Impact or Influence?
Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.” (Matt.13.33).
It was at a leadership meeting where Rev. Chuck Brod, then director of SIM mission in Nigeria, was speaking to us about the true effect of the kingdom of God. He said it is not only impactful but influential because it changes the cultural landscape and orientation of believers cum the world around them. The yeast influences the flour same way the kingdom influences the world.
As against the desire to make a hurried impression through impact, we seek to do things that immediately registers our walk in dominion or our relevance in a vicinity, meanwhile, we are called to a lived experience where our whole being is transformed by the truth of the word of God. The general impression has always been that evil has the capacity to corrupt good but we also see that good virtues can challenge evil with the parable of the yeast.
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father (Matt. 5:16).
The truth is that darkness will never have the capacity to dominate light irrespective of the intensity of the light, unless the light burns out completely. The onus is on us as believers to shine the light. The injunction of the scriptures is that we must not be overcome with evil but we should overcome evil with good.
© Olusola John.