Who Will You Influence Today?

By Rob Hurtgen

Published: August 14, 2009

We have all benefited from someone who has influenced us. Being influenced for the good inspiring us to say "I really want to be like that guy" or for the worse causing us to distastefully say "I don't want to be that guy". People of influence come in all shapes and sizes.

The coach who pushed you further and harder than you thought you could go teaching more than sport ever could. The teacher who took the extra time to invest in you and in doing so inspired you. A more experienced tradesman who showed you how to avoid making some simple and embarrassing mistakes that brought drastic mistakes.

Jesus spoke to a gathering crowd one day with these powerful words. "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world". You are the ones who must be a beacon of light into a dark world. You are the ones who must season and preserve the earth. You are the influencers the world needs.

Interesting thing was the crowd was filled with moms and dads, fisherman, carpenters, laborers and field workers with perhaps a few people of position here and there.

It wasn't the elite that were given the praise to be the ones to season and preserve the world. It wasn't those who were successful by standards of the day who were told to shed light upon the darkness. It was the moms and dads sitting next to the fishermen and the carpenters. The common, ordinary get up, got to work, raise your kids and enjoy the golden years folks they are the salt and light.

Being man or a woman of influence is not necessarily a byproduct of position. A real person of influence is one who lives out their character effecting positive change upon others and their environment.

Taking their ability to clearly perceive the current culture they live in, analyze it, hold it up to the ideal and then take steps to move in that direction. An influencer is not always the one in charge but they most certainly are the leader.

Jesus didn't challenge the status quo that day to only encourage others to be interested in self. He transformed people to transform the world. To flavor and preserve the earth and shed light on the darkness the creeps ever closer to home.

Who will you influence today?

Rob Hurtgen is a follower of Christ, husband, and a father. Rob serves as the pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church and writing a weekly column the Southeast Missourian. You can find Rob blogging at http://robhurtgen.wordpress.com,

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