Influencers

 

A man goes to the hairdresser and asks to have a haircut like Tony Curtis. The hairdresser shaves his head totally bald. The man is livid. "This is not like Tony Curtis," he said, "do you even know who Tony Curtis is?"

"Sure," replied the hairdresser, "I have seen him in the King and I three times!"

A few weeks later, when his hair has grown, the same man goes to another hairdresser. He says he wants his hair cut like Gary Cooper; showing him a photo of the actor to make sure.

The hairdresser shaves his head totally bald. The man is livid. "This is not what Garry Cooper looks like!" he cries.

The hairdresser replies, "He would do if he came here for a haircut!"

After a few more weeks, when his hair grew again, the man went to yet another hairdresser. This time he said, "I want you to cut my hair just like yours!"

The hairdresser shaved his head totally bald. The man is livid. "You shaved me bald. This does not look like your hair style!" he cries.

"Yes it is," replies the hairdresser, "but mine has grown since I shaved it!"

*******

In olden days people were influenced by actors or singers they liked and saw in the cinema; or by sports personalities perhaps or other famous people.

These days, it seems, there are influencers everywhere. You don't have to be anything special or have any particular talent to be an influencer. There are influencers all over social media - FB, Twitter, Blogger and so on. Everyone it seems is an influencer. People who have appeared on a TV reality show with no particular talent apart from being a moron are suddenly propelled to public attention and become major influencers to a multitude of similarly brainless followers on social media. If they appear on TV with their backside showing, immediately their mass following would copy them and walk the streets mooning everyone including the moon!

I often watch adverts on TV as a distraction from the boring programs they put on. I am told all these adverts are wasted on me.

"Do you know who that woman in the advert is?" I'm asked.

"No idea ... she looked stupid prancing about like that," I reply. And then I'm told she is a famous personality ... singer ... dancer ... athlete ... or whatever ... and that a lot of people will buy the product because of her in the advert.

I wish I was a great influencer. But sadly I cannot even influence my dogs. We have two dogs called Sit and Stay. Whenever I call them they get really confused and don't know what to do. When I point and say, "Go to bed!" they ask, "Who's Fred?"

You know ... years ago, Jesus was a great influencer. He was a power for good. He did good and preached goodness, peace and love. He still is a great influencer even now. Sadly, not many people care to listen or follow His advice or teachings. Perhaps He should be on social media.

When you think about it ... He could be ... and is ... on social media. Through us. Through whatever we write and say on our FB page, or Twitter or whatever else we have joined. We could be influencers on His behalf. Let our tweets and blogs be what He would want to read.

But not only on social media ... we could be influencers for Christ throughout our lives. Whatever we say or do is often seen by others. Whether we are parents, teachers, lawyers, doctors, car mechanics or whatever ... what we do and how we live is seen by others. They may like how we behave and wish to copy us. When we suffer some misfortune, the way we behave and act may well influence and encourage others in their bad times. When we have good times, our cheerfulness and gratitude may well rub off on others who may emulate our behaviour.

Yes ... I guess we can all be influencers for Jesus. We don't need to be famous to do it.

Now then ... where are those dogs? I need to teach them how to fetch a ball when I throw it. I'm fed up going all the way up the park to get the ball whilst they laugh at me!