Be Influential.

Almost every American has some type of social media platform. It may be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X). We do our best to stay informed about who is doing what and we want the world to know what we are doing so we post. We hope our postings gain followers so that our influence will be felt. But whether or not you have a platform, you have influence.

You have no idea how one conversation, one word of encouragement or one expression of love can change someone’s life forever.

Jesus calls those that follow him a couple of things: salt and light in Matthew 5:13-16. Salt purifies, preserves and adds flavor. Light a match in a dark room and it illuminates. So, as people who believe, Jesus says you have influence. Each of us have a circle of influence in our lives. These are people you have access to and no one else does: family, friends, neighbors, coworkers. Jesus is reminding us that influence always starts with people, never a platform.

So, read the story of Jesus’ interaction with a woman who was not wanted or seen in her community. She was broken, messed up, divorced 5 times, shacking up with her boyfriend and a community outcast. Yet, Jesus interacted with her and in doing so, unlocked her ability to influence others for Jesus. That story can be found in John 4 and it’s a wonderful reminder to all of us, God only uses broken people in his story. You don’t need anything but Jesus.

By the end of the story in John 4, this woman that her community had kicked to the curb brought the entire village out to meet Jesus. And the story ends by saying many of them believed in Jesus as the Messiah before he left the village. It just goes to show you, no matter what you have done, no matter where you have been, Jesus can use you in his story.

This is a season of giving upon us. So it’s our opportunity to be Jesus to those around us and show them how Jesus can change their lives for the better. It’s a chance to be salt and light in your life. You don’t need 4000 followers to be an influencer, just focus on the one person standing right in front of you. Blessings on the journey.

Be Influential.

My wife and I enjoy watching the TV show, “Dancing with the Stars”. In the current season, they have several “influencers” on the show from Jojo Siwa to Oliva Jade, Amanda Kloots to Suni Lee. All of them have a massive following. Their comments and interests are influencing people all over the world to make choices and not always good choices.

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to be light and salt. Jesus uses those metaphors in Matthew 5:13-16 to tell us we are called to make a difference in the world. The truth is, we never know how one conversation, one word of encouragement, or one expression of love could change someone’s life. You are influencer.

While social media influencers use a platform to use their sway, followers of Jesus recognize that people always come before a platform. Here’s what’s cool about that idea. Each and every one of us have a sphere of influence. Each of us have a friend group, a family, a work place, a neighborhood. Each of those groups of people are subject to your influence.

There’s a great story about Jesus in John 4. The most unlikely influencer is this Samaritan woman Jesus meets at a well outside her village. She’s there mid-day, which is not normal for gathering water. We find out she’s been divorced 5 times and is shacking up with her boyfriend. Her town wants nothing to do with her. But once she realizes who Jesus is, she goes back to the town that doesn’t want anything to do with her and calls them to “come and see” Jesus.

They all come out to meet Jesus and the story tells us many of them believed in Jesus. Now this is so encouraging because it reminds me I don’t have to have it all together to point people to Jesus. We can be broken, messed up and an outcast but be an influencer for Jesus. You don’t need a theological degree or be an awesome prayer warrior…you just have to know Jesus!

You don’t need a platform with 1000s of followers. You just have to care about the person standing in front of you. Who does God use? Not Instagram stars or YouTube gurus or superstar athletes. He just uses normal, everyday, ordinary people like me and you.

You never know how one conversation, one encouraging word or one expression of love can change a person’s life. Go be light. Season those around you with salt. Blessings on the journey.

Be Ready to Share your Life!

I’ve always thought following Jesus was a two-sided coin. On one hand, he’s got all the answers so it’s straight forward. His teaching is easy and light. On the other hand, he’s got all the answers and sometimes it’s tough. Jesus has some difficult things to digest if you are going to follow him. Like In Matthew 5 when he says, “…turn the other cheek…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Really? Are you kidding me?

Right now in this very difficult time in our nation, we are discovering following Jesus really takes courage and resilience. We are called to love people no matter how they treat us. That’s easier to do when people are getting along. But right now with racial tension, conflict with authority, political nastiness, economic downturn, loss of employment AND COVID, we are are questioning Jesus design for life and asking “do I really?”

Jesus never abandoned truth but was equally full of grace and we are called to imitate him. We are called to live in such a way that our very life gives the reason for the hope we have in Jesus. We live in such a way that those who might be speaking ill of us will be embarrassed because we are actually living a life that lifts others up. We do our best to live at peace with everyone. Peter calls us to that kind of living in 1 Peter 3:15-16.

