Influencing Like Jesus: 15 Biblical Principles of Persuasion
Overview
From the classroom to the courtroom to the boardroom to your kid’s room, Influencing Like Jesus will show you how to be significantly more persuasive. Drawing from the timeless lessons of the world’s greatest influencer, Dr. Michael Zigarelli presents fifteen positive ways to open people’s eyes and change their minds, even when they’re highly resistant to change.
Come explore the many biblical principles of persuasion, including praying for change, knowing your audience, and telling stories. You’ll also learn about five key traits of a godly influencer:
- Be authentic
- Be compassionate
- Be honest
- Be excellent
- Be gentile
Whether you’re called to be an influencer at home, at work, at school, or anywhere else, you can do more than make an argument. You can make a difference!
Top Highlights
“Influence is not manipulation. Rather, to influence means ‘to effect or to produce some sort of change in attitude, behavior, or circumstances.’” (Page 2)
“More likely, it’s a result of being marinated daily in a culture of disbelief.” (Page 14)
“For the Roman audience, and even more specifically, for the persecuted Roman Christians who would hold the key to the future of that church, God inspired a man named John Mark to write the Gospel of Mark. As a result, we see Mark diving right into the story of Jesus’ ministry, moving quickly through it (notice the brevity of Mark’s Gospel and that almost everything in it happens ‘immediately’), and emphasizing Jesus as a suffering servant for all of humanity—a person with whom persecuted people could clearly identify.” (Page 32)
“Prayer changes things. It’s the starting point for influence. We shouldn’t go charging ahead independently and self-sufficiently but, instead, co-labor with God to persuade people. After all, God does the changing. We’re merely the instruments he’s using to effect the change.” (Page 11)
“‘a culture of disbelief.’ We live in a society where the predominant worldview is secularism, a presumption that says it’s not possible to know anything with certainty about the supernatural.” (Page 14)
- Title: Influencing Like Jesus: 15 Biblical Principles of Persuasion
- Author: Michael Zigarelli
- Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
- Publication Date: 2008
- Pages: 176
Michael Zigarelli is an associate professor of management at Charleston Southern University and former dean of the Regent University School of Business. He holds degrees from Rutgers (Ph.D.), Cornell (M.A>), and Lafayette College (B.A.). His research in management, practical theology, law, and ethics has appeared in numerous scholarly journals, and he has authored ten books including Management by Proverbs and Cultivating Christian Character. Dr. Zigarelli lives with his wife and four children in South Carolina.