Influence

In Larry’s class tonight we talked about influence and all the ways we can enhance that. As Christians we are changing spiritually into Jesus Christ and as Christ is formed in us we become powerful influencers without even trying that hard.

Let me give you a few examples. Many years ago several Parkway members got together to play Volleyball along with whoever else wanted to play. James was one of those other guys… about my age and looked like he had tried about everything this life has to offer. One evening he called me to the side and asked me to pray for him and his wife… they were having problems. That was the opening I was looking for and we prayed but I also invited him into our home. He started attending with us and at some point he told me he hadn’t been to church since he was a kid but saw something in our lives that was lacking in his and wanted to make a change.

The other guy was also a Volleyball player. He had been a drug dealer and been shot a few times and spent some time in prison. Also he told me he had been with about a thousand women. I asked him how that happened and he said that when the women came to buy drugs you also usually had sex with them. Of course all that was in the past for him. Anyway he was a really nice guy and I liked him. At some point he started going to the church where he was raised, got married and was very active in his congregation. He was a contractor and we hired him to do a few little jobs at the congregation where he also became friends with David Smitherman.

At some point he told me that the reason he started going back to church was because of me and David Smitherman and his respect for us. I had no idea.

I see people putting bumper stickers on their cars about Jesus and getting religious tattoos and quoting Bible verses at the drop of a hat and all that is OK… but let me see it in your lives because that’s the greatest advertisement there is for Jesus Christ. You want to be of great influence? Transform into Jesus Christ and be active in the community where people can see Him and you will help change a few lives.