The Ultimate Outcome

Introduction

What’s the point of influence?

That’s an idea we need to get clear in our minds.

In Lewis Carroll’s tale of Alice in Wonderland, Alice meets the Cheshier cat. She’s lost; she’s confused. So she asks for directions.

The cat asks, “where are you going?” When Alice replies in a confused way, not really knowing, the cat responds, “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.”

You could stumble into the right outcome, but it is not likely.

We must get our outcomes clear to know what we are trying to do with influence. If not, we will not truly get people to the place that God wants them to be. Instead, we just remake ourselves.

Discussion

The Difference It Makes

Much of what this class has discussed—the attitude and character of influence—has cleared the water some. But we need to get something on the table.

Influence is not the same as manipulation.

Manipulation pushes. It has the desired end, and that end benefits the person pushing. It is in their best interest.

Several years ago, Vickie and I had some good friends who came over to our house for what we thought was a friendly visit. It was anything but. They had recently joined a multi-level marketing program. The way they made money was to enroll others who would sell the product. The more they recruited, the better their income.

I remember sitting on the couch of our tiny hovel of a house feeling my neck tighten along with my fists. I felt used and abused. And they pushed hard. We resisted, but it changed something in our relationship.

I felt manipulated. You know the feeling.

If we try to “push” Christ on other people, we will likely push them away from Christ. Abraham Lincoln remarked that “a person persuaded against his will remains unpersuaded still.”

On the other hand, influence is a pull.

When Dwight Eisenhower retired from public service, he was perhaps the best-known for being the army general and president. CBS News did a piece on him from his farm in Gettysburg, PA. The interviewer asked him about the secret of leadership. He fished into his pocket to find some string. After placing it on the table, he took his finger and pushed it, and it went everywhere but in the direction of the push.

Then, he grasped it by one end and pulled it. It grew taught and went in the direction of the pull.

That’s influence. Influence presents the Christ to others in such a way that it is what they want. They seek his life.

Influence gives them a possibility of what life is like and lets them decide for themselves.

What, then, is our inevitable purpose of Christian influence?

A Case Study

One truth is apparent. We learn more from watching someone than by trying to describe it. Let’s take a moment to visit 

John 12 to see influence in action.

Jesus enters the final week of his earthly life. His fame at the raising of Lazarus was like a spark in dry straw. People flocked to see him. And now, as Passover approached, he made the triumphal entry. 

Throngs of pilgrims came, wanting to see the man who raised another from the dead after three days in the tomb.

But in John 12, we meet some people who are out of place. They are not Jewish pilgrims. They are Greeks, the outsiders of Jewish society. 

The crowds crushed against Jesus, hoping to see some great sign and to hear his wisdom.

It is here, we pick up the story in verse 20.

John 12:20 ESV

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.

They have a request, one brought to one of Jesus’ disciples.

John 12:21 ESV

So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

They want to see Jesus. Well, didn’t everyone! But they went to Philip, one of those disciples you hear little about. He’s not part of the inner circle of three-James, John, and Peter.

But there must have been something about Philip. We met him one other time in John’s gospel. It was in a previous lesson when we looked at 

John 1. Philip heard John the Baptist speaking about the identity of Jesus. It was Philip who went to his skeptical friend Nathaniel and told him they found the Christ. He refused to argue with Nathanael. Instead, he invited, “come and see.”

Here in John 12, the Greeks came looking for Jesus and ended up with Philip.

We don’t know why. Perhaps there was something in Philip’s non-verbal language that was open and lacked the usual Jewish resistance.

When they wanted to see Jesus, they went to someone who knew him well.

What should Philip do?

John 12:22 ESV

Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Philip found another disciple, Andrew. That is another fascinating intersection. We’ve met Peter’s brother before. It was also in 

John 1 when he hears the preaching of John about Jesus. He found his brother and said, “come and see.”

We see in this small section two men who seem to fade into the background in other ways. However, they were introducers, men who knew Jesus so well that drew people to them.

This passage’s principle is when people want to see Jesus, they seek out those who know him well.

What, then do we do, as we influence others for Christ? What’s our point?

Three Markers of Influence

When we make a journey, we want to know if we are on the right path. Usually, we rely on signs on the road. They tell us of the destination and the mileage to that destination. Arrows say, “go this way.”

In the same way, three arrows point us to the ultimate destination.

When people want to see Jesus, what do Jesus’ followers do?

They Point

One of our pivotal passages in this study comes from Jesus himself.

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

We focus on being the light but sometimes fail to ask, "see what?" 

Jesus does not leave that up to interpretation or inference. He spells it out.

Others pay attention to the good done by his followers. Lives serve as a beacon that pierces the fog of the usual. It gets notice.

Perhaps we need to evaluate our own lives. Are they really any different than others? One of Christians' temptations is to morph into a chameleon, the creature that changes to fits its environment.

Our lives need to be marked by the "good deeds," the love that the world does not show. Lives marked by unselfish servanthood draw people because they are so unique. 

