Unbound: Freedom in a Digital WorldSample

Paul believes that his relentless pursuit to grow in intimacy with Jesus is not only for his own benefit but for the benefit of all the believers. He sees himself as a role model for other brothers and sisters in the faith. He also acknowledges that he isn’t alone in this role, but there are many who “live as we do.” He wants them to pay attention to the right people. Whom are they watching? Who are their influencers?

In 1912, the French actress Suzanne Orlandi showed up in the fashionable streets of Paris in a black velvet dress with a white tuft color designed by up and coming boutique owner Coco Chanel. Prior to this moment, black was reserved for funerals and no dress was ever suitable for both daytime work and nighttime society. Fifteen years later, the famed “little black dress” adorned nearly every woman's closet throughout metropolitan areas in Europe and the United States. Suzanne Orlandi might have been the first modern influencer.

Over a hundred years later, the social media companies Instagram, Twitch, and TikTok, among others, have created a marketplace for social media influencers valued at just under 14 billion dollars (https://findyourinfluence.com/a-history-of-social-media-influencers/). With every slide of the finger, we are shown another perfectly dressed and accessorized influencer. They have all the things we want. They have coolers that will hold ice until Armageddon or slimming capris that allow your toes to wade in the cool ocean water.

We are susceptible today to the same problems as the Philippians were thousands of years ago. We must recognize who we allow to influence us and in what direction they are influencing us. Most social media influencers are using their influence to make money for themselves. They have no genuine concern for who we are as people.

Paul gives the church in Philippi a useful three-prong approach for assessing whether our influencers are from God or against God. He describes those who are opposed to Christ in this way: their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. We can turn these statements into easy questions for assessing our own influencers.

It’s often missed in reading this text, but Paul intentionally contrasts each of these points of assessment with the wonderful influence of those who are following Christ. Instead of their final destiny being destruction, our citizenship is in heaven. Instead of lust and gluttony being our god, “we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Instead of taking glory in our shamefulness, we wait for the day when Jesus will “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

Practice being influenced towards Christlikeness by asking the influencers you follow the following three questions:

1. Is their final destiny destruction?
2. Is their stomach their god?
3. Do they take glory in their shame?