Ready:
“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” —Matthew 5:14-16
Set:
Athletes have always held influence. Fans have always gathered, cheered and hoped to be just like their sports heroes. Only recently has being an influencer become a career path. Garnering followers through carefully crafted posts and earning money by mentioning the companies that endorse them. The top three sports influencers have over a billion followers combined. The top two influencers, according to one source, are soccer players. Number 3 on the list is a cricket player from India. But what are they influencing their followers to do exactly?
We can dress like our favorite influencer. We can like their vacation posts. We can use their training techniques to improve in our sport. But at the end of the day none of these things make an eternal difference. They might actually be leading us away from what is most important.
Jesus is speaking in Matthew 5:14-16. He is teaching a crowd - He is one of the original influencers. His message here is for those who love God and follow Jesus to be a light to those around them. In essence He is telling them to influence everyone around them with their lives. He instructs the crowd to shine by doing good and giving glory to God. Those are the things that have eternal value. He goes on to further describe the “let your light shine” concept by instructing the crowd to be faithful, pure, honest and hard working. All of these were concepts the culture of the day struggled with. To be real, our culture struggles with them too.
If you think you only have influence if you have a certain number of followers on social media or a certain amount of playing time or attain certain stats, you are sorely mistaken. Jesus says, if you are a follower, you are an influencer. Earlier in Matthew 5, He says followers of Christ are “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Salt makes things better – In Jesus’ day it was used to preserve things. Today salt helps things taste better. Just like being a light helps everything around it be seen clearly; salt helps preserve the truth.
Regardless of your social media status and number of followers, you are an influencer. Being involved in sports and competition gives you platform others don’t have. How will you use it? I pray you chose to be salt and light – pointing those looking at you to the One who gave you the platform in the first place.
Go:
Consider your platform as an influencer. What are you pointing your followers to?
In what ways are you the salt and light in the world? What can you do to improve?
Workout:
Overtime:
“Father, help me steward my influence for Your Glory. Show me how to be a light in my actions, words and thoughts. At the end of the day, I pray people see You more than they see me. Thank You for giving me a platform through competition. In Jesus’ name, amen.”