Care Instructions for a Life Worth Living

Spiritual Influence

Near the end of every year they begin to surface, splashed on the covers of magazines and as lead stories on TV news and entertainment programs. You have seen them and so have I: the top-ten and top-hundred lists that tell us about the world’s richest, most beautiful, most powerful, and most influential people, spanning the worlds of business, sports, entertainment, politics, and media. Updated annually, some of these collections actually give last year’s ranking right next to this year’s just to let us know who has climbed the ladder or fallen from grace. Have you ever found yourself feeling bad for some celebrity or politician on the list who has tumbled from number twenty-five last year to number eighty-seven this year?

Fashion police have a huge influence over style. They can make a declaration that bell-bottoms are back, and much of the population will head to the malls or dig in the back of their closets to find clothes they have not worn for years. In the same way, they can announce that square-rimmed glasses are out of style and countless people who loved their glasses a month ago will refuse to wear their suddenly “old-fashioned” eyewear.

Sadly, the most important influence of all never seems to end up on the cover of magazines or featured on popular TV shows. It is spiritual influence — the ability of one person to impact another human being’s character, relationship with God, and even their immortal soul. Every follower of Jesus has been blessed with people in their life who have exercised positive spiritual influence. And, likewise, every Christian should also be using their God-given spiritual influence to impact the lives of others.

This kind of influence is utterly unrelated to titles, positions, human status, or worldly achievements. It is based on how closely we are connected to the heart of God, how passionately we follow Jesus, and how openly we are letting the Holy Spirit control our words and actions. Spiritual influence is the primary way that Christian community grows; it is the pathway to spiritual formation.

As we model spiritual maturity, teach each other, pray for one another, love, rebuke, and encourage, God will use us to leave his fingerprints all over what matters most to him — people. This influence, at the end of the day, is not so much about us as it is about the presence and work of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual influence weaves through friendships, family, the church, the world — every relationship we have. Pray for eyes to see those who have exercised spiritual influence on you, and remember with a grateful heart all they have done. Invite the Spirit of God to move within you in fresh, new ways so that you might be a positive spiritual influence on the people God has placed around you.