So, what did John the Baptist embody that made him great in God’s eyes? Well, it’s stuff like...
1. John wasn’t a puppet of public opinion. He went against the grain, following God, and declaring only what God prompted him to preach. Yep, John had zero reticence in rebuking whomever, wherever, and whenever if they had it coming. He served the Lord in that manner with his prophetic gift.
2. John was cool with being unique and living bold, wild, and free before the Father versus following religious traditions, dietary customs, and stodgy wardrobe trends. You gotta know that God had a great chuckle seeing the stark life contrast between John, God’s special boy, and the finical, overly plumed, Pharisees.
3. John’s unabashed and brutal honesty when preaching definitely distinguished him from the herd of religious wafflers and warblers of the Temple’s bogus and bondage-inducing blather.
4. The fact that John sought to decrease his stature at the apex of his ministry is some weird, wild stuff you don’t hear much about amongst the Instagram mavens.
5. John’s comfortability with being alone with God for three decades in the desert before a short stint of ministry had to also refresh the Father because that trail is seldom taken by those that claim they know God best.
6. Jesus called this prophet great and yet, he didn’t speak in tongues. He performed no miracles. He cast out no demons. He didn’t have a Youth Group or an epic Children’s Ministry. He’s got no money, no prophetic blog, no action pics of him preaching. No massive ministerial RV. No multi-purpose sanctuary. No YouTube channel. Rome, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees all hated him. He didn’t have a 10,000-square-foot mansion and a ministry yacht. He wrote no books and took no selfies and yet, the Son of God said of him...
"Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
- Mt. 11:11 (NASB)
At this writing, I just turned sixty years old. At sixty, I care less about the all “ministerial” drivel I did in my thirties. I’m sure there still lurks within my whirring tin brain pockets of inglorious self- love, but at this juncture, I’m concerned less and less about what people think of me and more and more about what God does. I know ... I know ... I’m a slow learner. But at least I’m learning, eh? From an eternal perspective, I’d rather have God’s approval than man’s. Can you imagine being regarded by religious peeps as being “great and marvelous” and God doesn’t think that highly of you? Or worse yet: He declares He doesn’t even know you (Mt. 7:23)? That would suck. The only way for you and I to curtail that fate is to, like John the Baptist, live solely before the Audience of One and not for the fickle masses.
The preceding is from my 2023 tome, John The Baptist: A Rude Awakening Precedes A Great Awakening.
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