Sunday Sermons
The Influentials
The Influentials
In a book written by Ed Keller and Jon Berry that bears the title of this lesson, the authors assert that “One American in ten tells the other nine how to vote, where to eat, and what to buy. They are the influentials. Who are they? The most influential Americans are not necessarily the people you’d expect. They’re not America’s most affluent 10 percent or best-educated 10 percent. They’re not the early adopters always the first to try everything. They are, however the 10 percent of Americans most engaged in their local communities and they wield a huge amount of influence within most communities” (Inside front cover). The above book intrigued me because Jesus noted that Christians should be influential in the world (Matthew 5:13-16). In addition, the book explodes a number of influence myths.
The Power of word of Mouth
I believe that through the years Christians have felt that we have lost our influence because we have not been on television. Yet surveys note that when people are asked which variety of sources they turn to for information, more than eight in ten people say that their personal network of friends and family, and others is among the two or three best sources for ideas and information. When it comes to which restaurant to try, 83% will turn to friends while advertising persuades only 35%. In fact there are very few areas in which advertising outperforms word of mouth. “This is the bottom line: when Americans make decisions today, it’s a conversation” (p. 6). For most decisions, word of mouth rules. What this means in the area of evangelism, is that Jesus’ method for spreading the gospel is truly the best method (Mark 16:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:8 “in every place your faith toward God has gone forth”). Word of mouth is a method of spreading the gospel in which Christian can be involved and every congregation, no matter how small, can afford. One of the most effective methods of spreading the gospel is simply being excited about being a Christian and excited about the being part of the Lord’s Church. Talking positively about how God has changed your life, your level of satisfaction, fulfillment, contentment, peace, and the wonderful people that you now have as family, is a powerful tool. In a 2002 Roper Youth Poll, when Americans 8-17 years were asked what most influences their decisions, they placed their parents first in most areas: whether they drink alcohol, what they think they will be when they grow up, which videos they watch, what they buy with their spending money, which TV programs they view. “On average only 20% of young people rate TV the most important influence in the above areas, and only 11% say so of advertising” (p. 9).
Tuning out advertising
Now four in ten Americans say they often switch the channel whenever a commercial comes on, almost triple the level of 1985. 50% are annoyed about the number of commercials, and 46% get up and do something else before the show comes back on. Television also has changed a lot over the years. In 1950-51 the show Texaco Star Theater had a rating of 61.6 and had an 81 percent share of the market. In the 50’s half the households in America that owned a television set regularly watched shows such as I Love Lucy and The $64,000 Question. Today a Nielson rating of 21 wins the season. Now more shows and networks, plus cable and all the other media outlets are competing for the same audience. “The average American would have to read 334 books per day, go to 11,000 Web sites per day, peruse 15 magazines per day, and tune into 29 radio stations every day for a year to see everything available to him or her” (p. 11). Truly, the market is flooded with all sorts of voices, and the traditional networks are losing some of their influence, but word of mouth still rules. “At a time when the number of media is exploding and marketing is becoming more pervasive throughout life, the channel with the greatest influence in American is neither the traditional media of television, radio, or print advertising nor the new medium of the World Wide Web but the ‘human’ channel of individual, person-to-person, word-of-mouth communication” (p. 14).
The study of influence
People actually study influence and how it takes place in a society. “For many years it was assumed that influence traveled down, with ideas formed by the elites and then percolating through the social strata. Subsequent years produced a lively debate. A far-reaching 1940 study by Columbia professor Paul Lazarfeld of the presidential election in an Ohio town found that the mass media, in fact, had a ‘small’ effect on how people voted compared to the role of personal influence. Interviewing people about what influenced their decisions, the study found that, rather than starting from above and percolating down, influence appeared to be horizontal. Each social stratum had its own opinion leaders—the neighborhood barber swapping insights throughout the day with his customers for example. The media’s effect was ‘two step’: the opinion leaders would digest the articles and broadcasts and then disseminate what they’d learned mixed with their personal reflections, to their circle of friends and acquaintances” (p. 18). In fact, young homemakers for example, took their cues such things as grocery shopping most often from older women who were more experienced in such decisions (Titus 2:4-5). Others have spent years studying ideas, and have sought to explain the “sudden changes that seem to spread like epidemics in the popular culture and society” (p. 16). Malcolm Gladwell in the book entitled The Tipping Point, argues that such “idea viruses” share three key characteristics: 1. Individuals who store up vast stocks of information and are willing to share it with others. 2. “Connectors”, people who have vast social networks and can get the word out quickly. 3. “Salesmen” who get everyone caught up with their passion for an idea(Romans 1:15-16).
