The Influencer (2 Kings 5:1–3)

The social media influencer industry is increasingly lucrative. Between 2016 and 2022, the market grew from an estimated $1.7 billion to $16.4 billion. That’s a lot of money. But for what? Who, exactly, are these social media influencers, who earn so much?

An “influencer” is someone who is able to influence potential clients to buy or invest in a product or service by recommending it to them on social media. Obviously, one key element in this is that the influencer must have a large following. The larger a person’s social media following, the greater the chances that that person will be able to influence potential clients.

It used to be that that kind of marketing was outsourced to celebrities. Amazon studios has produced, and will soon release, a film about the creation of Nike’s Jordan Airs. At the time, Jordan was a rookie basketball player, but one with great potential. A Nike shoe salesman, recognising his potential, worked hard to strike a business deal with him to produce a new line of shoes. He would wear, and thereby advertise, the shoes, which would lead fans to invest in the same product. As Jordan grew in popularity on the basketball court, so the shoes that bore his name became more desired, which ensured a great deal of revenue for Nike. The Air Jordans sold because of their connection to the basketball star. Advertisers quickly realised the power of celebrity influence and cashed in on this in a big way.

But something changed around 2002 when Melinda Roberts, an ordinary mom, started blogging about her motherhood experiences. She started TheMommyBlog.com, an online space where she could share mothering challenges and tips. Before long, by simple word of mouth, TheMommyBlog.com had garnered a significant following. As she promoted products that she found helpful as a mother, her followers began trusting—and buying—the same brands. Almost accidentally, she had become an influencer—and advertisers noticed.

Companies began to realise that they did not necessarily require multimillion dollar business deals with established celebrities to market their products. In fact, it seemed, in many cases, that ordinary people were more effective than celebrities at marketing. Of course, those ordinary people quickly became celebrities in their own right and one inescapable fact remained: Influencers must have a following. It does little good to advertise via someone with ten Instagram followers. The more eyes see your advert, the better your chances of raking in cash. Today, thousands of ordinary people have turned into de facto celebrities through nothing more than their influence on social media.

The Christian world has not evaded this mentality. Take, for example, the world of Christian publishing. One of the first questions unpublished authors are asked, when submitting a manuscript, is how many social media followers they have. Ten thousand Twitter followers means ten thousand potential customers. If you don’t have a platform, many publishers will not take the risk, regardless of how good your content is. It makes far more sense to invest in someone with a significant social media presence.

One of the things we are learning in this series on hidden figures is that God doesn’t require a great following to use someone powerfully in his kingdom. We know very little of Tertius, Phoebe, Shiphrah, and Puah, but we have already seen the influence that they had for God’s glory and the good of his people. In this study, we consider the impact of another influencer, who is not even named in the sacred text, but who influenced a powerful man for great good.

This influencer did not have social media. She did not have thousands of followers. She did not have a fancy camera, elaborate lighting, or an expensive microphone. But she had the truth, and she used the little truth she had to influence an important man for great good. This influencer’s story is found in 2 Kings 5:1–3.

Israel had been at war with Aram (Syria) for some time. The Aramean army was led by General Naaman, who was “a man important to his master and highly regarded because through him, the LORD had given victory to Aram” (v. 1). This man had it made. If anyone qualified as an ancient influencer, it was Naaman. Nike might well have invested in a line of Battle Naaman shoes had he been alive today. He could have sold just about anything to anyone. As Dale Ralph Davis summarises, “Here was the man who had everything: position, esteem, adulation, success, bravado.” But there was a problem: “He had a skin disease.” This incurable “skin disease” threatened to undo all his potential.

But enough about influential General Naaman. This is a series about hidden, not prominent, figures. Enter our hidden figure: “from the land of Israel, a young girl who served Naaman’s wife” (v.2). The contrast between these two characters can hardly be stronger. Naaman was the commander of a powerful army; the little girl was a conquered prisoner of war. Naaman was a man; our hidden figure was a young girl. Naaman was “important” and “highly regarded”; the little girl was nothing more than a common servant. Naaman was a husband and, very likely, a father; the young girl had been entirely isolated from her family when she had been captured in war.

But there was one area in which the little girl had an advantage: While Naaman was hopeless in the face of his skin disease, the little girl had hope, because she knew that there was a God who, through his prophet, could cure Naaman. “She said to her mistress, ‘If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease’” (v. 3). We won’t go there tonight, but—spoiler alert!—Naaman went to the prophet in Samaria (Elisha) and was, indeed, cleansed of his skin disease. All because a socially insignificant, displaced servant girl pointed him to a place—to a God!—who could help.

The little servant girl is the real influencer in the story. She didn’t take credit for the healing, but she influenced the situation by pointing Naaman to a place of hope.

Before we ask what lessons we learn from this hidden figure, let’s try to put ourselves in her shoes as we consider the little that the text does say about her.

Her Trauma

First, consider the traumatic events that brought the little girl to Naaman’s house. Yes, she could have ended in a worse situation with a crueller master, but don’t miss the fact that this girl had been captured in an act of war. Perhaps her parents had been killed.  Perhaps she had simply been wrenched away from her family. Regardless, she had been traumatically whisked away by Aramean raiders with no hope of ever seeing her family again. There was no most recent photo shared of her on Facebook. There was no profile on the side of a milk carton, appealing for anyone with information about her disappearance to come forward. The police were not looking for her.

