 Influence
The true currency of our day is not information but rather influence. We have all heard over the last twenty years the label “information revolution” to refer to this era when digital technologies have advanced our scientific understanding, technological capabilities, and complex communications. But I think the real advancement is less about real or sure information and more about connection and influence. Today, “influencer” is a legitimate career aspiration. But as these technologies have made it possible for more people to be known and impacted by more people, many of us have become captivated by a sense that we must grow our audience or our platform. For some, it is simply to reap the financial benefit of a large following. For others, it is to feel the psychological and emotional encouragement found in this kind of fame and glory. Still for others, this stems from a desire to maximize all efforts to accomplish their personal mission. Even as believers it can be tempting to think that to promote the growth of the kingdom or the advancement of the gospel we must expand our personal impact for the purpose of bringing more people to Jesus, which we should all agree is a laudable goal. But the Lord is able to manage both the breadth and depth of the impact of our lives when we focus simply on remaining faithful to His will. In this post, I want to consider the advantages of not having a large platform or audience, and how in God’s economy faithfulness is greater than fame. Wilderness Are you at a point in your life where you do not believe that you are impacting many people or experiencing great adventures or even advancing in your life goals? Now, that sentence may sound like the beginning of a slick or sleazy sales pitch on a late night infomercial but the point is that we may not know what the purpose of God is for the current season of life which we are in. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness; this was a necessary time in at least two ways (Exodus 2:11-25). First, Moses was maturing and learning to be a leader while tending his father in law’s herds and flocks. This experience was surely useful for him when he was later leading the sheep of Israel through 40 more years in the wilderness. Second, the Lord was also preparing Egypt for the exodus. The Pharaoh that Moses had fled from was now dead. This, of course, did not mean that now Pharaoh would be willing to release the people of Israel, but rather that God had prepared the political state to show His great power and glory. Finally, the people of Israel were being made ready through their suffering under the harsh slavery of Egypt. They were now crying out to God for the salvation only He could give. Ultimately, this was all happening by the Lord’s providence to perfectly fulfill His promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:13-15). The Lord Jesus also spent His time of forty days in the obscurity of the wilderness undergoing the temptation of Satan before He began His public ministry. Again, those were important days to the plan of God and the fulfillment of Jesus' purpose to do the will of the Father and save believers from their sins (Luke 4:1-14). Even the Apostle Paul was relegated to obscurity for a time in Arabia before His mission to bring the gospel to the gentiles was inaugurated. In Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches he notes this time in Arabia. It is not clear from the text but duration seems to have been between one to three years. My point is that we see a pattern in God using what could be considered times of obscurity for the benefit of His great purpose and plan. Small Things The other encouragement that I would like to leave with you is that we must not be negligent in the small things. In Jesus’ famous parable about the good and faithful servants each one is commended for being faithful in the small things (Matthew 25:14-30). This commendation came in the form of great blessing in the consummated kingdom. Likewise, even if we spend our lives in relative obscurity managing a small investment we should also know that the Lord weighs out not the result of the obedient faithfulness that we exhibit so that we may receive His blessing on the last days. I must also include that the outcome was very bad for the servant who neglected out of fear and laziness to engage in the business commanded by his master. He seems to have perceived the small investment as too insignificant to be worth the danger of investment but that safety first strategy received the just reward of his failure and incompetence. Again, the point was never about the gain or loss but the faithful obedience. So let us seek to honor the Lord even in obscurity because faithfulness is greater than fame and godliness greater than worldly glory!
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