Better than Me!

by Richard

What do you do when someone comes along who is “better” than you in an ability or some look in which you take pride? I don’t know about you but I can be tempted to undermine the person, to enviously seek ways to point out to others why I really am the best!

In Luke 3:22-36 we read that the disciples of John the Baptist point out to their leader that Jesus has set up a successful baptism operation down river. “The crowds are flocking to him and you are loosing ground to the competition, brother John!”

I love John’s response; it’s got to be one of the most special verses in the Gospels.

He must become greater; and I must become less. (30)

John’s totally cool about the increasing popularity of Jesus and he’s bursting with joy about the arrival of Jesus and his diminishing popularity. He’s finished the work God had set before him, to prepare the way for the king. He’s gotten the wedding ready and now it was time to fade behind the focus on the groom. He’d been among God’s greatest spokespersons on earth but now it was time to tell the people to listen to the one who has spoken stars into space, the one who holds the universe in His hands, the one has the power to give us eternal life.

Lawrence was reminding me yesterday that it was because of envy that the religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus (Mark 15:10). You see Jesus is so great that we must decide to joyfully fade inside His beautiful glory, or we must enviously seek to extinguish His light so people will hopefully notice our pitiful embers.

Let’s be like John who had joy at the idea of Jesus becoming greater. Let’s counter our human tendency to enjoy being “top-dog” and become people who genuinely celebrate when people come along who can do things better than we can. I pray Mountainview becomes a church where Jesus becomes much, much greater than all our pride, and that we can joyfully, “Consider others better than [ourselves].” (Philippians 2:3)