Recently, I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll about John the Baptizer. What he said stuck with me and that night at the play, I couldn't help thinking about his words.
He was preaching on the life of John, but he focused on how John was such a great preacher.
Referring to the verse in John 3:30, "He must increase and I must decrease", Mr. Driscoll elaborated that as a pastor, he must be willing to give up his congregation. I have been to quite a few churches now that constantly complain that their congregation is not big enough and get angry when people leave their church. As Mr. Driscoll pointed out, John was completely willing to have his disciples follow Jesus and leave him. In the same way, Mr. Driscoll said that his congregation is not his own but God's and he must be willing to let them each follow Jesus, even to other churches.
When we lived in Colorado, we moved around from church to church for quite a time and never really settled down...but we were just following Jesus. God used each church in my life to make me who I am now. But the pastors that get angry or frustrated when people leave their church aren't accepting that God works in each heart as He wills. They're really being selfish by elevating their church above others.
One of the pastors that I respect the most is a kind man at one of the small churches we attended in Colorado. His congregation had once been large and his church was considered one of the biggest in town. But one Sunday, he felt that he was not teaching his people like God wanted and he began to preach more from the Bible and listen to the Holy Spirit. Sadly, most of his congregation left the church and when we attended, the church was small and the members few. But the preaching was rich and the people were very kind. It was quite obvious that the pastor of that church loved the Lord. I can image it would be very difficult to give so much up for the Lord. That pastor loved Jesus so much that he was willing to give up his congregation for Jesus' sake.
So, what does all this mean for me?
I'm not a preacher and I know I'll never be head of a congregation, but I pray that I may be more like John the Baptist. I'd rather give up my family and friends for the love of Jesus than live my life hiding the Light of the World for the sake of man's goodwill.
Of course, it's not just being more like John the Baptist that's important, it's really all about being more like Jesus. John the Baptizer had the Holy Spirit, but really he had the spirit of Jesus.
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