There’s no ME in MINISTRY
“A man came, one sent from God, and his name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person.” (John 1:6-9, NASB)
I’ve always had a lot of respect for John the Baptist. Here’s a guy, who lived primarily in the wilderness, whose entire ministry was to make people ready for someone else to come. That takes a truly selfless and purpose-driven person. And to me, in many ways, John the Baptist’s ministry is the ministry we all share today: to make people ready for Jesus.
And the way people try to reach the lost these days– social media, Youtube, and church platforms that look more like a concert venue than a place of worship– it’s easy to get caught up in self-promotion dressed as God-driven purpose. And it’s proven, social media has an addictive quality, so what might start out as an account totally dedicated to sharing the Gospel and God’s love can totally become a source of self gratification when you see the likes and follows start rolling in.
Some people with natural talents for public speaking and encouraging communication have become widely successful pastors of mega-churches and end up becoming completely bankrupt of the Holy Spirit when they become too focused on their own success.
Why? Because we’re all just human. We’re forgetful. We’re selfish and we’re addicted to success, especially in this generation where a following is currency in and of itself.
And John the Baptist? He had a following. The difference is, even though he may have never set out to develop one, he never indulges himself in having one. Every chance he gets, he is clear: John the Baptist was a witness to testify about God coming as a man and preparing people for Jesus’ fast-approaching ministry.
Later on, in the third chapter of the Book of John, we see John the Baptist again. This takes place after Jesus’ own baptism and the beginning of His ministry. The story goes that Jesus and His disciples end up back in Judea, near where John the Baptist and his followers were already ministering. One day, John’s helpers come up to him and report that Jesus is in their area also baptizing people and drawing a crowd, which was drawing people away from them.
To this, John says, “A person can receive not even one thing unless it has been given to 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 groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:27-30, NASB)
Essentially, John tells his followers to chill out, because the very thing they’ve been working towards is finally coming to pass. John never lied or lead his followers astray: John was not the Messiah, but the One that came after John would be. They were all witnesses to that. John goes on to equate the fact that if Jesus is the groom, and the Church is his bride, then John is the best man who rejoices in getting to witness the bride and the groom fall in love. Indeed, the entire point of John’s ministry was to eventually yield to the Savior, and let Him take the reins.
John is known for being a baptist, but his purpose was not to baptize. It was to share Jesus with the world– to be a mirror that takes Jesus the light, and reflects it out into the dark world. John’s followers may not have realized this, but John fully knew that baptism, though a large part of his ministry, was not the purpose of the ministry itself. It was merely a means to the end of serving as a witness to the coming Christ, which was fulfilled the moment that Jesus came and stepped into His own ministry.
In all reality, each and every one of us have the same ministry. We’re supposed to show the dark world the light of Christ, and whatever means we use in order to shine that light should never take precedence over that ultimate directive. The moment our means outshines that purpose and becomes more important in our hearts, we become useless to the Kingdom of God.
If this devotional website one day became a platform to make me more famous, then it ceases to be meaningful, and it would mean I valued myself above Jesus. It’s the same way with anything else– a Tiktok account, a Bible journaling group, a local church plant, or an in-home Bible study among friends. The second our ministry loses the focus of Jesus being at the center, we become nothing but opportunists looking to use Jesus as a tool for our betterment.
It’s my prayer today that we would all be able to take a page from John the Baptist’s figurative book. That we’d wake up every day and only be able to focus on the ministry of being a witness to the goodness of God and the inevitable coming of Christ, whether in individual death or apocalyptic events. And whatever the means may be, that we would remember that it is merely incidental compared to the overarching mission of letting Jesus shine higher and brighter than anything else, including ourselves.
We are not the light. We’re not the flint. We’re not even the spark. There is no part of God’s plan that is utterly dependent on us. We are merely a vessel through which God can move if it is His will to do so. And the fact of the matter is that only His coming could fulfill and accomplish that ministry, something that is already completely within His own power. He doesn’t need our church, our talents, our words, or our followers.
But how blessed we are that God works us into His plan anyway? How incredibly wonderful that He would choose us to show people the true Light of who He is, first enlightening us with His salvation, and then showing us the means by which we can show others the Way, the Truth, and the Light.
