He must increase; I must decrease. (John 3:30.)
I’ve admired John the Baptist for a long time. Any guy who lives on locusts and honey, and who wears fur skin while living in the desert is a pretty tough guy, is the kind of guy you’d want on your team for just about anything.
What I’ve admired about him the most, though, is his willingness to do what was asked of him by God – prepare the way for Jesus – and then completely get out of the way. (I suppose, when Herod took his head off, that helped this process.) But the above scripture verse from John 3 “He (Jesus) must increase, I must decrease” reflects an awareness and a humility of the moment that his mission was accomplished and he needed to get out of the way. I wonder if I would have had the same willingness - after all the crowds were coming out to me – to say: “Follow Him. He’s the one you’re waiting for. You don’t need me anymore.”
On Saturday night, and I had an interesting conversation with a friend who works in the local emergency room (he’s a doctor.) We were talking about how needed we feel at our respective jobs, how important the work is, and how hard it is to step back for anything (sick days, crises, family commitments.) He pointed out to me, as he encouraged me to seek balance in my own life, that even in as busy a place as an ER, he is expendable when he’s needed at home.
It’s left me reflecting about how many hours of work I put in, and how many things I try to get going. It’s not that these are bad things – I love my job and the youth I get to serve – but I do need to step back from time to time and recognize what God is and is not calling me to, particularly now that I have kids. I am not the Messiah – we already have an incredible Savior. But there’s a great lesson for me in the life of John. John the Baptist was not an apostle; he didn’t live to see Jesus’ resurrection. And yet, he’s one of the great heroes of our faith, a martyr who died standing up for the truth. His role was necessary, but it was a role that had some clearly defined boundaries: what God had called him to, and what He hadn’t.
John had to trust that when he got out of the way, God’s work would continue in another’s hands. I am continually learning to trust the coworkers God gives me on a daily and weekly basis – both paid and volunteer – that I can get out of the way, and God’s work does continue. I need to discern the opportunities He is calling me to… and where, if I get out of the way, someone else can take a share in this fantastic work that is youth ministry.
He must increase; I must decrease. (John 3:30.)