Why is it that people want to hear stories of a little girl selling lemonade to pay for her cancer surgery? Or someone who leaves a $1000 tip to a harried waitress who is raising a baby?

It's simple. We want to see the rare, not the routine.

If all we do is to live just good enough to keep us out of trouble, we are not pointing to Jesus.

The reason for the good deeds is not to elevate self or seek praise or affirmation. Instead, they are long fingers pointed in a different direction.

Jesus goes on to say, "that they may praise your Father in heaven."

If our lives gain only the admiration of others, we fall short. They need to point to God, so they know him better.

That means our lives need a second arrow to the destination.

They Reveal

What happens when lives point in the right direction? They live in a way others can see it.

It is what marked the first Christians.

In the early days of the church, persecution’s fire grew white-hot. The Jewish leaders, thinking they had rid themselves of the Galilean Messiah, now contended with his followers who were preaching his resurrection.

They tried scolding but had to resort to formal judicial proceedings.

Guards threw Peter and John in front of the council. They made a defense, not of themselves, but the message they preached. They cared little about the consequences they could face.

And something happened.

Acts 4:13 ESV

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

They spoke with a unique outspokenness. No fear. No intimidation. No shrinking back.

And it says “they took note” that they had been with Jesus. The words have an intensity in them. It was a clear image of someone they had seen before, on the night before Passover. Jesus stood before them on that night, and that is what they saw in these men.

They saw Jesus through these men.

Their characters revealed the Christ they served.

Peter and John were transparent rather than opaque.

When something is transparent, you can see through it. A window is transparent. People see beyond the outside into the inside.

When others watch our lives, do they see us, or do they see Jesus?

Too many times, we want to stand in the way and say, “look at me.” In our lesson on the attitude of influence, we mentioned that servants do not get the credit and are good with that.

Are you willing and able to show Christ enough in your life that they disregard you?

The highest compliment for a Christian is that others ignore us but remember Jesus from what we have done.

But that means we must understand what we do.

They Develop

Most of this sounds overwhelming. How can I ever let Jesus shine through me? I am not that good!

None of us are. Instead, we are developing by the day.

Paul recognized that. His influence was based on him being influenced.

He told the Corinthians about dealing with their personal freedom:

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

He uses a word from which we get the English word “mimic.” It means a person who copies the words and behaviors of another.

In almost any family, siblings sometimes “mirror” each other to the point of irritation, pointing out in precise details small idiosyncrasies.

In one sense, that is what Paul is telling the Corinthians. Act and speak as I do.

This seems like a contradiction to what we have already said. Aren’t we to make sure others don’t see us but see Christ in us?

That is true, except people copy. That’s how they learn anything, whether it be a baby learning to walk or a new employee who shadows an experienced person in a job.

The difference is in what Paul says in the last half.

He is also mimicking Christ. He is developing along with the Corinthians. Perhaps they are a step behind them, but he too is following and imitating someone.

As he imitates Christ, he lays down the correct pattern of behavior.

When I was a teenager, I played in the school band. There was a daily ritual that took place. The first chair would go to the mechanical tuning machine and tune his horn. Then, when he played a pitch, the rest were to turn their horns until they were all “in tune.”

Paul instructs only that we all are in tune with the same spiritual pitch. Jesus sets it, but then, those who are more mature harmonize their lives to the master. Then others can find the spiritual pitch from that model.

It forces us to confront a question. Am I developing more and more into the image of Christ? The only concept of Jesus others will get is the one we present.

Do you spend time tuning your life to Jesus so others can sound the right tone in their lives?

As we develop, others do as well.

Conclusion

For this series, we have come to an end. However, the journey is really just beginning.

Inevitably, the simple concept of influence is this. When we live, people need to see more of Jesus and less of us.

Jesus Christ draws people to him and the life he gives. We are but the conduit through which the message flows.

What does your life point to? Is t aimed and God’s power or our own importance? The influencer makes sure the arrow of his life points at the God of heaven.

Is your life transparent? When others see you, does Jesus shine through? If not, get out of the way and let him be seen.

Are you growing enough for people to grow with you? We are always the lid beyond which people cannot grow. Lift your own lid to lift theirs.

How significant is influence? Let’s reflect on what happened.

Let’s compare. Two men lived at the same time, in the decades before the American Revolution.

One was the Puritan preacher Jonathan Edward. Max Jukes, a hard-drinking profligate, was the second. Both men lived around the same time but with far different results.

The story is told about the influence of each one’s life on their coming generations.

Jonathan Edwards left in his wake 439 ministers, 86 university professors, 13 university presidents, 7 congressmen, and one vice-president.

And what of Jukes?

Of all his descendants, 300 were imprisoned. His family listed 190 prostitutes as well as 680 alcoholics.

Whether the details can be verified entirely, who knows. But what we do know is godly influence changes other people.

That is our task and our mission—to be the shining lights among a world of darkness.

Will we penetrate the gloom?