Hope 4 Today: Influence Culture by Staying Connected to GodSýnishorn

Human Habitat

As a media executive in Hollywood, I have often said that if people saw how most movie industry professionals lived, they would see a different side than the glamourous life portrayed to the public. The competition for work is daunting and during the pandemic, it skyrocketed as studios and most production offices shut down.

Actors were forced to audition on Zoom and in the midst of it, a video went viral on social media. A rude and insensitive director had neglected to mute himself during a Zoom audition and vented how the actor’s apartment looked like a dump (although in stronger terms than I care to repeat). The desperate actor brushed it off and said with a smile, “Yeah it is. Just give me the job and I can fix that.” 

We all live hidden lives but in today’s social media culture they can easily be exposed. In this case, it was the director whose heart was exposed. 

Power and influence are wieldy tools.

Overreaching power and influence can warp the mind and allow a hardened, entitled and selfish heart to grow, breeding injustice and rudeness that reveals itself at odd times. It often erupts during heated conflicts or when one’s entitlement has been allowed to continue unchecked, or in this case, when a Zoom mic doesn’t get muted.

History has proven that just having a mind to make change is ineffective and insufficient. If our hearts aren’t cleaned up, then evil will continue to exist. If we don’t inhabit a fruit of the spirit life, we won’t love what God loves and injustices will prevail. 

Jesus taught us how to live a life of justice, a life of truly caring for those around us. We are to see, as the Good Samaritan saw, and act with unselfish kindness and goodness towards others. If we are put in powerful and influential places, we are to use that leadership position to do good, honorable and righteous acts.

Is it time for some heart housecleaning? Ask God to expose the hidden places and scrub them clean. Become a human habitat of God’s goodness.