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Jesus was supposed to “become more famous.” The forerunner, the one who introduced Jesus to the world was supposed to decrease. Some of us have our priorities wrong today. Some have forgotten that they were called to be faithful to teach the Word of God and let God give the increase whether large or small. The church growth movement approach is not biblical. Numbers are not the goal. The church is not the primary place where spiritual births are to occur. God primarily designed the church to spiritually grow Christians through in-depth teaching of the Word of God. The primary place where spiritual births are to occur is in our neighborhoods, at the job, and any other place where we meet people. We are the ones who should tell others about Jesus. That is the calling of the body of Christ - the church.
Who Is Jesus? Why was John so positive about Jesus? Why was he glad that Jesus
was increasing? The answer is found in his following comments.
He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (NASB) John 3:31-36 These words make it clear that John understood a great deal about Jesus. He says Jesus came from “above,” “is
above all,” He speaks the truth, the “Father loves” Him, and Jesus is the Lord and King of
everything. John included every member of the trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Wow, what a statement of truth!
Then John ends on both a positive and a negative note. He tells them that if they will believe
in Jesus, they will have eternal life; but if they do not believe or do not depend on Him, they will end up
in eternal wrath or punishment.
Conclusion. John’s message was simple. Jesus was greater than John. Jesus
should increase and John must decrease. And so it is in this life. God raises men and women to do His work.
Some will be greater than others. When we see that they are called of God and are doing His will, when their
message is biblical, when their life is above reproach, when they give honor to God for what is occurring,
when they are humble, and when they are seeking to be faithful to the calling of God on their lives, then we
can rejoice when their ministry is increasing beyond ours.
It does not matter what type of ministry you have. You may be a pastor, church leader, a Bible teacher, a faithful servant in Women’s Ministry or Men’s Ministry, a counselor, involved in missions, or in some other ministry, but God only cares about one thing. He is watching to see if you are doing what He has called you to do. He has not called us to look over our shoulders to see what others are doing. He has not called us to compare our ministry to that of others. God only wants to know - just as John did - are you doing what He asked you to do?
Church leaders need to be less focused on numbers and more focused on the spiritual growth that is occurring in the lives of God’s people. No where in scripture can we find God asking us to create large churches. God has called us to make disciples. The phrase “make many disciples” cannot be found in Matt. 28:19-20. God has called only us to faithfully plant and water. It is He who causes the increase or decrease. It is the work of the Holy Spirit.
God has not called us to grow anything. He has not called us to please the pastor, to serve
the church leadership, or to be loyal to anyone in our church. He has only asked us to fix our eyes upon Him
and to please Him! God’s measure of success is your faithfulness in doing what He asks you to do! That
is all. There is no other priority. God is to be your all in all. He is your Lord. How are you doing?
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | |||||
