The passage for this weeks sermon at EBC is Mark 4:1-34. What a great passage, the general crux is this: The first part is the parable of the Sower. The four different types of soil etc. The point being, we need to be influenced by the Gospel. The second part, which is perfectly 'ripe for the picken' is about sharing the gospel, or being an influencer.
So the answer to the title question is BOTH!
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15 comments:
You make it sound so easy!!! It's definitely simple, but not easy.
Yes simple, No easy. That is our challenge though yes?
I want to be an influenced influencer!
I'm sure there is a tongue twister in there somewhere...
How many influencers would an influencer influence is an influencer could influence......ah forget it.
where did you come up with such insight?;) i would also add that it is about being READY to be ifluenced by the gospel. not to just sow to anyone but wait for the right ground to place you seed.
Both!
I got it right!
"A+ Dan! Great job!"
Ahhhh....
*basks in the glory of a teacher's praise*
dboy, you get a star and a purple elephant stamp. Would you like to go for double or nothing
So how does this sit. The term "Influence" menas "the act or power of producing an effect without any apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command". In essence, this says that to infuence a person we must not a)command them to do something they are not already doing and b)try and coerse them to see our point of view. This being the case, the influencing only takes place through living out what we believe, good or bad. It also requires us to be interactive in everyday life with people, not just at a place where we talk about God (ie Church) but also in work and play. I think that is the challange being set. Our ability to influence is not something we switch on or off. It is us, we influence people either positivly or negatively everyday simply by interacting with them. It puts a great slant on the term "The Living Truth"
Love that, Dan. The influencing comes when we say to others, "Guess what happened to me last night!"
Guess what happened to me tonight! I spent time with God, and he is changing my life. He is refreshing my relationship with Him. I love Him so much. He's the best!
Do you know what else I've learnt in my time with Him tonight?
Excitment for God isn't just for new Christians!!!!
GOD ROCKS!!!
You're so cute dboy!
*squeezes dboy's cheeks*
but influencing as Dr talks about it surely has to be more than me...there's a sense where it must take place through no talking at all??
I'm not so sure. Purposly trying to get someone to believe or do what we think they should do would be more about coersion, not influence. We can unintentionally influence people through how we act, speak and general behaviour but if we change our behaviour to try and influence someone, it can no longer bec called influence!!!
It may just be an issue of terminology, but part of the Mark passage talks about this very thing. The story of the seed in v 26 of ch 4, is the story about the seed. The seed grows by itself. I believe the passage is saying that is is not our responsability to change people, even to make them grow...
Terminology? I thought it was Influence.
Dan - I realise I was vague, but that's close to my point. What I was getting at was that we often focus so much on speaking the gospel - telling people about it - and devalue living the gospel.
As I look at your original comment, I think I was merely giving you an "amen"!
Though, I actually think you can change your behaviour intentionally without it being coercive, but this would mean that the change in behaviour would not be situational and not simply because you're trying to convert someone...inauthenticity just aint right!
Hey Billy, it's interesting that Jesus is saying "Here is another illustration of what the Kingdom of God is like"...then speaks of a growth that, essentially, has nothing much to do with the farmer -
Barclay says this passage "tells us of the helplessness of man..The farmer does not make the seed grow."
Does all this mean that if the Kingdom or Reign of God is present, there will be growth? If so, how do we understand the Reign of God??
Is this about sharing the gospel? Again, in what way??
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