“He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:30 (ESV)
Summarize in a Word: Popularity
Key Principle: We live for Christ, no longer for ourselves.
Key Application: Allow Christ to be known and seen in you!
Main point of the Passage: Popularity of Christ over our own popularity
Illustration: John’s Attitude
Exhortation: Dare to risk your own reputation for the
advancing of the name of Christ.
Everybody
wants to be popular for different reasons, especially for good cause. Who among
you does not want to have a hundred likes in a Facebook post? What Christian
ministry does not want thousands of email subscriber?
If
anyone should be popular, if anyone should reach out, John the Baptist was the
right man. For he was the chosen voice to herald the way for the Messiah. Our
Lord said of him as the greatest prophet ever born. Yet he did not want to be
popular. In fact, He wanted to decrease his popularity. John was captivated by
the greatness of Christ. He wants Christ to be popular over himself. He found
his identity, meaning, and joy – everything in Christ.
What is
our identity, Christians? The Scripture says we are dead to self. We are no
longer ourselves, but Christ that lives in us. We live for Christ, no longer
for ourselves. Are we not supposed to diminish our own images, and let the
image of Christ shines in us? Are we not supposed to say, “Let me decrease, and
let Christ increase in me!” like John?
Dare to risk
your own reputation for the advancing of the name of Christ. Also, next time in
successes or achievements, practice to speak more about the providence of
Christ than your own contributions. Certainly, you do not want to compete with
God for glory. May Christ be known and seen through us!