Influencers. We think that this refers only to people who are in the limelight. People who’ve attained a high level of popularity and achievement. People who’ve cornered a huge market segment. People who are rich and famous. People who represent an ideology or any big body of human beings that comprise a business, a cause, a cult, an advocacy, an organization, a religion, a movement, etc.
When we think of influencers, we often think big bucks, big names, big numbers. If we think along those lines, we are dead wrong. We aren’t seeing the big picture. If we want to be kind to ourselves and be euphemistic about it — we are only partly correct. Because if we read up a bit more on leadership, sociology, advertising and marketing, media and public relations, we will quickly realize that the word “influencer” is not limited to big bucks, big names or big numbers. Absolutely not. We need to expand, rethink and reconstruct our understanding and perception of the word “influencer.”
Here’s one simple definition and description of an influencer: “…you don’t have to be in a high-profile occupation to be a person of influence. In fact, if your life in any way connects with other people, you are an influencer. Everything you do at home, at church, in your job, or on the ball field has an impact on the lives of other people.” (John Maxwell, “Becoming A Person of Influence”)
When I was in corporate communications, one of the first things we did before we saturated a community was to identify the influencers — the real leaders — in a province, city, municipality, village, barrio or barangay. Even when we dealt with foreign consultants who came from international organizations that were heavy on logistics, structure and protocol, we did the same thing. Position and title, we quickly learned, did not always mean influence and power. Reality didn’t necessarily translate that way.
Many of the formidable, assertive people I met in board rooms and press conferences — these people who had high positions and fancy titles — did not always have their people’s trust and confidence. At the end of the day, their positions and titles were just empty words that carried hardly any clout at all when drastic policy changes had to be made, or when the critical mass base had to make decisions which were going to change the topography and economics of their lives.
So in reality, there are ordinary-looking tricycle drivers, fruit vendors, sari-sari store owners, barbers, plumbers, etc. who are also influencers, the real leaders in a community.
Among them are real opinion makers whose views and political persuasions sway their community this way or that.
That’s why we hear stories, for instance, where a person lost his possessions in a burglary — and the police had zero leads, just couldn’t find the culprits, let alone recover the stolen goods. But because the victim had the common sense to contact an influencer in a squatter community nearby (where many robbers and snatchers live) he got most of his possessions back!
That actually happened to my cousin who was a doctor. He gave free medicines and medical treatment to many indigent patients in a squatter area near him. When my cousin’s house was robbed and the police failed to solve the case, my cousin asked help from an influencer who lived in the squatter community. The man swiftly activated his network, traced who the burglars were, and convinced them to return “Doc’s” stolen stuff.
End of story. No bribes were given. No ex-deals were made. Such is the power of an influencer.
Now — imagine if we experienced that exponentially! Imagine if we, as influencers ourselves, influence these influencers to be God-fearing, compassionate, honest people.
Can you imagine the positive implications to our families, our communities, our country — the world? Mind boggling, isn’t it? And here’s the wonderful thing: it starts with YOU. That might sound trite and trivial, but it’s true!
First of all, we need to ask ourselves: am I a positive influence, or a negative one?
Sociologists say that leadership is just one application of influence. The deeper and more lasting kind of influence is that which actually transforms and improves the quality of people’s lives in their innermost core: spiritual/moral, emotional, intellectual, volitional.
Financial stability is often a logical by-product; because as people become more and more God-propelled or morally upright, they make wiser decisions about themselves, their families, their jobs, their friends, their finances. Investments are made no longer just on the basis of greed or sheer competitiveness, but on the bedrock of integrity and social responsibility. That’s why even pagan societies can reach high levels of economic prosperity merely on the bases of an excellent work ethic, a global perspective, and the wise allocation of resources.
However, in societies like these, there are also high rates of depression and suicide. Why?
Because of the absence of what I call The God Factor. A high degree of economic success and self-sufficiency can kill our need for God. On top of that is the absence of, or the impotence of, Christian influencers. That’s something we Christians should all aim to change, especially in a country that’s known to be the “only predominantly Christian nation in Asia.” It’s a reputation that, sadly, we have not lived up to.
Worse, we’ve tarnished it for generations. But let’s leave the political commentaries to activists who may get killed fighting for their convictions, or who may end up selling their souls to people who wear Prada. Obviously, the giant halls of Capitalism are crawling with influencers who are flat-out more seductive, shrewd and street-savvy than well-meaning priests or pastors — hence, the impotence of Christian influencers in our secular world.
