Influence

I have a few cool new thoughts floating around in my head, but the one I really want to dialog about is the idea of influence.  These days, especially for a college-aged person, there are so much information to be gathered around the idea of influence.  It is an important subject…we know it matters who we influence and how we influence them.  One of the most classic (and now parodied) examples of influence is this memorable 80’s commercial…

Still cheesy as can be, but totally communicates the the reality that parents help shape and influence the attitude and direction of kids.  Another fun way to look at the idea of influence is to look into the music industry.  There are a few people in the industry that (in my opinion) have helped shape where we are heading in terms of music in the years ahead.  Like him or not, Kanye West has influenced what we hear on the radio (or download on iTunes) in many of the different genre’s.  Just for fun, lets remember what the Kanye influence was like a few years ago…

So clearly, we are a people who are influenced.  In fact, all the ways we learn and grow have to do with influence. Your education is decided by who you let influence you to read and learn. If you decide to play a sport or learn an instrument, it is because someone has influenced you towards it. The lifestyles we live are based on the influences around us, and which of those influences we actually listen to.

But, we are also a people OF great influence.  I was reading earlier about a man who dared to sit and debate with God about the fate of a group of people.  For some reason, this man had the access to influence how God would handle a situation.  Does that seem shocking to anyone else?  In the Bible, there is the story of Abraham.  Whether you go to church or not, you have probably heard of this ancient figure in history.  What you might not know is this story of Abraham influencing God.  As the story goes, God is going to destroy an area (the areas of Sodom and Gomorrah) and Abraham challenges God and asks if He is really going to do it even if there are still people there who follow God.  This slipper slope debate ensues until Abraham has convinced God to spare the entire group of people if just 10 followers of God exist there.

What is it about this man that gives him such access to God?  He clearly had God’s favor on his life, but why?  It wasn’t earned, but it appears that there were certain things which were true of him which made God desire to hear him out.  Some of these character traits are…

1)Humility (Understanding who God is and who I am)
2)Commitment to God’s Glory (He put God’s fame and importance above his own)
3)Practiced faith that was unrealistic (He banked his life on the fact that God will do what He says He will do)

This thought is still very much in process, but one thing should be obvious…if there is a way that we can have this kind of access to God, we should be pursuing it.  If these character traits are key in knowing God that intimately, then they should become the bedrock’s of our lifestyle.