Influencers for God—But How?

The term influencer is a part of our culture today. Basically, there are two types of influencers, a marketing influencer and a social media influencer. There are also five levels of influencers: nano influencers with 1,000 to 10,000 followers, micro influencers with 10,000 to 100,000 followers, mid-tier influencers with a 100,000 to 500,000 followers, macro influencers with 500,000 to 1,000,000 followers, and mega influencers with more than a million followers.

The word influence itself literally means “to flow into.” The influencers we just mentioned produce mostly a horizontal flow; it doesn’t trigger vertically, compelling thoughts about God. This type of influence has some impact on time, whereas God's influence impacts eternity.

To understand the influence God wants us to have, we must acquaint ourselves with what Scripture says about the anointing.

In Scripture, the anointing wasn’t just a ceremonial thing: pour oil on the head, get all perfumed up, say some holy, moly religious words. Rituals like that have little to no influence. However, God's anointing released an exceedingly strong influence. The strong fragrance from the oil for anointing suggests this.

Of the five senses, we know that the strongest sense we have is the olfactory sense, the sense of smell. If someone comes into the room doused in perfume, everyone can’t help but notice this. You may have been engaged in a meaningful conversation at the time, but suddenly your attention is divided. What is that smell?

Interesting, too, is the fact that if someone wears a perfume you haven’t smelled for decades, your mind, in recall mode, will speed quickly through the past to identify who else wore that perfume. Maybe it was an overly exuberant elderly aunt whose hugs you barely survived as a child. Or maybe it was your first date. Whichever, suddenly, you remember.

The imprinting of God’s anointing penetrates in an even more profound way. In II Corinthians chapter 2, Paul says, “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.  To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life (vss. 15, 16). Talk about being an influencer! The influencers of our day don’t begin to have that kind of influence.

The influencers of culture purpose a positive influence only, but with God's anointing it is different.

Jesus was called Christ, which literally means the anointed one. Jesus, the anointed one, divided people—some accepted and worshiped, some rejected and crucified. A sure mark today of authentic Christianity is a God-generated influence that produces these same two results.

Every word Jesus spoke, every deed he did—indeed, all that emanated from him was under this exceedingly powerful anointing. So if the perfect Son of God needed the anointing to exert his influence, we need it as well.

This anointing comes only from the Holy Spirit—charm, charisma, talent, and good looks won't cut it. Jesus declared, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news ….” (ESV).

The immediate result of that message was exactly like the results previously mentioned: first, the people marveled at the gracious words Jesus had spoken (Luke 4:22)—marveled in the sense of being stunned, shocked and magnetized toward him. Then they tried to kill him (Luke 4:28, 29)—I mean, that day!

Under the anointing, the words of Jesus completely captured the people’s attention. There were no glassy-eye stares, no yawning produced by boredom, no stone-face looks unmoved by what Jesus said. They listened attentively to every word he said!

Under the anointing, the deeds of Jesus gained legendary acclaim throughout the land. Everyone who came to him for healing was healed. No one went home sick! Yet his deeds impacted beyond the physical.

Isaiah 10:27 declares the anointing will destroy the yoke. What kind of yoke? The intended, immediate reference here was the yoke forced by Assyrian oppression. The yoke today, however, may be from within: some addiction, some stronghold, some area of weakness where one is perpetually pinned down in chronic defeat. Teaching hasn’t freed them. Counseling hasn’t freed them. Their only hope is God’s anointing!

And what is this anointing, exactly? Yes, it comes from the Holy Spirit, but it comes to those whose self is sidelined by submission no matter what the pressure. Do remember that the oil used for the anointing was produced by being squeezed, by being crushed. So, unlike the influencers who promote themselves and covet personal popularity, God's anointing is withheld from people like that.

Oh, I know, there are preachers who exude charm, display intellect, and mesmerize with their oratory. But these preachers, presiding from their pedestal of notoriety, grieve God and the angels by soaking up all the attention and then craving for more.

If we were to attempt to define an anointing, we might say it is a sweetness and strength, supernaturally endowed, that disseminates into the spirit, renews the mind, elevates the emotion, grips the will, and even heals the body.

Do you want to be this kind of an influencer? You can be if you'll invite his Spirit to control you, enabling you to sideline self through submission to God.