Therefore there arose a debate between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.
John 3:25-35
“He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What He has seen and heard, of that He bears witness; and no one receives His witness. He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Introduction
There are a lot of great ministries around the world. From projects set up to aid the poor to prison ministry to campus ministry, Christians have stepped out to bring the gospel to many places that would otherwise be void of care and compassion. But this comes at the potential cost of our own pride when these ministries grow to have a sizeable impact.
A phenomenon happens within non-profit work called “mission-drift” where they will either reach a certain size or even solve the problem they set out to attack and then are left largely directionless. They exist for the primary purpose of perpetuating their own existence. This happens in ministry, too. And it is the duty of all of us to point to Jesus like John the Baptist does rather than cling to what we have built along the way.
Letting pride get in the way
If you have any exposure to evangelical culture in the last couple of decades, you are probably familiar with the abundance of music that has come out of churches like Hillsong, Bethel, and Elevation. These enormous ministries draw people from around the world with their dynamic style and promises to see the power of God at work. And yet they have been riddled with controversy lately.
Even just in the last year, Mike Winger has produced a number of videos exposing cover-up culture in the Charismatic movement as famous and trusted leaders call fake miracles “hamburger helper” in advancing their ministries. Some of them even calling for fidelity to themselves over the gospel.
This tendency is clearly pervasive throughout the human condition, considering John’s own disciples came to him complaining Jesus was “encroaching on his turf” so to speak. Their full expectation was that John would assert his own authority to perform baptism and call people to repentance, but instead he continued to perform his duty as the voice of one crying out in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3; John 1:23).
He whom God has sent
John’s response to his disciples should be a teaching moment to us all: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” In this, John’s joy “has been made full.” The purpose of any ministry, whether it is massive and international or small and personal, must be to point people to God. And in particular it must be to point them to the only way we can reach the Father, which is through the Son.
John magnifies this moment by telling his disciples that Jesus Himself is above all and worthy of following and of praise. He tells them that Jesus speaks the very word of God – something John does not even claim for himself despite being the greatest of the prophets (Matthew 11:11). He then moves into a call to repentance that is not quite like his previous ones: he tells them that the one who believes in the Son has eternal life. And in contrast, the one who does not obey the Son has only wrath which awaits him.
We can learn from this hard line John draws. When we share the gospel, we cannot only say that “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” This is a nice sentiment, but it is not the wholeness of truth found in the gospel. Instead, there is an option: believe in the Son, trust in Him, and live; or reject Him and receive only wrath. It is not the way many of us like to share the gospel, and it is sure to alienate people. But it is the model we see in scripture, and by continually pointing to Jesus, we can be sure to keep the spotlight off ourselves and onto Him.
May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.
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