Ordinary get-up-go-to-work people are people of influence

We have all been influenced by other people -- either for the good, inspiring us to say "I really want to be like that guy," or for the worse, causing us to distastefully say "I don't want to be that guy."

People of influence come in all shapes and sizes -- the coach who pushed you further and harder than you thought you could go, the teacher who took the extra time to invest in you, the more experienced tradesman who showed you how to avoid making some simple and embarrassing mistakes.

Jesus spoke to a gathering crowd one day with these powerful words: "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world." You are the ones who must be a beacon of light into a dark world. You are the ones who must season and preserve the earth. You are the influencers the world needs.

The interesting thing was the crowd was filled with moms and dads, fishermen, carpenters, laborers, field workers and perhaps a few people of higher position here and there.

It wasn't the elite who were given the praise to be the ones to season and preserve the world. It wasn't those who were successful by standards of the day who were told to shed light upon the darkness. It was the moms and dads sitting next to the fishermen and the carpenters. The ordinary get-up-go-to-work-raise-your-children-and-enjoy-the-golden-years folks, they are the salt and the light.

Being a man or a woman of influence is not necessarily a byproduct of position. Real people of influence are those who lives out their character effecting positive change upon others and their environment. They clearly perceive the current culture they live in, analyze it, hold it up to the ideal and then take steps to move in that direction. People of influence are not always the ones in charge, but they most certainly are the leaders.

Jesus didn't challenge the status quo that day to only encourage others to be interested in self. He transformed people to transform the world, to flavor and preserve the earth and shed light on the darkness the creeps ever closer to home.

Who will you influence today?

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.