I don’t think we appreciate the power of influence these days.
Maybe it’s because it takes effect so gradually we don’t notice. But human beings are creatures in flux. Our thoughts and opinions and actions are constantly being molded by the environment in which we choose to spend our time.
Which is a long-winded way to say we are who we hang out with. Growing up, profanity was never acceptable nor permitted in my family. But when my older brother returned from a hitch in the U.S. Navy, he let slip a bunch of no-no’s that made my mother’s hair stand on end. After which he profusely apologized.
“That’s just the way they talk,” he sheepishly said of his military brethren.
I grew up in Wisconsin. When I moved to Alabama in 1983 folks here told me I had a Yankee accent. Now, after living here 41 years, my Midwestern kin tell me I have a Southern accent.
My three year old grandson boldly tells me his favorite football team is Alabama. When I ask him why, he says because they are the best. But how do you know that, I inquire. Because Mommy and Daddy cheer for them on TV all the time, he reveals.
Influence.
It’s a strong tool. It’s why getting involved in a Christian church fellowship is so vitally important. Why your children and grandchildren should as well. I’m sure you’ve heard somebody say, “I can be a practicing Christian without going to church.” Maybe, but the odds are against it. At the very least it’s much more difficult. Being around godly people who are studying God’s Word and ministering to each other is infectious, in the best way. Being isolated from those kinds of relationships will eventually take you away from God. It’s just human nature.
If you’ve ever traveled on Interstate 65 North near the Autauga-Chilton county line, you have probably noticed a billboard next to an old water mill that reads, “Go to church, or the devil will get you.” The sign is a bit of a legend, having been there since 1988. I must have driven past it hundreds of times, and it always brings a smile. I wonder how many conversations it has started among car riders over the years?
Now that’s what I call influence.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Ken Lass is a retired Birmingham television news and sports anchor and an awardwinning columnist for numerous
publications and websites.
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