February 18, 2023
Understanding Our Role
“You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So, this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:28-30 (NASB)
K-Mart, circa 1980: A stockboy employed while attending high school. There was only one stockboy on second shift. It was me. As I got out of school each day, I rode my bicycle from my house to the store. My hours were 4-9 P. M. each day. While working there it seemed as if a manager didn’t like me from the very beginning. He criticized my work ethic or questioned other duties, even if another manager told me to do it. One minute he would ask me to move stuff from the attic. Two minutes later he wondered why I hadn’t gotten the shopping carts inside the store. There was only one me, and I knew I couldn’t be everywhere at once. I was frustrated. One day, I realized why. I learned the manager was applying for store manager. He did everything he could to get the position, even to the extent of running his employees into the ground. It wasn’t just me either. Others felt it too. He wanted to increase in his responsibility. This meant everyone else had to decrease in his eyes. He wanted to look good because of his abilities. He wanted control, and it didn’t matter how and who he affected. I tired of the situation, and later quit. If he was going to be in control of the whole store, I didn’t want to work there.
John the Baptist understood his role. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” These are the last words of John the Baptist before his arrest and imprisonment. John would send messages from his prison cell, but we don’t hear conversations from him in real time after this time. This is because his work was nearly finished. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Not only was John about to decrease in his work, but his life would also decrease. His time of clearing the path of Jesus the Messiah was drawing to a close, “for John had not yet been thrown into prison” (John 3:24). In order for Jesus’ role to increase, auxanō, or “to become more significant,” John had to decrease, elattoō, or “to become less significant.”[1]
You and I both need to understand this truth today. We must share the message of hope. It’s the message of salvation. Then allow God in His drawing power to convict them of their sinfulness. We can’t save them. Only Jesus can. John knew his role and purpose was being fulfilled by this time in his life. He had preached of Messiah’s coming. He then saw the Messiah arrive. When Messiah came, he knew he had fulfilled his calling. It was one of purpose and meaning. We too have this calling and meaning in life. We call all to the saving faith in Jesus Christ. Then we allow ourselves to decrease and allow Jesus to call them. Catch this though: You are I are significant to the kingdom of God, just as much as John the Baptist. Our duty is to the very end of life, but we must decrease and let God do His work. This is the message we give to the world. We are not people who make ourselves look better or running others into the ground like the manager above. We are people who are called to bring a message of hope to those and allow Christ to save them. If we act like the manager above and exhibit pride, we won’t have anyone who wants to associate with us…and there is no power in pride. Know your role.
[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).