The Reverberating Effect of Influence

Have you ever thrown a tiny stone into a pond of water and watched the ripple effect? The waves set in motion from the impact of that rock on the surface of the water eventually reached the entire shoreline.

So it is with our lives. Our influence today can have a reverberating effect on future generations. In fact, this is how Jesus changed the world; he went deep with the few to impact the many. Consider this diagram depicting the different levels of influence that Jesus had with the people around him. He obviously didn't give everyone equal amounts of time; his investment with the few provides us with a model for far-reaching influence spanning both time and space.

First, leadership begins with us. In Luke 2:41-52, we read that Jesus increased in favor with God and people at age 12. In fact, his first 30 years are perhaps best characterized by this one phrase. Later, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus further led himself and became a leader worth following by conquering the self-leadership temptations (Luke 4:1-13).

Jesus' second level of leadership was with his inner circle of Peter, James, and John. He spent more time with them than the other disciples preparing them for key leadership positions in the early church. In Luke 8:51, Jesus raised Jarius’ daughter from the dead with the inner circle present; in Luke 9:28-36, Jesus allowed his inner circle to witness his transfiguration; and in Mark 14:33, we see Jesus taking Peter, James, and John with him to pray in Gethsemane during a time of great personal need and vulnerability.

Jesus' third level of leadership is with his disciples. In Luke 6:13-16, he chose twelve and in Luke 9:1-6, he empowered and sent them out to reach their own people.

Jesus' fourth level of leadership is with the 70 disciples sent out in Luke 10:1-20; they were commissioned to go everywhere.

We see these numbers continue to grow as we get to Acts 1:15 where 120 believers gathered to pray before Pentecost in an upper room. Shortly thereafter, Jesus' reverberating influence impacted 3000 new converts at Pentecost. And the question mark in the diagram? That represents all of us who name the name of Christ and walk in his ways; Jesus' influence continues to ripple outward.

So here's the key point: Leading, loving and serving like Jesus means spending more time with a few than with many in order to have the greatest influence. Yes, Jesus took time for the crowds and healed those who crossed his path. But Jesus spent most of his time with the inner circle and the 12 disciples. His focus was on quality and quantity was the result.

[My next post will look further at this reverberating aspect of influence.]