't make it seem like following Jesus requires no change, no sacrifice, or no choices. There must be correct representation that shows people that when you meet the Jesus of the Bible everything changes. Old passes away and all things are new. If all they see is the old in you, then they will be influenced to think that no change occurs after Jesus.
Is your life an accurate reflection of the Bible Jesus? Or is it a mixture of the Bible Jesus, your grandmother's Jesus, Oprah's Jesus, the Jesus that you are comfortable with? The reason some of us can't influence people to Jesus is because the Jesus we present is such a watered down, skewed, perverted and convoluted Jesus that not only can they not recognize Him . . . Jesus doesn't recognize Himself.
I am calling you to familiarize yourself with the Jesus of the Bible and let that version of Jesus trump our version of Jesus. Some of us like our version of Jesus better than the one we find in Scripture. But it is the Jesus of the Bible that has the power to resurrect a lost life. It is the Jesus of the Bible that can bring healing with a single touch. It is that Jesus that causes us to love people who mistreat us.
If you don’t present the correct, then you are influencing others to an incomplete and incompetent Jesus.
Conversationally?Jesus should be a part of our normal everyday conversation. Why is that we want to separate and relegate talk about Jesus to our Sunday church life? If Jesus doesn’t show up in our talk, then I have to question, based on Bible, if Jesus is really in us because Scripture tells us that out of the abundance mouth the heart speaks? If we are going to influence people, then it will be necessary to let Jesus show up in our everyday conversations. I am not talking about preaching. Jesus should be as normal in our conversation as talking about the weather or our favorite team.
We compartmentalize our conversations. We have date talk. Sport talk. Work talk. Church talk. We must allow Jesus to mingle in every area of talk. Too often the only people that hear our Jesus talk are people who are already talking to Jesus!
If we will live consistently, correctly, contagiously and then talk about Him in normal conversation we will be able to influence people to hear and believe the Good News! Paul proved this method works and so can you.
