SEP 1 - We Must Become Less and Less
26 So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”
27 John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. 28 You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ 29 It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. 30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
John 3:26-30 NLT
John gives a great and mature answer to his disciples when they don’t understand Jesus’ role.
Because they didn’t know Jesus, they were inspired by the spirit of competition. Because they didn’t know Jesus, they wanted their to turn against the other leader, which was Jesus.
That’s interesting, because many times we look at our christianity as the main character. But it’s not.
Jesus is the main character.
He always will be, and he always should be.
We don’t go to church to lift up our christianity but we go to church to continue lifting up Jesus. To remind ourselves that like John says,
“We are not the Messiah, I am only here to prepare the way for him.”
We should be happy whenever something happens to expand God’s kingdom.
We should be happy that big churches are opening and thriving, we should be happy when Pastors throw conferences and are led by the Holy Spirit. We should be excited at their merch, impact, community outreaches - Why?
Because we know Jesus and we should be “filled with joy at this success,” just like John.
At the end of the day God MUST become greater, and we must become less and less.
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How can we make Jesus bigger in our lives?
What allows John to have such a mature mindset about this?
The disciples were well intended, but what was their mistake?