Influence means the power to shape, sway, or alter someone’s thoughts, decisions, or actions—without using force. It’s about impact, not control. (Microsoft Copilot)
When I was twelve years old, I began driving tractors on the farm. By thirteen and fourteen, my parents would take me to the “upper place” miles from home, where I would drive the tractor mowing hay fields. I was there from sunrise to dusk, seeing no one and only my own thoughts to keep me alert.
What a difference today. The constant cacophony of influencers bombards our every moment through television and smartphones, and the constant blaring of traffic in the air and on land. At times, it is difficult to discern exactly what influences us to make the decisions we make. These influencers include sounds, visual images, and talking heads, called experts. Their influence takes the form of stimuli that appeal to our physical and emotional desires. Often, we are not even aware of what is influencing us.
The English term influence occurs only twice in the NASB (Dan 8:25 – mirmah, and 2 Thess 2:11 – plane). Both are negative. Both refer to a future time when negative influences will deceive many.
Microsoft Copilot gives the following concerning Israel in the Old Testament:
There is no Old Testament passage where God tells Israel to “be positive influencers” on the nations. In fact, the Old Testament presents the opposite pattern: Israel is repeatedly warned not to be influenced by the nations.
But—and this is the key—God does give Israel a missional identity in which the nations are supposed to be influenced indirectly by Israel’s holiness, justice, and covenant faithfulness. Not by Israel trying to influence them, but by Israel being what God called them to be.
The same can be said of the Church in our time. While the term “influence” is not used, the term “walk” is. Paul uses two terms translated as walk 24 times. They are paripateo, referring to an individual walking step-by-step, and stocheo, to march in rank corporately. Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is commissioned to be an influencer by the life he/she lives and to do this through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, whom God has given to empower us to accomplish His mission.
We may not see how much influence we are having in the moment, but looking back, we should be able to recognize it in the lives of those around us. Even if we don’t see the impact we have made, we can take it by faith that God has used us to accomplish His purpose in us and through us in this life.
As we celebrate Mother’s Day today, we need to look not to the world’s influencers, but to the influence of mothers, who remain the greatest movers and shakers by their impact on their children and families. The Christian home with godly fathers and mothers remains God’s greatest influence on the world.