Who Has the Most Followers

The World Cup is in full swing. It is the largest sporting event in the world. Like one commentator put it, it is like 78 Super Bowls back to back to back. I was wondering who had the most followers on social media. Cristiano Ronaldo has 666 million followers on Instagram. I'm not making that up. Coming in second is Lionel Messi with 508 million followers. That is a lot of followers. I don't really know what a social media influencer is, but I would think both of these guys qualify. Both men are devout Roman Catholics who give God the glory for their soccer talents and successes. Messi has a tattoo of Jesus on his thigh wearing a crown of thorns. Ronaldo says he attends church each week. 

That got me to wondering. How many followers does Jesus have today? 2.4 billion. Now I am not saying they are all devout followers. Some only follow in word and not in actions. There is no doubt about it. The Lord Jesus Christ is the most influential historical figure who ever lived without equal. He influences literature, the arts, entertainment, music, education, and on and on. There are over 4 million churches world wide. The Bible has sold over 6 billion copies and holds the Guinness Book World Record for the best selling book of all time. Jesus Christ is more than a social media influencer. He is a history influencer. A world influencer. He influences billions of individuals on a daily basis. 

I wish that could be said for all of His followers. Mixed in the multitudes are a host of apathetic, hypocritical, legalistic, power hungry, and insincere people who identify as Christians. There are more holy, loving, compassionate, gracious, and followers of Jesus The faithful pastors get marred when a minority number of pastors fail in morale disgrace. That is not true of every pastor. Not even the majority of them. The few give the rest a bad reputation. The same for the unfaithful followers of Jesus who disgrace the faithful followers. When the people of God are devoted to prayer, remain on mission, and all in following they too influence people and communities around them. May our families of faith be a part of that bunch. Groups who influence those around us in good and wholesome ways. Like a man told me once, "May the church leave deep footprints in the sand." That is exactly what happened in the book of Acts. Read [Acts 17:6] May we turn our world upside down.