Are You An Influencer

In case you didn’t know, a working definition of an influencer might be a person who is able to generate interest in something, such as a consumer product or service, a lifestyle choice (maybe travel destinations, exercise or diet) by writing or more likely these days, posting about it on social media. If you are an influencer with a large number of followers (some have millions), then companies will pay to advertise of your web site or online presence. Nice work if you can get it.

After the resurrection, Jesus needed influencers to spread the gospel message. In fact He specifically commanded the 11 apostles (you may recall they had some attrition after the Last Supper), to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28). Given that the last estimate I saw was that there are currently 1.4 billion Catholics on this earth, the apostles did a pretty good job getting things moving. However, as the current version of Jesus disciples, it’s now up to us to keep “making disciples of all nations”. A tall order but what does this mean?

First off, a brief story on my own shortcomings in this area. A number of years ago, a colleague, a non-catholic friend in corporate America (also a Mike), mentioned that he and a mutual friend were talking about who they knew at work that was a Catholic. When my friend Mike mentioned he thought that I was a Catholic, our colleague said nah, no way Mike Duffy is a Catholic. We both laughed about when he shared the conversation, but it made me think. What in my behaviors made me ineligible, in our coworkers mind, to be Catholic? And also raised the broader question of how would anyone even suspect I might be a

Catholic without me having to tell them? To quote the former talk show host Arsenio Hall: “Things that make you go hmmm.....”. St. Francis of Assisi famously said: “Preach the Gospel always; when necessary use words”. While the Apostles did take to the streets to preach the gospel by verbally proclaiming the Good News and exhorting people to change their ways, I suspect the vast majority of people who’ve come to the Faith since then have done so both in responding to God’s gentle invitation (very few of us get knocked to the ground like Paul on the road to Damascus), and of course as a result of seeing other

people live the Gospel message. Of wanting to know what drove these new disciples of Jesus who were joyfully caring for those on the margins, or going as missionaries to foreign lands, who were living the

commandment to Love their Neighbor in so many different ways.

Yes that’s fine you might say, but I have a job, a family, responsibilities, and frankly speaking, not much in the way of desire to give it all up. So does that mean I can’t be a good disciple.....of course not! God meets us where we are. Your call may be to be the person who refuses to engage in gossip. Perhaps you decline the offer to pay for service in cash to avoid taxes. You might be the one who refrains from maligning the political party or foreign country you dislike or that inspires anger and fear in you. You could be the person who isn’t overwhelmed by what you see on TV, because you’re not grounded in NBC News but in The Good News! Jesus didn’t demand that we all become heroic figures, only that we use whatever gifts we have in the service of love.

Our ego’s will often tell us that the little bits we can do don’t really matter. In fact there’s a saying that goes “don’t sweat the small stuff”. As usual, we have it backwards. It’s the “small stuff” that makes up our lives. Our kindness, our gentleness, our graciousness, our patience and all those acts where we display the gifts of the Holy Spirit we were given at our Baptism and Confirmation. These seemingly mundane things help generate new disciples. And even if we don’t get recognized for it, and there’s likely no money to be made, we too can become an influencer.