July 23

Unconscious influence

“So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre . . . yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre . . . then went in also that other disciple which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed” (John 20: 4-8).

Little does Peter think, as he comes up where his doubting brother is looking into the sepulcher, and goes straight in, after his peculiar manner, that he is drawing in his brother apostle after him. As little does John think, when he loses his misgivings and goes into the sepulcher after Peter, that he is following his brother.
And just so unawares to himself, is every man, the whole race through, laying hold on his fellowman, to lead him where he otherwise would not go. We overrun the boundaries of our personality—we flow together. A Peter leads a John, a John goes after a Peter, both of them unconscious of any influence exerted or received.


There are then, you will perceive, two sorts of influence belonging to man; that which is active or voluntary, and that which is unconscious; that which we exert purposely or in the endeavor to sway another, as by teaching, by argument, by persuasion, by threatenings, by offers and promises—and that which flows out from us unawares to ourselves, the same which Peter had over John when he led him into the sepulcher.—Horace Bushnell.

O, blessed is that man of whom some soul can say,
“He was an inspiration along life’s toilsome way;
A well of sparkling water, a fountain flowing free,
Forever like his Master, in tenderest sympathy.”

The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in Heaven and lilies in the field, perfectly, simply, and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold us. If you want to be of use to God, get rightly related to Jesus Christ and He will make you of use unconsciously every moment you live.

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