Can you imagine the trauma she experienced in the events of the raid? She must have been scared to death as the Aramean raiders passed through her town, executing people and capturing others. Whatever dreams she had for her future were dashed. She was now nothing more than a servant.

Her Training

Evidently, this little girl had been raised by God-fearing parents. She knew of Elisha, and had no doubt that God’s power operated through the prophet. She believed that God was gracious and compassionate and that he would heal even Israel’s enemy if he but humbled himself before him. She had a great God, which put her in a position to do great good.

And yet don’t miss the fact that her knowledge was quite basic. She was not the author of a best-selling systematic theology. She did not publicly debate the reality of God’s existence with militant atheists. She did not offer an apologetic for the veracity of miracles. She simply knew that there was a God, who operated through his prophet, who could offer the hope that Naaman lacked. She had the kind of childlike trust in God that even Israel’s king lacked (v. 7). She took what she knew and engaged people around her for God’s glory and their good.

Her Trust

Remarkably, despite the great trauma she had experienced, this little girl displayed deep trust in God. She knew that the God who was sovereign over international politics (v. 1) was also sovereign over the little details of her life (v. 2). Her captured had been traumatic, but she had learned to rest in God’s frowning providence. And she continued to serve God even in adverse circumstances. Her affliction did not cause her to waver in her belief in God’s goodness.

Her Testimony

That is as much as we can with any certainty about this little girl. But there is more to say about what her faithful testimony through great trauma teaches us. Let me suggest four important lessons before we bring our brief time in 2 Kings 5 to an end.

First, like this young influencer, learn to accept God’s will for your life and serve him faithfully in it. You see, she didn’t serve God on her terms, and neither should we. Too often, we are tempted to forsake our allegiance to God when things don’t go as we expect. If God doesn’t repair my marriage, or keep me safe from the trauma of abuse, or rescue my failing business, I have no reason to serve him. This little girl teaches us that there is no benefit in living a life in which we complain about God’s providence.

Centuries later, Paul offered the same counsel to the Christians in Corinth:

Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity. For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people. Brothers and sisters, each person is to remain with God in the situation in which he was called.

(1 Corinthians 7:21–24)

Your life situation may not be ideal. It may be incredibly difficult. But Christians are called to serve God in good times and bad. This little servant girl led the way in this. Paul, again, made this clear: “Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favouritism” (Colossians 3:23–25).

Second, like this young influencer, serve God according to your knowledge and your ability. As I have said, this girl did not display intricate knowledge of systematic theology. She knew one thing: There was a God who was willing and able to heal, if only her master would humble himself to go to the prophet in Samaria. Her knowledge was fairly basic, but she gladly shared what she knew with those in need.

Too often, we shy away from being faithful gospel witnesses because we’re afraid we don’t have sufficient knowledge. We are reluctant to share the truth because we are concerned that we will not be able to answer the sceptical questions that will almost certainly come our way. We should learn from this goal to be willing to gladly share what we do know with those who are in need.

As a Christian, you know the truth. You know that God is holy, that humans are sinful, that Jesus Christ willingly died and rose again to save sinners from their sin, and that God now holds out the offer of forgiveness to all who will humble themselves and receive Christ as Lord and Saviour. That is the gospel truth that people desperately need. You don’t need to be able to answer all their sceptical questions: You need to share the gospel with them. Are you willing?

Third, be prepared to serve everyone with God’s truth, even those you consider to be your enemies. It is significant that this little girl was willing to point her captors to the God who could heal. She did not smugly declare, “Serves him right!” She did not consider her patriotic duty to resist the Arameans and to thereby consolidate Israelite power. She did not smear her face with war paint and cry, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” She displayed the kind of character of which Jesus spoke: “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27–28). She blessed and did good to the very one who had wrenched her away from her home and family and brought her to her place of perpetual slavery.

We should wish and pray the best for those whom we naturally consider to be on “the other team.” There is no place in God’s kingdom to smugly declare that we have the corner on truth and to withhold that from others who desperately need the truth. We should love, do good to, bless, and pray for our enemies.

There is a lot of talk within evangelicalism today about the greatest threat to the church. Some have identified it as social justice, others as wokeness, and others as critical race theory. A big part of me wants to say that there is no threat to the church, which Jesus promised to build, and against which he promised the gates of Hades would not prevail (Matthew 16:18). But perhaps one of the biggest challenges that the church faces today is tribalism. Too many Christians and churches assume that they have the corner on the truth and are not willing to work with anyone who has a slightly different theology, even though they believe and preach the same gospel. That is a very sad indictment on those who are called by God to love, do good to, bless, and pray for their enemies. If we will not even show love to those on our side, what hope is there that we will bless our enemies? This little girl’s attitude has a great deal to teach us.

Fourth, recognise that, sometimes, the best opportunities to serve effectively are in positions of underprivilege. This was the attitude of Christ, who humbled himself to serve in the greatest way. It is the attitude to which God calls us:

Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:5–11)

Long before Christ ever assumed the form of a servant, this young girl had adopted his attitude. She was painfully aware that she was not in a position of privilege, but even from her position of underprivilege, she faithfully served others with the truth. And God used her testimony for great good.

I pray that God will help us to learn from this young servant girl. I pray that we will all faithfully serve God, even if we must do so from the shadows as hidden figures.

AMEN