Who is an influential?
If someone had asked me in the past, “Who are in the influential people in our culture” I might have said certain elite types, celebrities, and maybe even the youth culture. But I would have been wrong. The median age of an influential person is 45. In addition, wealth is not the key factor in influence. Neither age nor money determines whether you are influencing others.
· “The strength and breadth of the influential’s connections in their communities also draws out the distinction between them and traditionally courted demographic segments, such as the affluent, the college educated, and people in executive or professional jobs. Most influentials have a connection to seven different groups. In contrast, the typical executive or professional feels connected to only three groups. Almost all executives and professionals, for example, feel connected to a work place—it’s where they spend most of their days, after all” (p. 50). And it is not merely being connected to many groups, but feeling strongly connected, that is active and participating in many realms (which means meeting many new people). It is easy to forget that Christianity is a people-oriented faith. God loves people (John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9), and the second great commandment is to love people as well (Matthew 22:39). Limiting the people with whom we associate and living in a very small circle means that we will have little influence (Romans 12:16).
· Wealth does not necessarily buy influence. “Walter Lippmann noted 80 years ago in Public Opinion that many people ‘live in grooves shut in among their own affairs’ and ‘barred out of larger affairs’. They have the resources to do more, but they ‘meet few people not of their own sort’, read ‘little’, and ‘always’ talk to ‘the same people, with minute variations, on the same old themes’. Lippmann said, ‘Worlds of interest are waiting for them to explore, and they do not enter’. Instead they move through life, ‘as if on a leash, with a fixed radius according to the gospel of their social set’” (p. 50). What this means is that we are going to have very little influence on the world if we are only spending time with the same friends, or if we are preaching but constantly preaching to “the choir”. In order to influence people with anything, including the gospel, we need to be regularly making new connections (Acts 17:17). The verse also reminds us that material possessions cannot purchase a number of things, including genuine friends and real influence.
· It should not surprise us that someone who is influential is not cloistered away in a study or office, but is involved on many levels. They have a wide range of interests, but the only activities that they are not more likely to pursue than the rest of the population are passive activities, such as watching television (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
· They are social. “They get together with people on a regular basis: about six in ten have friends over at least two or three evenings per month, 1 ½ times the rate of the total public” (p. 44). This means that they are hospitable and they enjoy being with people (Romans 12:13).
· They are also active in the religious life of the nation. A majority of influential people attend services somewhere every single week. “Befitting their status as leaders in the community, more than one in ten currently has a leadership position in the church, triple the rate of the public as a whole” (p. 44). The apostles agreed, influential people are men and women of faith (Philippians 2:15 “among whom you appear as lights in the world”. In fact, studies show that most influentials are conservative in their values. They are also hard workers and savers (Proverbs 6:6ff). Saving and avoiding money problems is important, because saving manifests foresight, self-control, and the “smarts that can engender respect and encourage influence” (p. 37).
· The leading hobby noted by influential people is reading. They are heavy readers of newspapers, magazines, books, and online material. One is five or more are actively pursuing 12 other interests at the same time. Because they are such readers, they have a breadth of knowledge and experience and this is one reason why people listen when they speak. In addition, they are very concerned and interested in what is happening in the world around them. There is a lesson here for Christians-- if people are going to listen to us and take us seriously, then we need to be informed. In addition, we need to avoid passing on misinformation or getting involved in interests that would lessen our credibility. It is far easier to reach someone with the gospel if they respect your reliability.
· “Not everything piques their curiosity. Only about one in three, for example, admit to being interested in famous people and celebrities. Influentials are not as likely to be carrying the banner for the celebrity culture as other groups, including young adults and women” (p. 58).
· They keep their minds active and are continually learning (Proverbs 9:9). They are not experts on everything because no one really is, and actually the person who feels like they are an expert on everything, turns off people. Instead, seeing that they are avid learners and readers, they have a broad range of knowledge, and people respect that. In addition, if they do not know the answer immediately, because they are very connected, they usually know where they can find the answer.
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net/mdunagan@easystreet.com
