Spheres of Influence

Intro

Last week - talked about the fact that discipleship is for everyone.

Today I want to make the point that everyone has something to teach another Christian

Who has discipled you in the past? What did they teach you?

Some people teach very important lessons, but everyone in these examples taught a very important lesson. Notice they weren’t all traditional teaching, or deep, complex ideas.

All of these people used their sphere of influence to make a difference where they could. That’s what I want to look at today.

We All Have a Sphere of Influence

Each of us has been granted a sphere of influence — a zone/place where we can create change in other people’s lives, either for good or bad.

The leaders among us are those who recognize that influence and begin using it intentionally. A true leader grows in that ability, they develop, hone, expand their capacity. In that sense, all of us lead — or at least have the capacity to lead — in some part of our life.

Whether you know it, and whether you mean it, you are affecting yoru sphere of influence either positively or negatively.

Do you have an example of someone who didn’t know they were impacting you?

Our world has a sense of gravity, and not just physical. People are drawn to each other, but often times we pull each other down.

Leaders who stand with God join Him in lifting. They do it in how they choose their attitude, how they speak, how they care for people, how they prioritize their time, what they sacrifice for… Not perfect, but leaders use their influence to lift when everyone else is content to sink.

How can you be intentional with whatever measure of influence you have? Rather than going with the flow, how would you lift?

If you’re a leader, you may have had an easy time answering this. If not, you may be what I call an unlikely leader. Happens for a few reasons:

I don’t have authority - “I’m justas”. Authority =/= leader

I’m not like them - Not all leaders are alike, but we look at leaders and think I’m not like them...

You don’t know what I’ve done - I’m unworthy. Yeah! We all are.

I’m nobody - My life is too ordinary for me to be a leader.

If I’ve described you — then you aren’t alone. The Bible is full of people who were absolutely “unlikely leaders”! People that are now more legendary than relatable, people who we name our children after, but started out with so many of the same issues… people that by all rights should have been forgotten to history. And yet, they are powerful leaders whose influence ripples into today. I would like to introduce you to a few unlikely leaders and point to the incredible lifting they were doing with God to change their world.

Ruth

One of the shortest books in the Old Testament bears the name of one of the most unlikely leaders in history — Ruth. While most of the Old Testament centers around the Jewish people, Ruth was not. She was a foreigner, a Moabite woman who married into a Jewish family. Sadly, her husband died unexpectedly, leaving her alone with her mother-in-law, Naomi. When this tragedy befalls Ruth, Naomi is quick to tell Ruth to move on, to go back to her people and begin a new life. But Ruth doesn’t budge — she refuses to leave Naomi. There’s a fierce sense of loyalty and devotion that comes roaring out of Ruth.

Ruth 1:16–18 CSB

16 But Ruth replied: Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me, and do so severely, if anything but death separates you and me. 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped talking to her.

But Ruth doesn’t stick around, she serves and cares for the elderly Naomi; scraping together food and making ends meet.

Boaz

In time she comes into contact with one of Naomi’s relatives, Boaz, who is utterly impressed with Ruth — her work ethic, her compassion, and her devotion to Naomi. He goes out of his way to make her life easier, arranging protection for her as she labors in the fields to provide for Naomi.

Ruth 2:11–12 CSB

11 Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. 12 May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

How is Ruth using her influence… what is she lifting as a leader?

Character. Ruth has chosen the high road… the way of integrity, loyalty, devotion, compassion, love. It’s not the easy way.

The easier way would have been to look out for herself, to go home and build her own life, to look at Naomi and say “You’re on your own.”

But she didn’t. She chose to lift character — right where she was, in the ways she could. She didn’t let those lies we discussed earlier — “I don’t have any authority” or “I’m nobody” limit or define her.

Not only did she change Naomi’s life, but people took notice. She exerted influence through her character — Boaz saw it, and blessing came her way because of it.

Our world is in desperate need of leaders who will lift character. We are inundated with so many influencers in our 21st-century, Instagramed & media saturated world. But we are short on people of character… people we can trust, people of integrity, people who serve rather than demand to be served.

Philippians 2:14–15 CSB

14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world,

You, right where you are can choose the path of character — not perfectly — but intentionally.

Philippians says it lights up our world, light shining in darkness. Right where you are — you can lift character in your office, your classroom, your neighborhood, your social media voice, etc. Not only will you impact the lives of the people around you for what is good, others take notice and blessing often comes your way.

Incidentally, Ruth turned out to be great grandmother to King David, and ultimately part of Jesus Christ’s lineage. Amazing what happens when we lift character.

What is Your Gift?

This is just one example of how you can influence those around you, even if you are not a biblical scholar or natural extrovert.

So What is Your Gift?

Watch —> Do —> Teach

It’s a cycle and you can be in 2 places at once!

Use your gifts, and find someone who can teach you about areas in which you struggle.