A couple of days ago we were talking about John 3, and this section just really jumped out at us: "Now a discussion arose between some of John's [the Baptist] disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, 'Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness - look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.' John answered, 'A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, "I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him." The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease" v25-30.
John displays perfectly the servant attitude that Jesus talks so much about! A normal human would have responded, "Man! Why is that Jesus dude stealing all my thunder?? I was the bomb!! But now, everyone goes to see him, instead of me... What can I do to make myself better, so I can trump this guy?" (That would have been 'The Message' translation I'm sure...) But John the Baptist gets it! He's not mad at all, in fact he's rejoicing that everyone is no longer coming to see him. His joy is complete, as he says. How many Christians today actually display this servant attitude in every aspect of their lives? I know that many times, I fail utterly. Being raised in America, where it's all about me, me, me, and what I want, and how can people serve me, it's so hard to be counter-cultural with regards to this teaching.
That's why what I see in the institutional churches today makes me so sad... Let me pose a question: is a bigger, nicer building a way to decrease? Are better, more hip programs "every day of the week and twice on Sunday" a way for us to decrease? Is trying to hire the "best, most relevant" senior pastor a way to decrease? Or is all that junk just trying to make the institutional church increase in the eyes of the people? Brothers, WE ARE NOT CALLED TO TRY TO IMPRESS THIS WORLD!!! The church is not about the people, making them feel more 'comfortable'... sorry, American consumerism that has invaded the pews (that "me" attitude, "well, I like this better so we should do it"), it is about Christ! Sadly, institutional churches are run more like businesses today, rather than allowing Christ to move through His people, and speak to them.
But it's simple... if we try to increase, seeking glory for ourselves, and not for God, then we take the focus off of Him, and there's no opportunity for Him to increase. But if we give Him the glory He is due (all of it!), and let Him be responsible for everything in our lives, then people will take notice of that, and He will increase! The servant attitude isn't easy; it's my prayer every day, and some days I fail horribly. But the beauty of it all is that I can pray for God to work in me to make me more like my Lord, step by step, and know that His strength is sufficient.
A quick update on things down here... Hmm, last week I finished the first draft of the English Training manual for our team! That was a big relief! Now I'm fine-tuning it and seeking feedback from the leaders on how to make it better. Also, since that's mostly done, I've moved on to focusing on the Spanish version of the Manual. Please be praying for that because that is a bear to finish! Next weekend marks the start of our XGM, the annual meeting of everyone on our team, in all three countries (Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia). I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again, most of them I haven't seen since the XGM, a year ago! Please be praying for the travel of everyone to and from Lima. Thank you so much for reading!
