John the Baptist was a weird dude. He broke all the rules on how to build a platform or create a following. Essentially, he dressed weird, ate weirder, neglected his hair and alienated everyone off with his abrasive speaking style. And yet, he created a huge following and Jesus himself said that there has never been a greater man.
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about this strange bug eating man from the desert and I guess if you’re reading this you’ve been roped into my musings.
I’M NOT THE MESSIAH
One of the things that strikes me about John the Baptist is that he knew exactly who he was. He fully understood his role in God’s mission in the world. He was making a splash with his ministry (get it?) and the religious leaders from Jerusalem were impressed enough to send out a delegation to see who exactly he was and what he was up to. Here’s how it went down:
This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.
John knew what he was about. He was quick to point out that this wasn’t the “John show.” We wasn’t building a platform for John. He was building a platform for Jesus. He wasn’t the Messiah and he wasn’t about to try on the Messiah sandals.
PLAYING SAVIOR
It might sound dumb but I wish I had that degree of clarity in the early days of my student ministry career. Go ahead and judge me but there have been times in which I acted like I thought I was the Messiah. What I mean is that when serving a troubled student or a kid going through a rough time I have started to believe that what they needed was me.
The truth is that it feels good to be the spiritual “go-to” person. It feels validating to be a student’s rock in the midst of a family storm. It feels nice to be the person that students come to for wisdom and advice.
It’s a very subtle thing but I think it’s easy to cross a line here. It’s so natural for student ministry to become about you. The students like your teachings. The group is beginning to take on your style. Look, I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m simply drawing attention to a mistake that I made and hoping you don’t fall into the same trap.
How do you know you’ve crossed this line? How do you know when you’ve placed yourself in the role of “Messiah?” I believe it is when students struggle without you. If your students go off to college and fall off the map spiritually it may be because you inserted yourself into a “Messiah” role. If you leave your church for a new position or a change in career and your students falter spiritually it may be that you crossed a line and took on a role not designed for you.
The truth is that we live in a celebrity driven culture and it’s easy to fall into the same model in our churches and student ministries. There is immense value in influence and the authority of pastors and youth workers, but the point is Jesus—not us. Jesus has the power to heal, to transform hearts and to bring light to the darkness. We are his ambassadors but like John, the story isn’t about us. We aren’t the Messiah.
John was quick, incredibly quick to shine the spotlight on Jesus. I want to learn to do the same. My dream is that my students would be drawn to Jesus rather than me. My hope is that they would continue to pursue Jesus whether or not I’m in their life. Why? Because I’m not the Messiah.
image credited to bobzee666
