A church I used to attend and serve at, by their name gave the impression of having an influence in people’s lives. Coming from England every church is called St Luke’s or St Andrews, all steeped in Anglican History and tradition. In both New Zealand and Australia churches make up their names to describe maybe the kind of church that they are. “Life Church”, “City Reach” etc. I find it very interesting; when I came across this particular church I was, interested in the church name. As to have influence over another person or groups of people wealds with it great power. To put the word - influence - in their church name brings with it a huge responsibility.

As influence is the same as power, with power comes the ability to do good, or use power to misguide. Getting that balance of power is critical in every area of life, and often abused. Lots of people that volunteer in church will know that the governing National bodies insist on those people holding WWCC (Working with Children checks) and also taking a certificate in ACC Volunteer’s Essentials. One of the parts of that second certificate takes you through harmful behaviour. It awakens us to the influence of power, and how to not misuse power as this leads to harm. They explain that it is our responsibility to use the influence that we have well.

The word power, seems, well, “all powerful” and we only usually refer to power when we refer to our great God. However in all situations there is a balance of power. Parent to child, Teacher to child, older child to younger child, Manager to employee, CEO to Manager. The course likens it to the rules of the sea- Engine power to Wind power, one vessel must give way to the other due to the power involved, in the case of the high seas wind sailing ships give way to those that are power driven. The balance of power is all around us every day, on our roads, as we give way to others, in queues as the unspoken law of the supermarket queue is - you were here first, you were before me, it surrounds us and all. We all use that balance of power all the time, mostly without realising it.

So for this article if we stay away from the word power and replace it with the word influence. Who in your life do you have influence over and are you using it for good? I know that if you are spending your time teaching little ones the Word of God then the answer is yes. However, there are many more areas that we reign influence over others. I know that when I want wise counsel, I go to special people and use my ears, I tell them my dilemma and as Sisters in Christ they give me their heart felt best advice, they influence my thinking. We, of course have influence over our friends to some degree, if they like something we are doing, wearing, what perfume we smell of they may choose to use it also.

My background is in Sales and Marketing so a lot of my training and personality suits influencing people into what I think is “great”, “funny” or “meaningful”; I have as much gusto about a recent recipe I have found as I do to a funny movie that I feel everyone needs to watch. My good friends will tell you that when I have found a great recipe or a new product that I love, I can’t help but tell them, or buy the product and pass it on. I was once gushing on about a new mascara I had found, and still to this day use, I have bought it over 5 times to give to other people, a husband of a friend was listening to me and my enthusiasm about a mascara that washed off in the shower and said, “Cheryl you are every marketing persons dream.”

The thing is, if we are enthusiastic about something that we have found, the word of mouth is so powerful, it influences others to possibly purchase it. Do you see some similarities here with how easily we can be enthusiastic about our faith and use our influence gently to capture souls. This is exactly how I am with the children using my enthusiasm for Jesus to capture their hearts and interest.

This is all ok, as humans feed of each other and their enthusiasm, a human’s need is to be around others of its kind. However, are we always influencing people in the right way? I will be brave and say that we seem to be caught up in a world where our influence has gone a bit awry with some in the social media world. I am often found shaking my head at pictures posted on Facebook or Instagram showing where people are on holiday, part of me thinks “does this make your home insurance invalid?” Whilst the other half of me thinks, “it’s great to see you but isn’t is saying - we are here, and you are not”! I have to say that I stopped posting pictures of when and where I was on holiday a long time ago. Sometimes we can fall into the trap of portraying a picture-perfect world on Instagram and Facebook whilst the truth be known that man you are hugging and looking so loved up to was so very annoying five minutes beforehand.

Also, I have to ask the question; those people that are important to you, don’t they know that you are on holiday? Don’t they know about your life, Your husband? Your children? Even if it’s your child’s graduation or first birthday, don’t the important people know about that? Why then are you showing the other people. I once smiled at a camera at a dinner party with a group of people only to find it posted on Facebook the following morning. I didn’t much mind about my ugly mug being there, but my heart went out to the people that thought, “gee that looks fun, why wasn’t I invited?”

However much the sun is setting and the beach looking so lovely, you may feel it’s the perfect time to look loved up with your mates but what about the ones that see the post and just realised they are not part of the “crew”?

Is there any harm in it - well I think that if you find your job in an area, such as a church you are wielding great influence over the younger generation around you along with your peers. You are advertising your life. Look at us we are perfect, the perfect wife, the perfect husband, we have the perfect little baby and life is GOOD! Others around you may be single, may be childless and are striving for exactly what you advertise on your social media account.

How will we ever be able to reach them, to help them with any hurt or disappointment if all they see is a perfect little life that seems unreachable to them. We all have influence, we do need to use it well, it is our responsibility. I read recently that if a child is around a set of perfect parents, who never raise their voice, never lose their temper it affects the child greatly. They grow up with unrealistic expectations and are always striving to be “perfect” which is so damaging to them.

I also recently saw people “romanticising” moving house! Now anybody knows that packing up your belongings, which means sorting your belongings and getting rid of a number of things, and moving your life in boxes is hugely stressful. So, calling it “fun times” on picture perfect moving house photos with boxes piled up in an empty kitchen is just not true. The truth of the matter is, it’s tiresome, hard work, back breaking and just when you think you have come to the end of it, you have to start the whole process the other end. Let’s not influence anyone who hasn’t yet had the task of moving into a false sense of security that moving house is nothing but hard work! Let’s be honest.

The perfect influencer who knew how to use His Power was of course Jesus, He was an example to us all. If we think about how he lived his life, not one of us can argue that He didn’t live it well. He used His influence for good, He helped the poor, the sick, the weary, the lost, He let the children come to Him when others went to move them away. He noticed everyone around Him even if they only touched the hem of His garment. Who in our lives is weary but still gives a smile every Sunday, who is sick on the inside and needs help, who is poor in spirit and needs uplifting and encouraging, who around you is lost. Can you use your influence, your God given Power of the Holy Spirit to meet their needs. It is our responsibility to both recognise the power and influence we have over others, and whom they may be and also to use it well.