Winning The Battle For Influence
Winning the Battle for Influence - Part 1
In Daniel 4:36-37 and 6:26-27, we find the royal decrees of two kings. Both of them ruled at one time over one of the greatest cities and nation-states in the ancient world.
These two men came from different cultures: one was a Babylonian by birth; the other was born a Medo-Persian. They also belonged to different generations. Yet they were both tied together in history by their relationship with one unique individual - a Judean prophet called Daniel.
Daniel, or as he came to be known in Babylon, Belteshazzar, was born a Jewish prince in the 6th century BC. As a teenager he was forcibly taken from his home and heritage and transplanted to the Babylon of king Nebuchadnezzar. There, Daniel and his peers were trained for service of the Babylonian empire.
Daniel was a slave who rose up through the ranks to become a trusted advisor, a confidante, to not one but five kings of this great ancient city.
In the process of Daniel's service, he led two of the kings to faith in God -- this in a nation that virtually invented astrology and worship of the stars.
Whether they liked him or not, all the kings who knew Daniel respected him. All agreed: the spirit of the gods was in him!
Daniel's incredible and eventful life reminds us all of one great fact: we were not born to be ignored! We were created for influence.
Genesis 1:26-28 outlines the first calling God placed upon the shoulders of humankind - the mandate to influence the world. Influence is hardwired into the human condition. One way or the other, influence will flow in God's world.
Either we will influence the godless, egocentric culture around us or it will most certainly force us into its mould. All around us everyday, there is a battle for influence going on. Either you and I will invent the future or someone else's vision of the future will re-invent us!
How can we win the battle for influence in our world? How can we shape our culture more than it shapes us? How can we transform the world before it transforms us? This is what Daniel did. His life shows us how it's done...
Be the Culture-Creator in your world.
Having real influence is about creating a culture -- a new way of seeing and doing things, a fresh way of interpreting what is right, what is normal and acceptable. Without this kind of cultural definition there can be no leadership. The person, or group, who has the strongest culture will inevitably rise to leadership.
Wherever Daniel was involved, the prevailing culture changed. People, even those in high status positions, were forced to rethink what was right, normal and acceptable.
To influence your world, you must build a culture in your own space that is stronger, more dominant than the culture that surrounds you. People must feel that when they're around you, certain things are normal, right and acceptable.
Proverbs 29:18 is a popular text with many preachers, but it is about a lot more than setting goals for our lives. This verse talks about you and me redefining the culture of our immediate environment. The Hebrew text says: 'Without a redemptive revelation the people lead undisciplined lives.'
God wants to give you not just a set of goals, but a redemptive revelation of himself. He wants to show you something of his own nature; something so revolutionary that, if you live it out, it will actually redeem things around you for the kingdom of God.
Because of that revelation, you will be able redefine what it means to be in business, to build a family, to study in school, to do whatever it is that you do!
There are, I think, two fundamental questions for every Christian to answer, if we're each going to win our battle for influence. The first is this: what kind of neighbourhood, city and nation do I want to see around me in 10 years from now, should Jesus tarry? What kind of city and nation would God want me to be living in by that time? What changes would he want me to make; what things would he want me to redeem around me?
The second question is this: seeing that preferred future, what am I now prepared to do to set that in motion? As Bill Wilson, the great apostle to children in New York, likes to say: 'It's not important what you achieve in life; it's what you set in motion that counts!'
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