I have a good friend who has talked about influence for as long as I’ve known him. He values it. He doesn’t take it lightly. He is patient in pursuit of it. He believes it is given not taken. And he is passionate about it’s role in each of our lives as we live out the calling God has given us.

But, despite his passion & conviction, even after two years of conversations about influence with my friend I hadn’t resonated with the idea. It was one of those “that’s a nice thought, I’m really glad you’re passionate about” kind of things.

Influence is currently reigning as a buzz word. We use it as a marketing pitch, condemn it for making us prideful, blame it for burnout, strategize to grow our own, and put it in our book titles. But it’s also one of those concepts that I think for many remains an abstract idea we can’t quite wrap our heads around. Something about my friend’s passion for the idea of influence kept me believing it was more than just a nice idea.

I was pretty excited to tell my friend the other day that the concept of influence had finally resonated with me.

I got a call a week or so ago from a friend that ended a few days later with what, in hindsight, I realized was me leveraging the influence I have been given to help someone else live out their God given calling.

When that realization hit me I was both excited & scared to death. Influence is heavy. It comes with great responsibility to steward well. Because it’s a gift…and not one for my benefit but for that of others. It is given only that it may be given away.

Has influence become more than just a nice idea for you? How are you giving it away?