Builders of Influence

As the Fellows wrapped up our second to last week of class for the semester, we were privileged to listen to Sam Collier concerning Kingdom Influence. As we prepare to be commissioned and sent into the world, the lessons from Sam served as practical ways in which we may build up the Kingdom in all areas of society. Sam focused on four practical, particular anchorage points that we should focus on in order to cultivate our influence as young leaders in the Kingdom.

The first anchorage point is the concept of brokenness, and in contrast, how broken crayons still color. Case in point: Although we live in a broken world, and lead a life containing some amount of brokenness, this does not and cannot impede us from fulfilling the mandate which Christ has called us to (Matt. 28:19-20). We live in a society where our guilt and shame end up defining who we are rather than how we are; they interfere with how we live out our purpose for the Kingdom. The reality which we need to accept is that as fallible human beings, we won’t always get it right. Thus, we need to be okay with being broken, as our ability to do so allows and influences others to do the same.

Secondly, we must embrace heroism. In the span of God’s metanarrative, He often chooses seemingly extraordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. Junior the Asparagus puts it best as he sings: “With His help, little guys can do big things too!” Take the stories of Gideon, Esther, and all twelve apostles, for that matter. Each of these people seemed incapable of leading an army, or rescuing a nation, or proclaiming the gospels to the ends of the earth with such success. However, with God as their strength and their portion, they were able to do accomplish the extraordinary through Christ who strengthened them, and unwittingly went down in history as heroes of Israel.

The third point of anchorage is creating guardrails (i.e. boundaries). These are put in place to keep us on track, to keep us, as Bunyan puts it in the Pilgrims Progress, on the narrow road to the Celestial City. These guardrails are in place to protect the dreams that God has placed into our hearts; to preserve our vision and focus on eternity. Picking the right friends, and courage in the face of fear are two of these important guardrails; they are standards which we must adhere to in our pursuit of the Kingdom.

Lastly, we must celebrate our differences. Diversity is essential in the Kingdom of God, as the body needs all sorts of different parts to properly function. Therefore, the strength of the connections and bond between these parts is crucial. Each culture is different in some respect and contains something that the others lack. Thus, each culture adds a new ingredient to God’s recipe for Kingdom influence. Consequently, we are called into fellowship and intimacy with these different cultures and people groups. We must understand their languages, their trends, sounds, and plights. We must immerse ourselves in these cultures. To whichever extent, this deepens our global bond as Christians, and because of that, God’s glory can be better displayed through each individual.

How do you respond to this call? What will you do to grow your platform for His glory and not yours?