Influence

12.30.13

Revelation 18.4-5 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. (ESV)

In 1959, in Holcomb Kansas, parolees Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith committed the brutal murders of Herbert Clutter, a wealthy farmer, Clutter’s wife, and two of their children. Hickock and Smith had hatched a plan to rob Clutter based on information they had gleaned from another parolee, and leave no witnesses. From there they would flee to Mexico and live on the cash they stole. Except the information was false, there was no cash, and in a fit of rage, Smith slit Clutter’s throat then shot-gunned to death his wife and kids… the power of influence.

Today I thought about influence as I read in the Scripture of, “…another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her my people…”” In other words, don’t be influenced by the pull of society around you…

There is no doubt in my mind that our world is full of smart, clever, creative, and resourceful people. The problem with smart, clever, creative, and resourceful is that much, if not all, of what the world comes up with, is devoid of God. The city described in Revelation 18 is devoid of God and fit only for “plagues” as a result of her selfishness and sin. The verse above states: “…for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” God has no use for the godlessness of man and his systems.

And so influence – Come out of her My people, lest you take part in her sins… The murders of Clutter and his family probably wouldn’t have taken place without influence; somebody influenced somebody. Hickock was influenced by Floyd Wells, a once fellow inmate of Hickock’s. Hickock then influenced Smith to take part in the crime. One thing led to another and four innocent people were brutally murdered because of greed, dissatisfaction with life, and sadly, some bad information.

The world influences us, in the Body of Christ, with its smart, clever, and creative resourcefulness; we’re people too. But God knows how easily influenced we are and knows the pull of society’s lure of conformity toward us. And God calls us to come out and not get suckered in by the glitz and the glamour and the downright cleverness of it all. The world and all its resources are devoid of God and opposed to Him in every arena of its influence.

Many of us play footsy with the world not realizing we’re playing with something with the real-time potential of deadliness. But it’s what we know. That’s why we need the call and the power of God to not imitate the world or not be intimidated by its accusations when we don’t (and won’t) conform. Just ask Phil Robertson. We must stand firm in our Kingdom convictions…lest. Lest, we be caught away with the sins of the world and caught up in the punishment of the world.

Father God, may I heed Your call and I ask for wisdom to know when, where, and how to retreat from the influence of what appears to be good and harmless and yet is full of the venom of vipers – Amen.