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OUR INFLUENCE

By George W. Sinquefield

(Mat 5:14 KJV)  "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."

(Mat 5:15 KJV)  "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."

(Mat 5:16 KJV)  "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

        Jesus is saying, "Let your influence be such that will serve as a magnet to draw people to Me."

        The greatest sermons ever preached were not preached by learned men in the pulpits of our church buildings but by dedicated Christian men and women who walked daily with Jesus. How would you define "influence?" Webster says it is "The act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command, the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways."

        Chester Swor, in his book, "Very Truly Yours" has a chapter on influence which he entitled "The Shadow Test." He says, "Our english word "influence" is a beautiful and descriptive word. It comes directly from a Latin participle which means, "flowing into." Therefore, it describes a continuing process in which there is a very real flow of power -- through example -- from one person to another."

        Another has defined it as "the unseen power of one person over another." The power you have on my life. The power I have on your life.

I.    We all have influence.

        William Barclay said, "We live in a civilization which is daily binding men more and more closely together. Nothing a man does effects only himself. He has the terrible power of making others happy or sad by his conduct. He has the still more terrible power of making others good or bad. From every man goes out an influence which makes it easier for others to take the high way or the low way. From every man's deeds come consequences which effect others more or less closely. A man is bound up in the bundle of life and from that bundle he cannot escape."

        Some exert influence as rills, some as rivers in magnitude, some as lamps softly glowing, some as volcanoes vomiting lava, some as matches quickly spent, some as forest fires hard to put out, some as flute's whispering breath, some as an organ whose full breath is thunder, but with influence do all people live."

        One said, "What I say or what I do doesn't matter. My influence is just a drop in the bucket." Another answered by saying, "Don't be too sure about that. It all depends on what the drop is and what's already in the bucket. One little drop of water falling into a bucket of acid may cause an explosion. One drop of germ culture may change the contents of the bucket in a few hours. A speck of yeast introduced into the dough will leaven the entire mix. One drop of cleansing disinfectant may neutralize a whole bucket of poisonous material.

        A "drop in the bucket" isn't at all unimportant. It may be of very great importance in the results it achieves."

(Rom 14:7 KJV)  For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

        William George Jordan, in his book "The Majesty of Calmness," says, "Every moment of his life a man is changing to a degree the life of the whole world. Every man has as atmosphere which is affecting every other. So silent and unconsciously is this influence working that man may forget that it exists."

        Influence constantly emanates from us, either as a magnet drawing people to the Lord and His ways of life or as a repelling force, pushing them further and further away from Him. We are what we are today mainly because of the influence of others. Tennyson said, "I am part of all that I have met."

        As one has said, "Personality may be regarded as the sum total of all the traits and qualities of the physical, psychological and spiritual life which characterize as individual. So influence unseen in its power is the total effect of one life on other lives. The humblest person exerts influence for good or evil upon other lives."

        Chester Swor said, "If it were possible for us to distinguish everything in our lives which came to us through the influence of other people, both those who have touched our lives directly and those who have touched us through the written word, most of us would find that we are an amazing composite of other people's influences."

        George Matthew Adams has written: "There is no such thing as a "self-made" man. We are made up of thousands of others. Every one who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.

        The writer of one of the our Training Union lessons gives us these words: "All who have influenced us live on in our lives. Some of the skills acquired in our school days are retained and a few of the facts learned. But the influence of our teachers will be with us always. After many years we find ourselves imitating their attitudes toward life, their methods of approaching problems, and even their little mannerisms. Our education is to an astonishing degree the aggregate of the influence of our teachers and schoolmates. And we in turn are passing on to others what we received long ago."

II.    Some influences, sad to say, turn people away from Jesus.

        I was talking to a lost man about becoming a christian. He pointed out a man in the church, told me about his life and then said, "If he is a Christian, I don't want to be one."

(Rom 2:24 KJV)  "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written."

        The Jews claimed to be a holy people, a people who knew the truth and loved God but because of their lives, the Gentiles did not stop with contempt of them because of their hypocrisy but they exhibited that contempt toward God Himself.

        One pastor shares this with us: "I never will forget one time meeting an unsaved dentist. Tried ever way in the world to get him saved, but couldn't get him saved. Finally got him to church during a revival meeting. During the invitation someone went back and spoke to him and he said, "Doctor, we would like for you to be saved."

        The Doctor said, "There will have to be some changes made before I ever get saved."

        They said, "What do you mean?"

        He said, "There is a woman up there in that choir with a set of false teeth in her mouth that she has owed me for for two years. She has been singing to me tonight about Jesus and a Christian life, but if that is the Christian life, I don't want it."

        Pointing out a passerby, one man said to another, "That fellow has contributed more to atheism than any other man in this city." His companion, shocked, replied, "You have your men confused. He is a leading member in "such and such" a church."

        "That's exactly what I mean!" came the reply. "He has a high position in that church, but his life is such that he makes faith in God seem meaningless." What is channeled through our lives?

        Emerson said, "What you are speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you say."

