A Tentmaker's Influence

As I mentioned in my last post, there was a point in my life when I was really torn between pursuing vocational ministry or pharmacy. During this time, God showed me a professional could indeed have a powerful influence on others for Christ. This occurred, of all places, at the funeral of my friend's father.

My friend's father was the district attorney and his death was sudden and unexpected. He was an elected official who did not allow politics to influence his faith, but vice versa. He often came under attacks from those who didn't care for his faith-based principles, however they couldn't keep him from being re-elected. He walked his talk.

Allow me to summarize his funeral:

• 2000+ plus were in attendance (it was standing room only in the overflow rooms and more people were outside and couldn't get in).
• Attendees included members from the govenor's office, national and state lawmakers, the mayor's office, police and fire chiefs.
• For miles on ahead of his motorcade, people stood outside their cars by the side of the road to show their respect.
• An altar call was given, and many, many, many people came to Christ after hearing about this man's personal testimony.

This man obviously had influence. Not the political influence so many sell their souls to get, but genuine, righteous, God-inspired influence that people see and respect. I kept asking myself "If this guy were a pastor, would this many people be here? Would all these officials be here? Would the city people respond as they have today?"

I'm not slighting pastors in the least. I'm merely saying, unless they pastor a mega-church, their sphere of influence is limited to their church and community. A tentmaker's sphere can include their church, community, co-workers, company, vendors, customers, etc, etc. Tentmaker's are poised to reach more people if they have to mind to do so.

How many people could you possible include within your sphere of influence?