“For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.”
Romans 14:7.
When we take our last breath, our opportunity to do something for God during the church age will die with us, but our influence will live on. I believe one reason we do not go immediately to the judgment seat of Christ and receive our rewards is that the impact of our lives is not over until the last trump of God has sounded. Then, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we will rejoice over every opportunity God gave us to influence others.
The Apostle Paul said:
“That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
Philippians 2:16
Paul said he is going to rejoice in how the influence of a godly life had a positive impact upon others. Every person has an influence. I thank God for every opportunity He gives me to actively serve, but I must also be aware of my subtle opportunities of quiet influence. Of course, at times they can be one and the same, but not always. One thing is certain, one day my life’s work will be over, but my influence will live on.
Examples of Influence
The Bible gives us many examples of people with great influence. In the book of Numbers, we read about the twelve men who were sent to spy out the land of Cannan. Ten of these spies came back with an evil report while two returned with a good report. The ten used their influence to persuade the whole congregation to disregard God’s will and not enter the Promised Land. The influence of ten men cost the lives of an entire generation of people and held back the promise of God from being fulfilled for forty years. They were apparently men of great influence, but their influence was negative.
In the New Testament, we read about the religious leaders of Israel and their rejection of Christ. Not only did they reject Him as the Messiah, they also attributed His mighty miracle working power to the Devil. These evil men used their influence to turn the nation against the Son of God. Sadly, the tragic consequences of their rejection live on today. No doubt many of the heartaches the Jewish nation has experienced in the last two thousand years are the result of the influence of those ungodly men. It is conceivable that they have been in Hell for years, and yet their influence lives on.
Men of Influence
I can easily think of several men who greatly influenced my life. I think of my grandfather. Every time I open the Word of God in my study, I think of that godly man and the influence he had on my life to have a hunger for the Bible. I recall many Godly pastors, missionaries, and evangelists I have known. Men like Lee Roberson, Jack Greene, Jerry Falwell, B. R. Lakin, and others I had the privilege to know. I thought of Godly deacons I have had the privilege to serve with. I believe God has blessed my life because of their influence. I pray I never get away from their memory and godly influence upon my life.
I would like to share four important facts about our influence:
We Can Build Our Influence
“But if any man love God, the same is known of him.”
I Corinthians 8:3
The way you build your influence is simply to live right and be the kind of Christian God wants you to be. You can’t build it overnight, but you can build it. Build the kind of life that God asks of you. Be the kind of Christian who is an example of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot build your influence by rebelling against the light of the Lord. The Holy Spirit of God brings light to a Christian, and then the Christian is to share that light with the world. You build your Godly influence as you allow the Light to shine clearly upon the darkened world.
God wants us to exert a positive influence by the way we dress. Men who were bums used to dress a certain way. Women who were harlots used to dress a certain way. Today many men dress like bums and many women dress like harlots. They may still have influence, but it is not a godly influence.
I’m shocked when I see some preachers out trying to serve God and not looking like preachers. The Devil works harder to get us to compromise and destroy our influence than he will to destroy our opportunities. He knows that our influence can render our opportunities powerless. So, we must strive to build our influence.
We Can Broaden Our Influence
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
John 14:12
The Lord Jesus said that if you have believed on Him, you will do greater works in life than He did. That’s a powerful statement! What does it mean? It doesn’t mean that we’re going to have more influence than Jesus had; it means we will have more opportunities than He had.
There are men on the radio and television today who preach to far more people than Jesus did. There are missionaries today who will go to more lands than Jesus did. Abounding opportunities will come, but it’s our influence that should concern us. We need to plan for a great influence and then broaden it day by day.
How do we do that? The way to broaden our influence is to identify with right things. Identification helps to broaden our influence; it helps to identify what we are and what we believe. That was a part of the prayer of Jabez. He asked God to enlarge his influence, and God honored that prayer. God is going to hold us accountable not only for the opportunities He has given us, but we will also be held accountable for how we have built and broadened our influence.
We Can Borrow Influence
There have been times when I have had to borrow influence. The first church I pastored had a lot of problems. I thank God I was allowed to serve there because I learned a lot of things. That church had acquired a questionable testimony in the town and needed help. But, as a young pastor, I also needed help. I decided to borrow some influence, so I invited men of renowned character and testimony to speak at our church.
When those good men preached from the pulpit, we were able to borrow their influence and to be identified with something positive. It helped us move out of the mud, out of a poor testimony, to another plane where we could be blessed and used of God.
I’m glad I knew some godly men from whom I could borrow their influence to help build and broaden our own. You know the story of Saul. He got saved, but nobody trusted him. He wanted to live for the Lord, but he had to borrow some influence. He joined the disciples and borrowed their influence, and God blessed him. The Bible says:
“And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.”
Acts 9:26
I am thankful for the borrowed influence of Godly men, and the way it has blessed me over the years.
We Can Destroy Our Influence
“It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment.”
Proverbs 18:5
I’ve spent years borrowing and building and broadening my influence, but I can destroy the influence of my life very quickly. How? By not protecting it as I should.
A business can destroy its influence by not treating their customers fairly. A church can destroy her influence by not standing for truth. Christians can destroy their influence by sin and compromise. Christians can also destroy the influence of another believer by their words and judgments.
We are warned against accepting the person of the wicked and overthrowing the righteous. It breaks my heart to see men who used to stand for truth, who had opportunities to serve God as conservative Bible-believing preachers, and are now either out of the ministry or pastoring in liberal churches. God holds us accountable for our influence! That is one reason I do not preach on platforms with men who don’t believe the Word of God. I will not take my influence and put it in that place. We live in a compromising day. We will be challenged all of our lives to come and join some kind of group.
I believe with all of my heart that I must do what I can to build my influence, to broaden my influence, to borrow influence, and to guard my life so I will never destroy the influence God has allowed me to build. When I die, my influence will live on and affect other people. I want to stand at the judgment seat of Christ and rejoice that my life was not in vain. I want my life to count for God!
“For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.”
Romans 14:7
I remember several years ago a man called during our Share-A-Thon and gave a gift to the ministry. He explained that he did not listen to the station, but his mother had been a Faith Partner for a number of years. Our Lord had recently called her home and he felt led to continue giving her monthly gift. He called back the following year and renewed his gift. He also indicated that he was now a faithful listener of GoMix. Apparently the influence of his mother continued to have a positive effect on his life. We not only had a new partner, but also a new listener.
Thank God today if you are identified with the congregation of the righteous. Don’t ever compromise and your life will have influence. Purpose in your heart that you will do everything you can to build and maintain your influence to bring maximum glory to our Lord.
Dr. Worthington has been in the ministry over forty years and serves as President of Pathway Ministries.