Our pastor got my thinking about an interesting point the other day. He was focussing on our destiny and our purpose and drew into his thinking the story of John the Baptist. Anyhow, it got me looking at it in a bit more detail and some stuff really hit me that I had never fully appreciated before.
After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.) An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him." To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.
So firstly John the Baptist suffered from what most church leaders perhaps suffer from at some point. The "look at that church over there" syndrome. John's followers were basically saying that Jesus' church was doing much better than their church and that John should think of a strategy to win back some of his followers.
John's response is staggering. "He must become greater; I must become less". He is basically saying that he was put on this earth to become less. I don't know about you but when I think about the things I do I dream about them becoming big. I dream about them becoming more influential, more productive, more connected, more respected. I don't for one minute hope and pray that God would make the things I do 'less' - even if it is for the gain of someone else. But as John so astutely puts it "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven". Well said.
This really challenges me therefore - because while my desire to see the things I do have some success and prosperity, am I doing that so that people won't think I'm a worthless idiot? Am I doing it simply to feel good in myself? Or am I really doing it because that is what God is saying?
I've thought for a long time that, with particular reference to my worship leading / song-writing that God was in fact calling me to be small in it - i.e. not to have ambition for platinum selling albums or Christian fame and respect. But to be the best worship leader I could be for the sake of the tens / hundreds of people in the area I live and the people in our church. And to not only do that but to do that with everything I have, being satisfied with the fact that I am doing God's will - not selling loads of albums. I believe I am a good worship leader - whatever that means - and God needs those in the small churches and areas just He does in the big ones.
God help me to treat your opinion higher than my opinion, or others opinion of me. That way, surely I'll just get on doing what you want me to do.
I am having a great time leading kids into worship at New Wine this week. In Rock Solid we always start and end each meeting together singing our 'Anthem'. In previous years this has been that great song 'Shackles' by Mary, Mary. However this year, the team decided that we needed something different (as that had been used for the past three years) and they asked me to come up with something. Something 'worshipful', 'fun' and fits in with the theme this year of High School Musical.
