Who Are You Following? Sample

Who Is Influencing You?

I remember as a kid not being happy about being told to follow someone I didn’t deem worthy of being a leader. In elementary school our class had a special role assigned each week, the job of line leader. You didn’t have to do anything to get this leadership position; you just waited for your turn in alphabetical order. This meant that even the worst kid in the class was going to be the line leader at some point, which meant that you were going to have to follow him. There was even a song: “We’re following the leader, the leader, the leader. We’re following the leader, wherever he may go.” Following the line leader really bothered me. Even then I was aware of and thinking about who I was following and whether they were leading me in the right direction.

As an adult I’ve looked in the mirror and asked myself, “Was I more bothered by who I was following and where they were taking me when I was a kid than I am now, when it matters more?” My answer? Yes.

Be honest with yourself. I don’t think I’m the only one who would answer that question with a yes.

It’s easy to follow someone during their ten minutes of fame—the person with the biggest viral videos on TikTok, the trending “it” couple on Instagram, the reality star with the most dramatic scene of the week. Recently I heard someone say they think TikTok is the worst thing for our generation and they’d never let their own kid have it, yet they use it for their own entertainment. Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with entertainment, but when we admit that this form of entertainment is “the worst thing for our generation,” we must be ready to ask ourselves, “Is this the way I should be entertaining myself?”

The real question is, Who do we really want to follow? Especially when we realize that who we are following is who is influencing us and the way we live our lives.

Most of us don’t even realize the power that others’ influence has over us. If you’ve purchased something from a swipe-up link on Instagram, you’ve been influenced. If you’ve looked in the mirror and felt a little differently about your beautiful body after seeing perfect (and likely edited) bikini photos online, you’ve been influenced. You’ve been influenced if you can’t figure out why you’re lonely, why you’re insecure, why you struggle so much with confidence, and why you’re not finding the relationships you want to be in. At some point, you might even realize the power of influence when suddenly you’re looking in the mirror at a stranger.

When you follow the wrong directions on a map, you end up lost. When you follow the wrong influences in your life, you will find yourself in that very same position—lost. There is no sense wasting our lives searching in all the wrong directions when there is a clear direction for all the things we desire in life.

Let’s talk about Jesus, a leader and influencer worth following. You know, the cool thing about Jesus is that, just like social media influencers, He was not ashamed to ask you to follow Him. He was confident in where He was leading. Many people ask you to follow them today. I’ve seen many YouTubers unashamedly implore us to click and subscribe with lots of fun, emotive hand motions. Many influencers on social media are giving out valuable information: how to start your own business, how to train your baby to sleep (one that I’m very interested in at the moment!), how to do a full face of glam makeup in ten minutes or less.

But Jesus could confidently ask people to follow Him because He knew He was not just doling out self-help advice; He was leading His followers to life. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Respond

Who do you follow on social media? Describe how they influence your life.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, please help me to make wise choices as I follow others on social media.