What if Your Greatest Influence has Nothing to do With Follower Counts?
When most people hear the word “influencer,” they picture someone with millions of followers, a perfect camera, and a Ring Light setup that costs more than their car payment. But what if some of the most powerful influencers in human history didn’t require a fancy platform?
Take Bezalel. He was a craftsman in ancient Israel who created one of the most iconic buildings in history by using his hands and construction skills. God specifically called him by name to design and build the Tabernacle, the place where heaven would meet earth. His influence didn’t come from broadcasting to millions but from being excellent at what he did, right where God placed him.
Or consider Joseph, who went from prison to prime minister of Egypt. His influence began in a jail cell where he interpreted dreams, served with integrity, and nurtured his impact on the lives of society’s forgotten people. By the time Pharaoh noticed him, Joseph had already been practicing influence in the small spaces, and his faithful preparation ended up changing the world.
What if what you see as ordinary can become God’s altar?
The places where you spend your days, your office cubicle, your kitchen table, your classroom, your neighborhood, your shop floor, aren’t just spaces you pass through. What if they are the sacred ground where God’s Kingdom can break in?
The Mathematics of Your Unique Influence
You share 50% of your DNA with a banana.
You share 96% of your DNA with a chimpanzee.
You share more than 99% of your DNA with every other human being on earth.
But it’s the 1% that makes all the difference. The 1% that makes you uniquely you is where the magic happens. When you combine that unique genetic blueprint with your specific experiences, personality, passions, and the moment in history God placed you in, your life is literally unrepeatable.
God doesn’t mass-produce people. He handcrafted you for assignments that only you can fulfill. The Bible reminds us that God called Bezalel by name and filled him with divine skill for artistic design, metalwork, and craftsmanship. Notice, God didn’t just give him generic spiritual gifts. He gave him highly specific abilities perfectly matched to his assignment. The same is true for you. But it requires looking in the ordinary.
3 Ways to Multiply Your Influence Right Where You Are
1. Master the Power of Encouraging Words
Words that breathe courage create spaces where God can work. Research shows that the average person spends half their waking hours at work, but most workplaces run on a steady diet of criticism and correction. What would happen if you became known as someone who sees potential in others?
Barnabas in the early church was called “Son of Encouragement” because he had a gift for seeing what others could become. When everyone else saw Paul as a dangerous persecutor, Barnabas saw an apostle waiting to emerge. Your encouraging words might be exactly what unlocks someone’s God-given potential.
Try this: Write one note of encouragement this week to someone where you live, work, learn, or play. Make it sincere, specific, and focused on their strengths. Watch what happens.
2. Ask Great Questions Instead of Giving Quick Answers
The most influential people lead with questions instead of answers. Jesus asked 307 questions in the Gospels. He understood something we often miss: the mind resists commands but responds to questions.
When someone tells you what to think, your natural reaction is to defend your current position. But when someone asks a thoughtful question, those barriers lower as your mind engages with the inquiry. Questions create humble spaces of uncertainty, and God seems particularly drawn to fill those spaces.
Instead of saying, “You should read your Bible more,” try asking, “When have you read something that really connected with your life?” The first approach creates pressure. The second creates curiosity and opens space for meaningful conversation.
3. Practice the Discipline of Being Present
In our age of digital distraction, presence has become a superpower. Harvard research shows that we’re happiest when fully present in the moment and least happy when our minds wander, which happens about 47% of our waking hours.
Jesus demonstrated this perfectly with the Samaritan woman at the well. He was on the most important mission in history, yet he made time to be fully present with one person who others would have avoided. That conversation didn’t just change her life; it transformed an entire town.
Being fully present requires three practices:
- Slowing: Creating margin in your schedule for unexpected encounters
- Noticing: Seeing beyond surface labels to recognize divine appointments
- Listening: Creating safe space for others to share their stories
Your Sacred Assignment as an Influencer
God has strategically positioned you exactly where you are. What if your difficult coworker isn’t just someone to endure, what if they are your assignment? That neighbor who seems so different from you; God might be calling you to build a bridge. That challenging season at work or school. What if God is preparing you for influence you can’t yet imagine.
You don’t need millions of followers to change the world. You just need to be faithful with the influence you already have.
Joseph saved the world from famine because he was faithful in small spaces first. Bezalel created a place where God could dwell among His people because he faithfully used his gifts where God placed him. Your ordinary moments are God’s opportunities. Your regular job has sacred significance, and your everyday relationships are your ministry.
The question isn’t whether you have influence.
You do.
The question is: what will you do with it?
Start where you are. Use what you have. Influence who’s in front of you. That’s how you become an influencer in everyday life, not through algorithms and analytics, but through authenticity and presence in the places God has called you to serve.
What would happen if you started seeing your ordinary spaces as sacred ground? Maybe the greatest influence of your life is meant to happen in the everyday moments where God has strategically placed you.
Dive Deeper in “Influencer: Finding Your Sacred Purpose in Ordinary Places.”
This blog post is part of our sermon series “Influencer: Finding Your Sacred Purpose in Ordinary Places.” Join us Sundays in August as we explore how to be embedded influencers right where God has placed you.
