INFLUENCERS
by Kathy Pegram

Have you ever been around someone under the influence? We always seem to sit near the loudest ones at ballgames. A few weeks ago at the beach we were in a restaurant and the man at the table beside us was drunk as a cootie bug. He wasn't a mean drunk just a very loud and boisterous drunk. Recently, our pastor, Jeremy Bryan, was preaching about how you can just tell when someone is under the influence - they walk different, talk different, smell different, etc. But, then he goes on to say as Christians we should be under the influence of God. We should live our life in a way someone can just look at us and say they must be Christian.

We are influenced way too much these days by "world influencers" and not influenced by God. The saddest thing to me was when he said that elementary children are saying they want to be influencers when they grow up. Just in case you have lived as a hermit the last few years, an influencer is someone who has: the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience. Elementary students use to want to be police officers, doctors, firefighter, nurses, teachers. Now we have kids saying, I want to be a social media influencer.

Social Media has changed us and not for the better. We no longer just enjoy meals with each other. Half the table is on their phones looking at it and not the people that are right on front of them. Children aren't happy coloring, reading, and using their imaginations, they want phones, tablets, computers. We as a church need to be influencers for God, because satan is busy influencing us with everything he can to distract us from prompting God.

“Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy” (I Peter 3:15). If we can keep our attention on WHO is important, then maybe, just maybe, we can become influencers for the Kingdom of God.

Love and Prayers,
Kathy