        A little boy sat in the Sunday School one morning. He listened to his teacher as he talked of the importance of the Kingdom of God. "It must come first," the teacher said. The boy was greatly impressed because the teacher seemed so sincere. That night the little boy came back for the evening service. He looked for his teacher who had taught him, "The Kingdom of God must come first." He was at home watching television. The little boy never came back to Sunday School. The teacher wondered why. Do you?"

(Mat 18:4 KJV)  "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

(Mat 18:5 KJV)  "And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me."

(Mat 18:6 KJV)  "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

(Mat 18:7 KJV)  "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!"

(Mat 18:8 KJV)  "Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire."

(Mat 18:9 KJV)  "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."

(Mat 18:10 KJV)  "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."

(Mat 18:11 KJV)  "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."

        Jesus came to save the lost and we must be sure that our influence doesn't prevent Him from doing so.

        In a little book entitled, "The Christ-Like Christian," the first chapter begins, "If we could only keep all the un-Christ-like Christians out of sight, the greatest hindrance to the triumph of the Gospel would be gone."

        Dr. George W. Truett said, "I would rather be nailed up in my coffin, strong and well as I am this Sunday night, and be buried alive, than to live a life that would damn somebody else. Human influence is that serious and that terrible."

        D. L. Moody tells of a blind man sitting on the corner of the street in a city with a lighted lantern beside him. When asked who he had the lantern he said, "I have it so that no one may stumble over me."

        Is it possible that some poor lost soul, hungry for salvation, joy, peace -- one whom Jesus is longing to save -- one who longs for salvation and would be saved -- but is stumbling over you?

III.    Many are won to Christ by the influence of another.

        Preaching the Gospel by word of mouth is good but that alone is not enough. If the Gospel is to be most effective, it must be preached by our lives.

        Joseph B. Underwood said, "If God could have saved the world by the proclamation of a message He would not have sent His only begotten Son to die on Calvary's cross. Proclamation alone is inadequate. There must be demonstration."

        A Chinese boy in Singapore had arranged to be baptized shortly after his graduation, but to his surprise he won a scholarship of $500 a year for four years in the Hong Kong University. One of the conditions was, "The winner must be a Confucianist." To a poor student the temptation to defer baptism was very great, but he resisted and stood before the altar for baptism at the appointed time. A friend, a Confucianist, stood next in line for the scholarship, but was so impressed that he refused the scholarship, saying, "If Christianity is worth so much to my classmate, it can be worth no less to me. I will be a Christian." He also was baptized.

        Peter says wives can often win their unsaved husband, who won't listen to the Word, by their influence.

(1 Pet 3:1 KJV)  "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;"

(1 Pet 3:2 KJV)  "While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear."

        David Livingston was a missionary to Africa. He did not return from his third trip as expected. He was long overdue. A man by the name of Henry M. Stanley was sent in search of him. Stanley was a confirmed atheist.  He found Livingston and lived with him for four months. Livingston's influence led him to Jesus.

        Stanley said, "I was converted by him although he had not tried to do it."

        A preacher talked to a lawyer about his relation to Jesus. The lawyer said, "Preacher I can't agree with you but someone is going by against whom I have no argument."

        "Who?" asked the preacher.

        The lawyer answered, " A little stooped shouldered woman from you church. She goes up and down these streets in all kinds of weather helping those in need."

        Listen to me, the world has no argument against the life and influence of a dedicated child of God.

(Col 3:12 KJV)  "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;"

(Col 3:13 KJV)  "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."

        Some time ago a Hindu woman was converted chiefly by hearing the Word of God read. Because of her newly found faith, she suffered persecution from her husband.

        After she had been a Christian for some time, a missionary asked her, "When your husband is angry and persecutes you, what do you do?"

        She replied, "Well, sir, I cook his food better; when he complains, I sweep the floor cleaner; and when he speaks unkindly, I answer him mildly. I try, sit, to show him that when I became a Christian, I became a better wife and a better mother."

        Though the husband could withstand the preaching of the missionary, he could not withstand the practical preaching of his wife. She won him to Christ.

        A boy applied for a job, and asked the well-rounded, corpulent boss how much the wages were. The reply was, "Fifty dollars and board." The boy asked, "What kind of board?" The fat man answered, "Well, I eat it." The boy took one look at the man and said, "I'll take the job."

        When people see Jesus in us they'll be encouraged to accept Him as Savior.

        One man relates his experience; "Going into his basement one day, he discovered in one of the darkest corners a number of potatoes that had taken root and flourished. He discovered that the cook had hung from the ceiling near the cellar window a highly polished copper kettle which caught the sun and reflected it down into the dark corner. "When I was that," he said, "I said to myself, I may not be a preacher with ability to expound Scripture, but at least I can be a copper kettle catching the rays Jesus, the Light of the World, and reflecting them down to someone in some dark corner."

IV.    Our influence lives on after we're dead.

(Heb 11:4 KJV)  "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh."

        A young preacher was leaving the town where he had labored for a while. A dear old lady was bidding him goodby. "Well, sir," se said, "you will be busy packing up your belongings, I expect."

        "Yes," he replied. "I have only a few things to get into boxes now."

