By Doug De Graffenried
Are you a person of influence? Let me answer that for you. You are certainly a person of influence.
I believe that you have the power to change lives. It is a dangerous power because of the direction you might lead a life. You have the power to influence people for the cause of Christ, or you have the power to run people off from any connection to faith matters. It is up to you. People are watching you and listening to you. In our digital world they are likely recording your actions for play back on TikTok or You Tube. Live your life well. People are watching, so is Jesus. That is another article for another day.
I was thinking about the power of influence one morning at breakfast. I was at breakfast with a group of Baptist preachers. In truth, I was attending a Baptist preacher’s meeting. Now you might find it strange that a Methodist minister was attending a Baptist preacher’s meeting. It was like the time my son wanted a subscription to Cosmopolitan magazine. I wanted to know if my son was having “issues.” I asked, “Andrew why do you want a girl’s magazine subscription?” He said, “It is the other team’s play book!” So maybe I was at the preacher’s meeting, learning what the “other team” was doing.
The truth of the matter is that I was at a Baptist preacher’s meeting along with two of Methodist church members. Now what force of the universe could get a Methodist preacher and two Methodist laypersons to attend a Baptist preacher’s meeting? Was it a great breakfast? The food was good, but that was not it. Does anyone on the face of this planet like a meeting?
The force that attracted us there was a fellow named Woody Cox. Woody was a deacon in the Baptist church, but he was also a world-famous electrician. I’m not sure about world-famous, but lots of folks in Natchitoches knew him. Jesus is the Light of the World, but at First United Methodist Church, Woody kept all of Jesus’ lights on for the Sunday crowd. He had climbed in every attic of the church. He was familiar with every line, circuit, and ballast in that building. He knew bulbs in the Baptist churches as well.
Here’s the thing, while Woody was working, he was working you. You were drawn into his web and he was eventually going to invite you to something or just end up telling you a Jesus story. He never made anyone uncomfortable and always fixed the electrical problem.
Woody Cox has gone on to glory. He knows the light of the world.
He was a great electrician who could get Methodists to go to Baptist preacher’s meetings. How are you using your Christian influence. Do you help others “see the light?”