So how do we exemplify Jesus? Paul reminds us that when the Spirit lives within us, it yields a very different life than those who are in the world. Paul says in Galatians 5 that our lives will look like love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. So our goal should be to look like Jesus and extend all of these Godly qualities to those around us…even when it is not easy.

So, always shine for Jesus. Solomon said in Proverbs 11:30, “Seeds of good deeds become a tree of life.” And we want to be life to those we touch every day. For example, when you know your neighbor has had an illness, take over some food or mow the grass for them. When there have been ill words, be the first to offer an apology. When there is silence, speak up. When tears flow, show compassion and give a shoulder to cry on.

Paul reminds us in Colossians 4:5-6 to be an example for those who don’t believe in a risen Savior. Live in such a way that there is gentleness and kindness in your language and life. As followers of Christ, we want the world to take notice of why we live like we do so they too can have the hope we share.

As a follower, don’t be a tyrant. Over the years, I’ve seen so many hold truth in a self-righteous way, brow-beating everyone around them. It’s a fear-based religion that we’ve never been called to live out. So ask yourself these questions with honesty: How do you address folks on social media? How do you carry yourself in the workplace? What is your voice like with your family? How do you show compassion when you are in the right? Jesus was not tyrannical. He held truth in balance with love. And so should we.

Finally, never compromise. After his incredible letter to the church in Rome, Paul ends with how we are called to live life on earth in Romans 12. He calls us to not be conformed to the way the world does life but be transformed into Jesus. Verses 9-21 specifically spell out the kind of people we are called to be.

So love with the truth in mind…be like Jesus. The Jews have a saying: “May the dust of your rabbi settle upon you.” It means may you follow your teacher (that’s Jesus for us) so closely that the dust he kicks up as he walks settles on you. We are all on a wonderful journey. It’s our time to shine. This world needs the hope that only Jesus can offer. Let your life be the story the world can’t get enough of! Blessings on your journey.

What's Love Got to Do with it?

This world has gotten cranky. I mean, every little thing offends us. Sports team mascots, the type of car you drive, people not reciprocating a wave, your political party, your skin color, your church…well the list goes on. We act out when people don’t think like us or live like us and we copy Taylor Swift in singing, “Look what you made me do.” We fail to take ownership of our language, demeanor and actions. We’ve gotten good at the blame-game.

But Jesus calls his followers to a different type of living. In Matthew 5, he says we should be salt and light in the world. In Matthew 25, he reminds us that how we treat others is how we are treating him. And in Mark 12, he sums up our Jesus-Following life into two phrases, “Love God. Love People”. It’s just that simple.

We discover that God’s love is counter-cultural. Look around our nation right now. This country is screaming bigotry and violence on every corner. We are withholding compassion because we are not getting our way. We are in-sighting riots and chaos because we feel slighted that other people don’t think like we do. We are literally burning down our country because we didn’t get our way.

But Jesus through the Gospels is doing things no other rabbi is doing in his culture. He’s touching the leper, the blind, the sick. He’s talking to Roman army officers and healing their people. He’s walking into Gentile homes. He’s standing up for the adulterous woman. He’s interacting with a Samaritan woman at a well. He’s inviting a tax collector into his inner circle then going to a dinner party at his home afterwards. Jesus is counter-cultural. We are called to mirror him in our cultural as well. Be salt. Be light. Be Jesus in our current culture.

God’s love is also selfless. Paul reminds us of what Jesus did for us in Ephesians 5:25-27. Paul says to have the kind of love Jesus did for his church. Jesus died…gave his life…for each of us. And we should be that selfless as we interact with our world. Think of others before yourself.

In John 13, Jesus is in the upper room at the last supper with his disciples. Their feet are nasty, dirty, muddy, full of toe jam. Yet the Son of God gets down on his knees with a towel and a basin of water and washes their feet. He even tenderly washes the feet of Judas, who he knows will betray him in a matter of hours. Jesus is selfless and we are called to mirror him in our own lives.

Finally, God’s love is relational. We must break down the stereotypical walls in our cultural and build relationship with those around us…especially with those who don’t look like us. Jesus says in that upper room, “A new covenant or command I give you. Love one another like I have loved you. As I have loved you, love each other.”

Jesus came to give not get. Our country right now is all about getting but that’s not the life we are called to live in Jesus. Jesus says in Mark 10 that he came to serve others, not to be served. He goes on to say those who want to be first must end up being last and slave of all. If you serve like Jesus, people will follow you anywhere. See, our life in him is about showing love NO MATTER the color of skin, culture, background, life choice, denomination, political party, the size of your bank account. It’s an unconditional love!

