What Voices Are Shaping You?
In Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem Ulysses, the aging Ulysses looks back over a life of travel, struggle, discovery, and encounters with many different people. Reflecting on those experiences, he says, “I am a part of all that I have met.”
It is a striking and telling line. Ulysses recognizes that he has not passed through the world untouched. The people he has known, the places he has traveled, and the experiences he has lived have all shaped who he has become.
The same is true of us. We are influenced by what we encounter, often more than we recognize. The stories we watch, the music we hear, the messages we absorb, and the people with whom we spend our time do not simply remain outside us. They help shape what feels familiar, what seems acceptable, what we admire, what we dismiss, and what we believe.
This truth comes with responsibility. We do not take in what we watch and hear without being influenced by it. Even when we are unaware of its effect, it can shape our thoughts, attitudes, values, and understanding of the world.
Influence is not always immediate or obvious. One song may not change how we see the world. One movie may not shift our values. But repeated exposure can make an idea familiar, and familiarity can gradually begin to feel like truth. When the influences are contrary to God’s Truth, what once troubled us may no longer seem concerning. What once seemed clearly wrong may begin to appear understandable, harmless, or even good.
This is one reason Scripture calls us to be attentive to the formation of our minds:
“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
Paul’s words recognize that something is always shaping us. We can be conformed to the thinking of the age around us, or we can be transformed as our minds are renewed by God’s Truth. The question is not whether we are being influenced. The question is what is influencing us and whether we recognize its effect.
This does not mean that Christians must withdraw from every story, song, or idea that does not express a Christian worldview. It does mean that we should encounter them with discernment. We can ask what a story presents as good, what it treats as insignificant, and what it asks us to admire or accept. We can notice whether a message agrees with God’s Truth or quietly competes with it.
People shape us too.
In his book 1,000 People in My Chair, counselor Dr. Paul Pedersen reflects on the many people he encountered through his work. The title itself captures something important about the counseling relationship. The people who sat in his chair were not simply recipients of his care. Through their stories, cultures, suffering, courage, and perspectives, they also shaped him.
Anyone who has listened deeply to another person understands this. Meaningful encounters leave something with us. A person’s courage may strengthen our own. Someone’s suffering may deepen our compassion. A different perspective may expose an assumption we did not know we held. Another person’s faith may help us see God’s faithfulness more clearly.
Influence, then, can be one of the ways we learn, grow, love, and become more compassionate. God uses people and experiences to teach us. But because influence can move us toward either truth or error, we need discernment.
We can begin by taking an honest inventory. What voices are we listening to? What messages do we hear repeatedly? What kinds of behavior are becoming increasingly acceptable to us? Who is helping shape our understanding of what is true, good, loving, and worthwhile?
Then we can bring those influences before God. We can ask Him to show us what has entered our thinking without our noticing. We can compare what we hear with what He has revealed in His Word. We can choose influences that strengthen truth, wisdom, compassion, courage, and faith.
Like Ulysses, each of us is in some measure “a part of all that [we] have met.” We carry something of the people, stories, ideas, and experiences we have encountered. That reality is both a gift and a responsibility.
We cannot move through this world without encountering what is unGodly. But we can pay attention to what is shaping us, and we can allow God’s Truth to renew our minds so that what becomes part of us draws us closer to what is good and true.
The Lagniappe
Enjoy a Beautiful Performance of "Ancient Words"
The Story Behind The Song
The song "Ancient Words" began in the heart of Alabama songwriter Lynn DeShazo.
The first seeds were planted years earlier, when DeShazo was a freshman at Auburn University. She entered college knowing relatively little about the Bible. But as she began to study Scripture, something took root within her. Over the years, her love for God’s Word continued to deepen.
She also began to think about the people who had carried those words across the centuries. They copied and preserved Scripture, translated it into new languages, and passed it faithfully from one generation to the next. Many made extraordinary sacrifices. Some even gave their lives so that others could know the Truth they held so dear.
As DeShazo’s gratitude grew, the idea for Ancient Words began pressing on her heart. She later said that it was one of those ideas so compelling that it simply would not leave her. She wanted to write something contemporary that still felt like an old hymn, a song that honored both the timelessness of God’s Word and the generations of faithful people through whom it had come to us.
The song that emerged became what DeShazo called a “bridge builder,” sung by Christians from many traditions who share a love for Scripture.
Comments