        "There is one thing you won't be able to pack up, sir," said the old lady. "Y will have to leave that behind."

        "I don't know -- whatever is that?" questioned the minister.

        "You can't pack up your influence, sir," she answered quietly.

        It is reported that Browings last words were, "Never say that I am dead! No, not dead. No man is dead until his work is done."

        Dr. R. G. Lee said, "Creature of a day, you inhabit the future because of the immortality of influence -- which fire cannot burn, nor flood drown, nor disease destroy, nor time corrode, nor moth eat, nor rust taint, nor death kill. When your dress is moth-eaten, when your photograph has faded, when your home has been pulled down, when your grave has sunk to the level of the earth, your subtle image will remain among men in blackness or beauty -- influencing posterity. Though your physical life is a span, your influence is for centuries. When a man dies he is not done with the world and the world is not done with him. There is much about a man, be he good or bad, which men cannot confine in a coffin, which cannot be obscured in a shroud, which cannot be hauled off in a hearse, which cannot be buried."

        Billy Sunday said, "You can bury the man but character will beat the hearse back from the graveyard and it will travel up and down the streets while you are under the sod. It will bless or blight long after you name is forgotten because of the influence he left behind. Influence never dies, every act, emotion, look and word makes influence tell for good or evil, happiness or woe, through the long future of eternity."

        Speaking of the impossibility of getting rid of influence, one has this to say, "A crushed serpent stings no more; a broken arrow pierces no more; a slain lion devours no more; but the dead sinner continues to wound and destroy. Many who are dead continue to agitate and destroy the current of the world's thought and life, drowning men in destruction."

V.    We'll be judged according to our work -- our "finished work."

        I think it was Billy Sunday who said, "When a man dies his work isn't done. For instance a certain man writes a book -- an evil book. He dies but his book lives on doing its evil work. At death the man cannot be judged according to his works because his works are not yet finished. At the judgment bar of God all the results will be in and he'll be judged according to his finished works."

        The Lord holds us responsible for our acts, but also for the far-reaching and long-continued results of those acts. As A. R. Welk says, "No jury can trace the festering trail of a piece of slander, but God can and God will assess the final damages. God alone can follow up a foul thought and see the harm it works."

        When a young person commits a crime and the judge says, "I sentence you to fifteen years in prison," or "I sentence you to die in the electric chair for this crime," who in the sight of God is more responsible for the crime -- the youth who committed it or his (or her) parents who failed to yield the right kind of influence? The youth pays for what he has done but the parents will give an account to God. They are as guilty or more so than the youth.

        This dark, sinful world with its teeming millions of lost souls direly need Christian men and women who will let their light shine that other may see Jesus in them and be encouraged to let Him become Lord and Savior in their lives.

        Chester Swor said, "The greatest need of Christianity in America today is not for more eloquent speaking in its behalf, but for more consistent living of its principles in shops and stores, in business and professions, in sororities and fraternities and everywhere."

        George Herbert puts it like this, "We live in an age that hath more need of good example than precepts."

        W. F. Grindstaff states, "The proper exercise of Christian influence is the chief need of our day. If we do not influence the world rightly the world will influence us wrongly."

        A lady once said, as she expressed her sense of frustration in the face of the world's baffling problems, "I'd give anything in the world if I could feel that my life could make a difference in a time like this."

        Jesus said that not only can our lives make a difference but they must make a difference. Jesus said, "You are the light of the world -- your are the salt of the earth." We, as the people of God are here to make a difference.

        Sir George Burns, founder of the Cunard Steamship Company, was another living epistle. Biographer Edwin Hodder had this to say about him: "If the Bible were blotted out of existence . . . [and] if there were no visible church at all, I could not fail to believe in the doctrines of Christianity while the living epistle of Sir George Burns' life remained in my memory." No higher compliment could be paid to anyone.

        May God help us to be "living epistles" that will recommend the Lord Jesus to others. It was Moody who said, "A Christian's life is the world's bible," and we may add -- "The only Bible the world will read."

You're writing a "gospel," a chapter each day,
By the deeds that you do, by the words that you say;
Men read what you write, whether faithless or true;
Say, what is the "gospel" according to you? -- Gilbert
 

LIVING SERMONS
 

There isn't a word that a preacher can say,
        No matter how lovely or true,
Nor is there a prayer that his eager lips pray
        That can preach such a sermon as you.

You vowed to serve Christ, and men know you did,
        They're watching the things that you do.
There isn't an action of yours that is hid,
        Men are watching and studying you.

You say you're "no preacher"; yes, but you preach
        A wonderful sermon each day.
The acts of your life are the things that you teach
        It isn't the things that you say.

Christians, remember you bear His dear name;
        Your lives are for others to vies.
You are living examples; men praise you, or blame,
        And measure all Christians by you
                                                        -- Selected
 

        A trucking company had this sign at the gate so the drivers could see it as they went out: "Beyond this gate you are the company." It would be well in order to put a sign in our church building so people could see it as they depart: "Beyond these doors you are the church."

        The greatest gift we can bestow on others is a good example."