New Reminders: Influence

In the media age, it has become common to encounter a wide variety of so-called influencers online.  They range from people who espouse crack-pot conspiracy theories to inspirational bloggers who have honorable motives to try to help us think more clearly about serious social issues.  The problem we have, is to choose wisely what we allow to influence our thinking.  Most of the time, we need to apply a healthy dose of skepticism.  We need to use our common sense to weed out the good from the bad advice and only allow ourselves to absorb that which we can verify as true, helpful and worthy to consider.  In other words, we need to be careful who we listen to.

To influence is to have an impact on the behaviors, attitudes, opinions and choices of others.  Influence is not to be confused with authority, power or control.  It should not be about manipulating others to get our way.

Influence takes many forms and can cause people to conform to a certain philosophy or set of beliefs.  It can affect how we treat others.  It can result in either positive or negative peer pressure.  It can result in obedience to a certain set of principles or to a certain leader, depending on how persuasive the influencers are.  We are constantly bombarded with sales, and marketing ploys that attempt to convince us to buy the latest thing or to order a magic health product.

We live in an increasingly secular society, in which religion has less and less influence on our daily lives.  Even people who considered themselves religious spend less than one day a week in their house of worship and on other religion-related activities.  Many more spend no time thinking or acting on religious beliefs.  Some may have some background in theological training, but are much more influenced by social norms and practices, cultural traditions and internet or TV media.

People who present themselves as authorities on a particular topic try to influence us into thinking and acting or even voting a certain way.  They try to convince us that they are best suited to point us in the right direction to get what we want out of life.  We need to weigh their veracity against the only authority that matters––God himself, who gave us the Bible to guide us.

The Bible spends a lot of time warning us not to underestimate the impact of influence in our lives.  Solomon wrote, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed” Proverbs 13:20.  We are called to be influencers for good, not to adapt to the standards of others to fit in.