Influenced by Your Company

I hear on a regular basis the saying, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future”. This is so true in our lives that we become that which we spend our time next to. Paul indicates this to the Corinthians as he is speaking about the resurrection of the dead.

“³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” – 1 Corinthians 15:33 (ESV)

I began a study on morals and immorality this morning and this is where I was led to kick things off. Paul understood that we are influenced by those we are around. We have to be fully aware of the company we keep to know of that influence.

But, you say, Jesus spent time with tax collectors and others who were known to be of questionable character. Yes, He did. But look back at the verse above, He was not deceived. Jesus knew exactly who He was engaged with and in that time loved them and gave them the gospel and was not influenced by them.

But, you say, I know that some of the folks in my circle are of questionable character and I am loving them and giving them the gospel. Yes, you may be. But, you are not Jesus and just like Adam and Eve, will eventually fall for the deception as they did.

So then, how are we to spread the gospel if we are not to be engaged with those who need it? Well, we are not to be deceived by the company we keep. It is right and just to spread the gospel to those of questionable character. But it is not right and just to stay engaged with them as our circle of “friends”. We must surround ourselves with those of like beliefs and actions. We are to be in fellowship of those who can and will build us up. We are to awake to the deception that will come from those of questionable character and turn to Christ and those who are also in Him.

“³⁴Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.” – 1 Corinthians 15:34 (ESV)

We get our morality from Christ and not from those of questionable character. If/when we spend too much time with those of questionable character, we WILL follow them and fall away from the morality that comes from Christ. We are influenced by those we are close to and therefore we should be close to those of Christian character and examples of Christ.

Who are in your circle? Are you deceiving yourself to believe that you are not influence by them? What if those in your circle where those of Christian character and example of Christ?

Where Not to Get Influence

When thinking of influence as a spiritual leader, it may be prudent to start with where not to look. In my studying this morning the title of the lesson is: “Illegitimate Sources of Influence”. I am pleased with myself as I immediately thought of more legitimate sources and what those would be. But, I had to bring myself back to the places not to look for the purpose of the validity of my study this morning. According to Henry and Richard Blackaby, the illegitimate sources are; position, power, and personality, and I could not agree more.

When I think about the three illegitimate sources of influence listed by the Blackabys, I see places of very shallow. Two of those can be take away from someone by another person or entity, and personality can be faked to cover some reality in one’s life. Position and power rely more heavily on a fear component to implore others to follow. And when the position or power are gone, there is no other way to get others to do what you would want done.

A question asked by the Blackabys; Whom in your life do you regularly have opportunity to influence? It was not hard for me to make the connection. Those who attend training classes where I am leading. Tom Landry is quoted as saying; “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.” Now, I am not Tom Landry, but I do believe that I can substitute “trainer” for football coach and “others” for men in the quote and it fits pretty nicely. So as a trainer, I have the opportunity to influence others regularly.

Thinking of the role of trainer, I could use power, position, and/or personality to get others to do the work needing to accomplish. But when I think about it, I am only getting them to do things while I am watching and directing. By using those “illegitimate sources” of influence, I am dealing more in coercion as opposed to influence and the others will simply fall into their own ways once I am no longer around and driving them. So, as I noted above, once the source of influence is gone, the influence itself goes away.

Spiritual leadership depends on the guidance and work of the Holy Spirit to achieve the goal of God’s agenda. The power, position, and personality are His, not mine. I take direction from Him to achieve His goals and not my own. His power, position, and personality will not go away. And as they will not go away, they will continue to provide long after I have gone. My leadership comes from the legitimate source of God.

Where are you seeking your influence? Are you looking to your power, position, and/or personality to influence others? What about when they are gone, what if you were to get your influence from God as He will be here always?

Leadership Defined

This is a noble goal and yet there are so many out there, definitions of leadership that is. This morning in my reading I have been reminded of several. I am not going to give my own definition here, but rather discuss more of the concept as I understand, knowing that there is more to it and it may not land with everyone the same.

There are soooooooo many that espouse to know what leadership is, and maybe they do. But, if you really look at each of them and their “definition” they are all similar save for the target of or result desired. In just looking at three in my reading, they all lean into persuasion and influence as a part of leadership. So the concept of leadership is to persuade and/or influence others.

This persuasion and/or influence is used to get others to do things that are wanted or desired by the one persuading and/or influencing or to reach a certain goal. And this can be done a number of ways. One can explain the positive impact of the change or reaching the goal. One can demonstrate the consequences of not achieving. And there is also the “because I said so” method. But ultimately, the idea is to get others to do that which is wanted by the one.

With this in mind, it is the goal of spiritual leadership to move others toward the goal that God has for us in our lives. The thing is that each of us is different and the goal that God has for you is certainly different than the goal He has for me. That makes the concept of persuasion and/or influence a challenge. We cannot lead to something if we do not know what that something is. And, we have to be careful in leading to our own path when those we are leading may not be interested or able to follow our path.

Here is the thing. We are to persuade and/or influence others to God’s agenda. Think about the biblical leaders. Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt because God told Him to so that they would be established in the promised land (God’s agenda). Joshua led the Israelites to topple the walls Jericho that they would be established in the promised land (God’s agenda). Jesus, gave Himself to die for us that we would be established as saved from this world and become heirs with Him in heaven (God’s agenda).

We are to persuade and/or influence others to God’s agenda, not our own. When looked on as this, I can see that spiritual leadership is not just useful in the church. It is useful in the secular world as well. My leadership is to move others to God’s agenda and not my own or some other entity. Yes, there may be tasks to complete within the other entity, but those should be leading to the ultimate goal of aligning and completing God’s plan. Leadership therefore is moving others to accomplish God’s agenda as the statement from Henry and Richard Blackaby indicates here:

“Spiritual leadership is moving people on to God’s agenda.”

What is your definition of leadership? Are you attributing to the completion of single or defined tasks? What if you attributed everything to move others on to God’s agenda?