Did you know that, as of May, 2026, the leading social influencer on a global scale is Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo in fact has become the first individual who, across all of his platforms, has garnered one billion social media followers. He’s most known for his content related to sports, which explains why I’ve never heard of him.
In fact, I even needed to be schooled on what exactly is a social influencer. I learned that an influencer focuses on engaging and building a community around their personal brand, often promoting products or lifestyles.
But just because we may be influenced to purchase a particular product, try out a healthier lifestyle, better understand ways to financial freedom or gather in community around a favorite team doesn’t mean that our soul is fed or that our moral compass is strengthened. Likely when the “fad” is over, we’ll be off to the next biggest thing.
Enter in AI… AI is gaining power faster than many social influencers gain followers. Not only is it cool and has all the things a social influencer might have, it has something a social influencer doesn’t – the ability to provide us with what we long for, a Confidante, one we can turn to, communicate with, who is our “champion” and always in our corner. One who makes our lives easier.
The truly sad part of it all is that AI, although a collective of many voices which seem as if it takes the wisdom from the top like a rising cream, is flawed, because we (the many voices) are flawed.
This got me to wonder about Christians. What or who are we really following? How often do we look at our savior as passionately as our children look to AI or a social influencer? We attend conference after conference, teaching after teaching, read book after book, devotionals, blog posts, social media feeds, podcasts… and yet largely we remain unchanged. Is there a point where all of the influencing hits home in a way that has an eternal impact and not just a temporary one?
Being a Christian implies more than just following a particular personality that we’ve never met face to face. Being a Christian implies we have a relationship with the living God, Jesus the Messiah. Author John Lennox once noted that one has no power over a person who is prepared to honor God over their own life.
I don’t believe man is intrinsically good, and all I need for proof is to look at two babies fighting over a toy. What I do believe is that we are all created in the image of God, and though that image has been flawed by sin and the very nature of the fallen world we live in, the God of this universe who created us chose not to see our suffering from a distance. Instead He chose to come into the world He created, as a created man, and partake in our sufferings with us!
Not only did He suffer and die a cruel death to restore us to fellowship with Him, but He rose from the dead and lives now to be here with us in our lives, bringing comfort, love, peace, and the ability to forgive that no AI or social media influencer could ever offer.
Do you know Jesus? I pray you, too, find the living, breathing, talking, salvation-giving God. Once found, I also pray that it is the beginning of many wonderful, eternally impactful conversations that you will have with Him 
Alabastersky 
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