The TIME 100 and Our Time to Influence

In 1st Thessalonians 1, the apostle Paul commended the people of Thessalonica for their faithfulness and their influence:
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,    6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.

We are not placed here merely to exist, to be a place holder in the human population statistics.  God is not looking for someone to say, "here", and not make an impact in some way.  He desires for everyone to come into a saving knowledge of Christ, to develop a relationship with Him, and then to follow Him wholeheartedly, allowing the life of Jesus that resides in our hearts to flow to the people whom we meet and interact.   He has given us each the capacity for influence - influence to touch the world with the love of God, so that people would be drawn to Him.

We see some of the keys to influence in a passage of Scripture in Philippians chapter 2:
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

TIME Magazine has released its listing of the 100 most influential people in the world, and while there are a few names that you would expect to see, there are quite a few people that I know I have never heard of.

From the world of entertainment, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lawrence, and Justin Timberlake are there.   So are Daniel Day-Lewis and Beyonce.  Lebron James and Mario Ballotelli, Italian football star, and Chinese tennis champion Li Na make it from the sports world.   And, from the political realm, President Obama and First Lady Michelle are there, Vice-President Biden, Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan, and Senators Rand Paul and Tom Coburn make the cut, too.  So does Kate Middleton.  And Chris Christie.

I'm still processing information about those from the world of religion, but I do know Pope Francis is on the list.   So is the pastor of the largest Assemblies of God church in the nation - Wilfredo De Jesus, who is also called, "Choco".

De Jesus was featured in recent TIME cover story on the faith of Latinos.  Pastor De Jesus said, “I am honored to be named to TIME’s 100.  It’s a great privilege to be a voice not only for the Latino Christian community, but also for the poor and voiceless in our society...The Hispanic community in the U.S. is over 51 million strong. We’re people God has chosen to govern and to lead communities and cities with conviction, unapologetically. There are many great leaders in this community, and I am truly humbled by this recognition.”

He pastors New Life Covenant Ministries in Chicago, having grown up both in the church and surrounding neighborhood, which provides him a unique perspective on leading this dynamic and diverse congregation.

When De Jesús began pastoring the church in July 2000, it averaged 120 attendees per weekend. Today, New Life has 5,000 local members and 14,000 globally through church plants and boasts more than 130 ministries reaching the most destitute—the homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts and gang members. These multi-faceted development programs offer everything from food and clothing pantries to transitional shelters, residential recovery and job training programs; mobile soup kitchens for the homeless and shut-ins; gang and at-risk youth intervention; world missions and humanitarian relief; after-school tutoring and sports programming; mentoring and prison outreach; and human trafficking and immigration advocacy.

He shares his life and message in the book, Amazing Faith.

TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel has said of the list in the past that the TIME 100 consists of, "People who are using their ideas, their visions, their actions to transform the world and have an effect on a multitude of people.”

So, here is one man who saw needs and began to walk in the Spirit to meet them - his actions are transforming the world.   But, you don't have to be a pastor or a politician, a scientist or a sage, to be a person of influence - I dare say it is a calling for all of us.   God has brought people into our lives on whom He intends for us to have an impact.   And, often, it takes place as we look beyond ourselves, focus on the needs of others, and realize that God wants to work through us.