So that’s the challenge this week. Love like Jesus. Be the servant of all. Put other people’s needs in front of your own. Bring flavor to the world around you. Shine your light into the darkness. What’s love got to do with it? It appears everything! Blessings on your journey.

Home is where family is...

Did you ever see eye to eye with your siblings? Your parents? Even yourself? We’ve all grown up in a family where we celebrated joy and accomplishment together and we also weathered storms together. But no matter how we disagreed, we never left each other. We may have had moments of silence and separation but eventually, we worked it out. Why? Because we are family.

The church is the same way. We are family. We journey together. We may not always get along or see things each other’s way but we don’t walk out on each other. We communicate. We become empathetic. We work it out and meet somewhere in the middle. But we don’t just walk out on each other…that is if we are truly trying to be the body of Christ.

In Acts 2:42-47, we see the description of something radical in that first century. Social groups who were very different but allowing Jesus to unite them in unity…to become family. Even though in that church there were Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slave owners and slaves, merchants and paupers, they all felt equal and united in Jesus. We see them meeting in each other’s houses, taking meals together, selling things and giving money away. They were truly acting like a family, exactly how Jesus had designed it. And we see a couple of things that described them to make this new life happen well.

That first church acted as one family filled with the Holy Spirit. When you look at their life, we know they realized they were created to be in community lifting up the one Savior who made it possible. Even Jesus prayed for the church’s unity. In John 17, Jesus prays for us today saying, “May we be unified to each other like Jesus and Father are unified.”

They were discarding anger, rage, harsh words, selfish thoughts (Ephesians 4) and looking like Jesus. The only way to overcome our selfish desires is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

But they were also one family who had emptied “self”. They realized in Jesus, it was all about serving others and inclusiveness. The type of life Jesus had exampled for us. That first church wanted to look like Jesus and start this radical new community of people who were trying to look like him. The Greek word for that is “ecclesia”. It means “set apart” or “called out”. The church is different from the world. It treats God’s creation differently than the world. The church is called out from the world to be an example of family, community, Jesus.

And today, we are called to live the same way. To be the light for the world around us. We’re called to stop in fighting, stop the hatefulness, stop the self-centeredness. As we look at that first church, we see people who had surrendered to Jesus and were living in such a way the world was taking notice. So, how are you living? Are you looking like Jesus or fighting to get your way? It’s time to leave behind the script the world gives out and live into a life like Jesus. Blessings on your journey.

Bold is more than a coffee

We all have our idols. People we think are incredible at what they do. The greatest of all time is the phrase we give them. There is a debate about whether it’s MJ or LeBron for basketball. For me and football, it has to be Barry Sanders. He’s the 1988 Heisman trophy winner who played at Oklahoma State University (my alma mater). But no matter what you think, Jesus surpasses EVERYONE in every category as the only one who matters.

When you read Acts 4 and discover how the first century church felt about him and how Jesus changed all of them to care about each other, it’s clear Jesus is all powerful. He can do things to change you for the better. At the end of Acts 2, the church was devoted to each other, performed great works together, met together daily, shared everything they owned, sold things and gave money to the poor, shared life together and changed neighborhoods and towns together ALL in the Name of Jesus! Jesus changes everything and for a few reasons.

Jesus is the only one who reigns. Based on Acts 4, you can put followers of Jesus in a box but you’ll never put Jesus in a box. At the end of Jesus’ time on earth in Matthew 28, Jesus reminds us all authority and power has been given to him on earth, above and below the earth. Daniel 7, the prophet points to the future saying Jesus will come and every nation, every language, every skin color, political party, NFL team…will fall down and worship him.

And Jesus is the only who is worthy. Jesus is the cornerstone for all things new. That first century church believed Jesus as the answer for everything. They were committed to him. Some questions we should ask as we start this new year: What would give Jesus glory in my life? What should I do right now with my talent set? How can I be light? How can I be an encouragement to my family? How can I reaffirm folks at my workplace? How can I be Jesus?

And finally, Jesus is the only one who saves. People were looking at the disciples and were amazed. They were doing extraordinary things even though they had no education. They were changing the world because of the power of Jesus. They realized “there is no other Name by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Because of that truth, the group of believers turned their world upside down for Jesus.

That is our call as well…to be the light wherever we are. To be a representative of Jesus and proclaim his power in word and action. That’s the challenge in 2020. To be bold for Jesus. Stop at nothing to share what He’s done for you. Don’t let anything deter you from being the person God created you to be in his son Jesus. Blessings on the journey.