Have you recently put together a creative charcuterie board? Traveled to an unusual vacation spot? Have you donned a casual hat, denim overalls, some new hipster eyeglasses, or matching family pajamas? Start a new health or beauty routine? If so, it may be due to the influencer who shows up in your social media feeds on a daily basis. I recently opened a new set of resistance bands for Christmas (Thanks, Coop!), because, hey, if they work for Tom Brady and Kira Stokes, maybe they’ll work for me, too.

A social media influencer is defined as “a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry. A social media influencer has access to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach.” (pixlee.com)

We love to peer into the lives of people we admire via social media and imitate lifestyles we deem beautiful and successful. We give them authority to shape us, because we like them. And while there’s nothing wrong with being influenced by others, maybe we should add some non-social media influencers to our lives this year by reading a couple of biographies. You know, that vintage form of social media?

I especially recommend reading missionary biographies. Who better to be influenced by than one who has undertaken the task of getting the gospel and its accompanying care for people to the ends of the earth? Though, as Elisabeth Elliot, whose first husband was speared to death while serving in Ecuador, puts it in her preface to The Shadow of the Almighty, missionary Jim Elliot’s life was nothing extraordinary: “He and the other men with whom he died were hailed as heroes, ‘martyrs.’ I do not approve. Nor would they have approved. Is the distinction between living for Christ and dying for Him, after all, so great? Is not the second the logical conclusion of the first?”

She’s right, of course, but we, under the influence of social media, have begun to be satisfied with the heroic deed of purchasing a pair of shoes from an organization that will then donate a pair of shoes to someone in need. Again, there’s nothing wrong with supporting a good cause, but we could all use some fresh inspiration from those whose goal was to know and make Christ known and who oriented their lives toward that end. The apostle Paul encouraged others to be imitators of himself, as he imitated Christ (I Corinthians 11:1), and I think we are in great need of studying lives truly worthy of imitation.

Here are five reasons to be influenced by a missionary life this year:

1.Your faith will be encouraged.

Missionary biographies almost always include stories about their personal lack of faith, which is often surprising to us who esteem them for having great faith. Reading about the ways God strengthens their faith as they face great challenges will strengthen your own. 

Check out Helen Roseveare’s Give Me This Mountain or He Gave Us a Valley. or Mary Slessor’s biography A Life on the Altar for God.

2. Your perspective on suffering will mature.

Cross cultural service often entails risk, sacrifice, and loss. The descriptions of conflicts, culture shock, sickness, and even death will challenge your willingness to sacrifice while putting your own trials in perspective. 

Check out Adoniram Judson’s How Few There Are Who Die So Hard or Darlene Deibler Rose’s Evidence Not Seen: A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II

3.Your love for the world and the Word will expand.

Missionary biographies will transport you beyond any myopic familiarity and broaden your horizons. You’ll travel to places like Myanmar, Mumbai, Papua New Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Yangcheng, China – maybe even Los Angeles or Seattle. Work in these places sometimes involves translating the Bible into the local language. Your eyes will be opened to new cultures, new geography, and new historical information. You’ll probably also be greatly humbled by the longing for God’s Word found in those who don’t yet have it in their language.

Check out Neil and Carol Anderson’s In Search of the Source.

4. Your discontentment will decrease. 

Did you have hot coffee and scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning? Have a hard time deciding what to wear? Drive to work in your own car? You may have taken these luxuries for granted, but reading the accounts of missionaries who left comfortable lives for less than ideal living conditions will grow gratitude and contentment in your heart as you watch them grapple with a similar struggle.

Check out Lillias Trotter’s A Passion for the Impossible or Janet and Geoff Benge’s Lottie Moon: Giving Her All For China

5. Your hope will grow.

Are you finding it difficult to access the hope that ought to be abundantly yours due to your salvation and the coming restoration of all things? So did many missionaries. But their stories typically involve pressing on when hope is hard to come by and eventually having their hope restored through God’s undeniable intervention. Reading those accounts will remind you that there is always a reason to hope.

Check out Brother Andrew’s God’s Smuggler or Don Richardson’s Peace Child.

So, before faithfully tuning in to that Instagram celebrity vacation story or those sports highlight videos, why not give a few moments of your day to a missionary biography? Not only will you be enlightened and encouraged, you’ll place yourself under the influence of fellow believers truly worthy of imitation. Maybe you’ll even add a number six to this list…

6. You might decide to GO.