PERSONAL INFLUENCE.
We are all of us in close relations to one another. We are bound
together in numberless ways. As members of the same family, as members
of the same community, as members of the same Church--we are bound so
closely together that what any one of us does is certain to tell upon
others. It is out of this close connection with others that influence
comes. Just as one man in a crowd sends by his movements a certain
impulse throughout the whole, just as the stone thrown into a pond
causes waves that move far away from where the stone fell and that
reach in faint ripples to the distant shore, so our very existence
exercises influence beyond our knowledge and beyond our calculation.
_Influence is of two kinds, Direct and Indirect_--Conscious and
Unconscious,--The first is influence we deliberately put forth, as when
we meet a man and argue with him, as when the orator addresses the
multitude, or the politician seeks to gain their suffrages. The second
is the influence which radiates from us, whether we will it or not, as
fire burning warms a room, or icebergs floating down from the frozen
north change the temperature where they come. There is a passage in
Scripture where both kinds of influence are illustrated. "Iron
sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. As
in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." The
first part of the proverb refers to direct influence: as "iron
sharpeneth iron," so one man applying to another his powers of
persuasion, his motives in the shape of money or some other inducement,
moulds, fashions, sharpens him to his liking. "As in water face
answereth to face:" this is the silent influence which we have on
others. There is no conscious exercise of power, there is no
deliberate putting forth of strength, there is no noise as of iron
against iron; but as our shadow is silently reflected in the still
water, so our life and character silently reflect themselves in others,
and other hearts answer to the feelings that sway our own.
I. Direct or conscious influence.--In regard to this everyone must
choose his own line of action. Everyone has his own special gift, and
everyone has his own special opportunities. There are, however,
certain lines of direct influence that may be indicated, and which lie
open to all.
(_a_) Keeping others in the right path. We constantly meet with people
who are evidently taking a wrong road; it is our duty to try and show
them the right one, and to persuade them to walk in it. We see men
taking up with evil habits, evil companions, or evil opinions; we are
bound to remonstrate with them and endeavor to warn them timeously.
This of course needs to be wisely done, and after prayer to God to
guide us rightly; but we ought to do it. "A word spoken in due season
how good is it." Such a word has often been blessed and made
effectual, and we should not shrink from speaking it. The right time
for speaking it should be chosen, but it should not be left by us
unsaid. When Paley the great moralist was a student at Cambridge he
wasted his time in idleness and frivolity, and was the butt of his
fellow-students. One of them, however, took courage to remonstrate
with him, and did so with good effect. One morning he came to his
bedside and said to him earnestly, "Paley, I have not been able to
sleep for thinking about you. I have been thinking what a fool you
are! I have the means of dissipation, and could afford to be idle; you
are poor and cannot afford it. I could do nothing probably even if I
were to try; you are capable of doing anything. I have lain awake all
night thinking about your folly, and I have now come solemnly to warn
you. Indeed, if you persist in your indolence and go on in this way, I
must renounce your society altogether." The words took effect. Paley
became a changed man, and his after success sprang from his friend's
warning. This incident illustrates what may be the influence in this
form of one man upon another.
(_b_) Bearing testimony against evil. This is another line of direct
influence open to all. It is a precept of the book of Leviticus, "If a
soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he
hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his
iniquity." If he does not give evidence against evil, even to his own
hurt he sins. We are bound to protest against wrongdoing in any form;
and our protest, if distinct and well directed, always tends to good.
To be silent in certain circumstances makes us the accomplice of sin;
to speak out frees us from responsibility. To be the dumb auditor of a
shameful story, or to listen silently to the relation of a deed of
wickedness, and not be honest and resolute in expressing our disgust
and disapproval is to condone what no good man should condone. The
outspoken testimony against evil is incumbent on all Christian men.
(_c_) Taking part in Christian and benevolent work. There are many
ways, it is evident, in which we may do so _individually_. "The
greatest works that have been done have been done by the ones." No
learned society discovered America, but one man, Columbus. No
parliament saved English liberties, but one man, Pym. No confederate
nations rescued Scotland from her political and ecclesiastical enemies,
but one man, Knox. By one man, Howard, our prisons were purified. By
one woman, Miss Nightingale, our disgraceful nursing system was
reformed. By one Clarkson the reproach of slavery was taken away. God
in all ages has blessed individual effort, and if we are strong enough
to take up any special line of benevolent and Christian work that seems
open to us we should not shrink from it. We should be on the lookout
for it. But many from their circumstances are not able to do so, and
such can find their best opportunity by _combining their own effort
with the efforts of others_. There are many agencies at work in every
community for the helping of man, and they afford to all the
opportunity of wisely using their power of influence. This is true
especially of the Christian Church. It has been defined as "a society
for doing good in the world." In many ways it carries on work for the
benefit of others. In every Christian congregation there ought to be
some work in which each of its members, however few his talents may be,
can engage; and in lending a helping hand each of them may do something
directly towards making society sweeter and better.
II. Indirect or unconscious influence.--There is an imperceptible
personal atmosphere which surrounds every man, "an invisible belt of
magnetism" which he bears with him wherever he goes. It invests him,
and others quickly detect its presence. Take some of its simplest
phases.
