A few years ago, the term “influencer” started popping up. People desperate for the limelight were going on reality shows in the hopes of becoming famous and achieving the E-list status (as in one step below D-list).

For many it worked.  Bachelor contestants who weep in the limo in their exit interviews are smiling and hawking everything from toothpaste to workout wear a week later, their mended hearts trying to prolong their insta-celebrity status as long as possible.

We make it worse. Like moths to a candle flame, we revel in their every thought that crosses our screens. We watch their podcasts and follow their pages. We are like loose change and these influencers are giant magnets.

But while the term is relatively new, the concept isn’t.

In the movie Julie and Julia, real life blogger Julie Powell embarks on a year-long journey to create 365 days and 524 of Julia Child’s most famous recipes. Along the way she becomes a famous blogger and offers pour in to sponsor her blog in exchange for mentions. An early day influencer.

But wait! Is that where it starts?

Let’s go back a little farther. A couple of millenia farther.

Jesus chose 12 men to be the world’s first influencers. They were to go out and be fishers of men.

Isn’t that what they want celebs to do today? Reel in people to buy their clothes, their makeup, their perfume…

Don’t you know that all that will burn with a fervent heat in the end?

But those influencers, the ones who are influencing others to follow Christ, they will be rewarded in Heaven. They are the ones truly making a difference in this world.

Be THAT kind of influencer….

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. Proverbs 11:30