Influence, Not Influencer

Everybody’s posting. Who are you pointing to?

You don’t need a million followers to be an influencer. Your group chat, your family, your coworkers and your 312 followers are watching. The question isn’t whether you have influence. It’s what you do with it.

🏜️ Meet the anti-influencer

John the Baptist had the biggest platform in Israel. Crowds walked into the desert to hear him. Then Jesus showed up, and John’s audience started leaving.

📉Followers: dropping
😬His team: panicking
🙌John: thrilled

His disciples came to him worried: “Everyone is coming to him” (John 3:26). Any modern influencer would be making a comeback plan. John said this:

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”John 3:30 (WEB)

That’s the difference. An influencer builds an audience for themselves. Influence, the biblical kind, points people past you to Someone better. Paul put it this way: “Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Follow me only as far as I’m following Him.

📲 Should I post this?

Ten real posts. Post it, post it differently, or keep it off the internet?

👏 When the crowd cheers

Three people in Acts got a big reaction. Watch what each one did with it.

💰 Simon wanted to buy the platformHe saw the apostles’ power and offered them money for it. Peter: “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!”Acts 8:20 (WEB)

Spiritual influence as a product to acquire. Still for sale in some corners of the internet.

👑 Herod soaked it upThe crowd shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” He didn’t correct them. “Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. Then he was eaten by worms and died.”Acts 12:22–23 (WEB)

We’re not saying your comments section will give you worms. We’re saying accepting worship is a dangerous hobby.

🙌 Paul and Barnabas shut it downA whole town tried to worship them as gods. They tore their clothes and ran into the crowd: “We also are men of like passions with you.”Acts 14:15 (WEB)

The healthy response to applause: “I’m just like you. Look at Him.”

“For we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”2 Corinthians 4:5 (WEB)

✅ My before-you-post filter

Five questions. Screenshot it, or copy it to your notes.

📲 Before I post

  1. Is it true, the whole way through?No upgraded testimonies. “Putting away falsehood, speak truth” (Ephesians 4:25).
  2. Is it mine to share?My kids’ hardest moments, my friend’s prayer request, my family’s grief belong to them too.
  3. Who does it point to?Me, or Him? “He must increase” (John 3:30).
  4. Would I still post it with zero likes?If not, what am I really posting it for?
  5. Would the people in it be glad I did?Today, and ten years from now.
“Let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”Matthew 5:16 (WEB). Notice whose name gets the glory.

Keep going

📸 Humblebrag DetectorDoing good to be seen 📱 Parasocial or Personal?The influencers you follow 📲 Algorithm of the HeartWhat your feed is feeding you 🚪 Don’t Gatekeep JesusSharing faith naturally 🏔️ Holy or Hungry?Ambition and motives 👂 Who Has Your Ear?The voices shaping you

Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). In the US, sponsored posts and free products you promote generally need to be clearly disclosed; check the FTC’s guidance for influencers.