(_a_) Think of the influence of a _look_. When Christ stood in the
courtyard of the palace of the High Priest over against His weak and
erring disciple, whom He heard denying Him with oaths, it is said, "The
Lord looked upon Peter." No more than that, and it reached right down
into his heart. It touched him as nothing else could have touched him.
"He went out and wept bitterly." It was said of Keble the poet that
"his face was like that of an illuminated clock, beaming with the
radiance of his poetry and wisdom"; and it is written of one of the
most spiritually-minded of Scotchmen, Erskine of Linlathen, that "his
looks were better than a thousand homilies." There was something in
the very expression of his countenance that spoke to men of an inner
life and of a spiritual dwelling in God.
(_b_) Think of the influence of a _smile_: the smile of welcome when we
call at a friend's house; the smile of recognition when we meet him in
the street; the smile of pleasure which the speaker sees in his
audience; the smile of satisfaction in one to whom we have done an act
of kindness. By the very expression of the countenance we can
influence others, make their life more pleasant or more painful. There
are those who by the sweetness of their demeanor are in a household
like fragrant flowers. They are like the sweet ointment of spikenard
which the woman poured upon Christ--the sweet perfume of it "filled the
whole house."
(_c_) Think of the influence of _sympathy_. There are some natures
that are gifted with a blessed power to bring consolation to men. It
is not that they are glib of tongue or facile of speech, but somehow
the very pressure of their hand is grateful to the saddened heart. The
simple and kindly action, of which we think nothing, may tell
powerfully on others, and unclose fountains of feeling deep down in the
heart.
(_d_) Think of the influence of _example_: the simple doing of what is
right, though we say nothing about it; the upright life of a father or
mother in a household; the steady conduct of a soldier in his company;
the stainless character of a workman among his comrades, or a boy in
his school. It is bound to tell. "Example," says Dr. Smiles, "is one
of the most potent instructors, though it teaches without a tongue. It
is the practical school of mankind working by action, which is always
more forcible than words. Precept may point to us the way, but it is a
silent continuous example conveyed to us by habits, and living with us
in fact, that carries us along. Good advice has its weight, but
without the accompaniment of a good example it is of comparatively
small influence, and it will be found that the common saying of 'Do as
I say, not as I do' is usually reversed in the actual experience of
life." Goodness makes good. As a man who trims his garden in a
straight row and makes it beautiful will induce in time all his
neighbors to follow him, or at least to be ashamed of their ragged and
ill-kept plots in contrast with his own, so is it that the upright,
good life of a sincere Christian man will silently tell upon others.
These are some illustrations of the power of influence unconsciously
exercised, and the whole subject teaches us (1) Our responsibility. If
we are ready to ask, "Am I my brother's keeper?" the answer is, you
cannot help being so. It is as easy to evade the law of gravitation as
the law of responsibility. A man was lately prosecuted for having
waited on his customers in clothes he had worn when attending his
children during an infectious complaint. It was proved that he had
sown broadcast germs of the disease. It would have been no
justification for him to say, What has anyone to do with the clothes I
wear? It is my own business. He was a member of the community. His
action was silently but surely dealing out death to others. He was
punished, and justly punished. We cannot live without influencing
others. We say perhaps that "we mean well," or at least we mean to do
no one any harm, but is our influence harmless? It is going from us in
forms as subtle as the germs of an infectious disease.
Say not, "It matters not to me,
My brother's weal is _his_ behoof,"
For in this wondrous human web,
If your life's warp, his life is woof.
Woven together are the threads,
And you and he are in one loom,
For good or ill, for glad or sad,
Your lives must share one common doom.
Then let the daily shuttle glide,
Wound full of threads of kindly care,
That life's increasing length may be
Not only strongly wrought, but fair.
So from the stuff of each new day
The loving hand of Time shall make
Garments of joy and peace for all,
And human hearts shall cease to ache.
M. J. SAVAGE.
(2) The power all have to do good. There are some who think they can
only serve God and man in a direct and premeditated way, by taking up
some branch of Christian work and devoting themselves to it; and if
they have no gift in any special direction, they think they are outside
of the vineyard altogether. But it is not so. The sphere of quiet and
unassuming Christian life is open to all. It is impossible to measure
the extent of our influence. Its
Echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow for ever and for ever.
Like those of the Alpine horn in the solitudes of the mountains, long
after the voice that caused them has ceased, they reverberate far and
wide. No man lives to himself. He could not do so if he would. (3)
The secret of good influence is to be influenced for good ourselves.
Our lamp must be first lit if it is to shine, and we must ourselves be
personally influenced by coming to the great source of spiritual power.
If Christ is in a man, then, wherever he may be, there will radiate
from him influences that can only be for good. Out of the life that is
in him "will flow rivers of living water."
Thou must be true thyself
If thou the truth wouldst teach.
Thy soul must overflow if thou
Another soul wouldst reach.
It needs the overflowing heart
To give the lips full speech.
Think truly, and thy thought
Shall the world's famine feed.
Speak truly, and thy word
Shall be a fruitful seed.
Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.