Life-spark: It’s not about me – John 3:22-30
I remember watching a cowboy movie when I was a kid where one cowboy said to the other, “There’s not enough room in this town for both of us. It’s too crowded.” He petted his revolver and said, “One way or another, one of us is gonna’ be gone by sundown.”
John the Baptists and his apprentices were baptizing people in the Jordan River. They were quite an attraction. People were coming from far and wide to be baptized. Then Jesus and his disciples began to do the same, not far away. The tide shifted. An increasing percentage of people desiring to be baptized were going to the Jesus group.
Feeling belittled, John’s disciples got edgy. They came to John for moral support, bemoaning the fact that they were playing second fiddle. John told his disciples that what was happening was good because he wasn’t the main attraction, Jesus was. (vs. 29)
We are discovering the signs of life in the book of John. One sign in this book is John the Baptist himself. A directional sign doesn’t invite people to come to itself, it invites people to come to someone/someplace other than itself. John was overjoyed that people were going to where and whom his life pointed.
If I want to be a sign of life, I must remember that the first four words in Rick Warren’s popular book Purpose Driven Life are so true: “It’s not about you.” I went a whole year saying that to myself at least once a day.
People helpers, including Christian leaders, make a mistake when the teach people to constantly come to them and depend on them, rather than teaching them to take their questions, needs and requests directly to God. We should watch out for ‘needing to be needed.’
When my German shorthair goes on point ten feet from a pheasant that is hiding in the brush, it’s a beautiful thing. I admire the dog but quickly shift my attention to where she is pointing. The bird! That’s the main attraction.
Life-question: Would someone watching a dawn to dark video of your life yesterday think you were the main attraction, or that the Lord was?