The Risks and Rewards of Influence

[This article is part of the “spiritual leadership today” study/discussion going on this year. For all articles in the series, click the Spiritual Influence tab at the top of the page. To have them delivered, subscribe to The Brook Letter]

“Influence” is a significant word, packed with rich meaning. The Latin influentia means something that flows in and causes changes, usually a force that is imperceptible or hidden. (Notice fluent within the word; something that flows.) The basic idea is that all of us have forces and powers at work on us and within us, and we can influence others to affect the their thoughts and actions, or even the course of events to some constructive end. We are influenced, and we are influencers. The force or power of influence usually lies beneath the surface of things.

In medieval Latin influentia was sometimes used superstitiously to describe the “inflow” of celestial power that could affect one’s destiny. Later it was used in the sense of “imperceptible or indirect action exerted to cause changes.” In a Christian sense, influentia was that hidden force of God at work in the world–invisible, but powerful.

Sometimes today we use “influence” to describe a convincing sales pitch or a passionate speech. But influence is so much more than that. Ask someone “who was the most influential person in your life?” and you will uncover depth and drama. Influence is not merely twisting people’s arms to get them to do things. It is not pleading with them to do things. Influence is a cumulative pressure that gets things moving and keeps them moving.

As we carry out the calling of influence, we are appealing to people in the deep part of their lives where opinions and biases are formed, where thoughts germinate, values are shaped, and decisions begin. Influence is a spiritual matter. It takes place at the core of human nature. Influence is the form of leadership that has the best chance of having enduring effects. Accomplishments are good, but it is when they are supported by deep influence that the effects go farther and last longer.

Now there are those who would argue that the way to influence people is to get them to do things, and that with the passage of time people’s minds and hearts with get shaped by their patterns of behavior. In other words, action leads to belief.  But this contradicts one of the core principles in the teaching of Jesus which is that change happens on the inside and then is expressed on the outside (e.g., Matt. 15:1-20). This was Jesus’ revolution against deeply entrenched religious traditions that sought external conformity as obedience to the law of God, without regard for the spirit of the law.

Spiritual influence and leadership take place at the level of the human spirit and they are prompted by the Spirit of God whose work it is to reform the human spirit, bringing people back to the shape God designed in the first place. This happens by the inflow–the in-fluence–of the Spirit. And it happens through a thousand hidden, imperceptible steps.

Today influencers and influences abound, whether they call themselves leaders or not. Some are healthy while others are corrupt, greedy, wicked, immoral or amoral, shady, sleazy, unscrupulous. “Leader” is not a qualitative label. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler were both brilliant leaders. They influenced with big ideas, captivating words, and persuasive presence. This should be sobering to us, especially because the moniker “spiritual leader” tells us nothing about motives and ends. Some “spiritual leaders” have guided people to summits, and others, off cliffs. For every Billy Graham there has been a Jim Jones, the cult leader who pushed nine hundred followers into an act of mass suicide in the jungles of Guiana. For this and other reasons, it may be more helpful for us to speak of “spiritual leadership” rather than “spiritual leaders.” Spiritual influence and leadership is not about belonging to a class, but about being part of a dynamic movement.

Leadership is dangerous because influence is potent. When we lead we assume that we have the responsibility to shape other people because we have been handed that responsibility. But we must make sure that is true. In the story of humanity, much of the time positions of leadership are based on presumption. Why do human beings exert influence over others? Much of the time—because they can. And that is not an adequate reason.

Any good leader will stop occasionally and ask: What gives me the right to influence other people? Where did I get the idea that I’m so smart? Who do I think I am? And then a good leader will look at that compass, which pointed him or her in this direction in the first place. A higher order, a purpose, a summons, a calling. Poor leaders will not look for the compass. They don’t care about right and wrong, good or bad. They have never looked for a compass because their forward motion is just a matter of gut and drive and force of will. Leadership that is entirely self-directed will always be pathological. The only worse thing than worshiping idols is to act like an idol.

A good influencer looks at the compass of moral order and realizes: I’m not so smart. I’m not very powerful. And I know I’m not good enough myself to define the good life for someone else. But it appears that I have an opportunity and a calling to dip into a higher wisdom, to try to live it, and to pass on those gifts. That is where the power of spiritual influence begins.

What is exciting about the possibilities of spiritual influence is that it is about the issues that are at the essence of what it means to be human. It is about the issues that matter most in life.