Less is More

Last night was the last meeting for our youth group until Pastor Steve officially starts. It was bitter-sweet really because on one side I am really looking forward to the time off. The last few months since Pastor Eric left have really drained a lot of us. On the other hand I will definitely be missing the students. I am looking forward to meeting with them individually over the next couple of weeks, but I will miss seeing them all together and worshipping together.
We have spent the last few weeks talking about people in the bible. It has totally been a challenge for me to dig into who these people were and I learned a lot about what role they played in the big picture…expanding the kingdom of God. Last night, I talked about John the Baptist. I am pretty much convinced that he was the first missionary. He lived a radical life, challenging authority, living only on what God provided him, and fulfilling the Great Commission before it was the Great Commission.
The start of Jesus’ ministry was a huge turning point for John. He went from being the man, having his own disciples, calling out the Pharisees, and leading a radical life to stepping aside for Jesus. His humility in accepting his role in Jesus’ ministry was awesome. John 3:30 says (quoting John the Baptist) “He must become greater; I must become less.” What a shining example of how we all should be in regards to Jesus!!!
The position that we have been put in is about God’s kingdom becoming greater, not ours. I know over the past 7 months there have been times when I have forgotten that. It was a hard lesson to learn when I started seeing the affects of my own pride and arrogance come before God’s kingdom, and I now pray that I never need that lesson again…the cost is too high. John’s role was that of a messenger and he embraced it 110%!!!! That is our role too, as professing believers of Christ to let everyone know who Jesus is, what He did, and what He is going to do.
I hope you are having a good week, and I am praying that God will put you and me in a position to be that messenger.