Being named one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America is an honor that few have. Well, as few as 25 I guess. Rick Warren was mentioned on this list by Time Magazine. He’s also got a little book out that has sold over 30 Million copies. I think it’s safe to say he has a bit of influence.
Rick starts out his talk on Influence by going straight to the word. He lets everyone know he’s going to be talking about Moses.
Why Moses? Well first of all, he was the most influential person in the entire Old Testament. Second of all– he’s the most influential person in the Old Testament. Make sense? Good.
The story of Moses is pretty interesting. First, Moses learns to be a “somebody”, growing up as a prince of Egypt. Then he learns how to be a nobody when he flees Egypt. Then something really interesting happens– God teaches Moses to become God’s somebody.
God starts with Moses by giving him an illustration through a miraculous sign. To save some time, here’s the play-by-play:
- Moses sees the burning bush
- God tells Moses to throw down his staff
- When Moses throws down his staff it comes alive
- God tells Moses to pick it back up
- When Moses picks it up it becomes a staff again
Rick points out that God never does a miracle just to show off. Every miracle is a parable and every parable is a miracle.
In this parable/miracle Moses’ staff symbolizes 3 things:
- Moses’ identity. He was a Shepherd and a staff is a symbol that identifies people as Shepherds.
- Moses’ income. Your staff, much like your vehicle today, was a way of showing status or income-level.
- Moses’ influence. You use a staff to move sheep from point A to point B– that is influence.
By asking Moses to “throw it down” he’s telling him to throw down all these things. When Moses does throw it down, it comes alive. And when Moses picks it up again, it goes back to being dead.
The power wasn’t in the stick, it was in the surrender.
Rick then turns the parable on the audience (I love it when speakers do that).
What is in your hand? What is your identity? What is your income/status symbol? What is your influence?
The starting point of influence is that you have to lay it down. The amount of influence God gives you will be determined by your faithfulness prior to it.
10 Facts About Influence:
1. Everybody has influence.
Are you using your influence for good or bad? It’s not wealth or power or status– influence comes from services. The simplest form of influence is a smile.
2. Influence is not about you.
3. Influence is something you steward.
It’s both a privilege and a responsibility. You should never ask for more than you are not spiritually ready for it.
- Kony 2012 was an example of someone who had more influence than they were spiritually ready for.
- The reason celebrates keep checking back into rehab is because they can’t handle their influence so they use drugs, alcohol and the like to cope.
4. Proverbs 31:8
Influence is meant to be used for those who have no influence for themselves.
5. The pathway to influence is service.
It’s interesting that for every 5 books on leadership there is one book on servanthood. Forget “servant leadership” and just be a servant.
6. The cause of influence is trust.
If people trust you, you have influence. It will take time to build trust, but one way to get people to trust you is to first trust them. If you think about it, the people who influence you are usually people who believe in you in some way.
7. The price of influence is criticism.
Jesus said it, so it must be true:
“They persecuted me, therefore they will persecute you.”
When you are influential, critics will come from every angle to try to tear you down. As Greg Laurie said,
“The critics are many, but the workers are few.”
8. Leaders are to help others use their influence wisely.
9. The catalyst of influence is faith.
Just like the Roman centurion, “according to your faith it will be done unto you.” You must have faith. Without it, it is impossible to please God. So take some risks. If you don’t take any risks in life, you don’t need any faith.
10. The reward of influence is more influence.
Don’t worry about gaining more, getting in more powerful circles, or growing your fame. Help the needy. You will be rewarded accordingly.
I took a lot more notes than those that are represented here. There was just so much to take away from Rick’s talk on influence. A couple of these points really hit home for me.
Did anything in particular stick out to you the most?
Let me know in the comments below!
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