When Less Truly Is More and Honorable
Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A Self-Diet
Dieting and weight loss have become a stand-alone industry. I’m amazed by the onslaught of ads and commercials everywhere I look—TV, social media, billboards. Physical fitness programs are often linked to specialized diets.
I don’t know why I’m amazed by all the focus on diet and fitness. It all lines up with our cultural obsession with self and appearance. Of course, even selling “healthy” junk food and trendy cars appeals to this obsessive focus.
It’s a paradox of sorts. Culturally, we honor self-sacrifice and service to others by our first responders and military personnel, while we exalt celebrities who flaunt, often shamefully, their excessive wealth and popularity.
We’re values-conflicted. We elevate the value of whatever promotes ourselves for our highest satisfaction, and look down on others who are deemed less-than ourselves. Self-sacrifice and self-exaltation are diametrically opposed values.
I used to hear people say, “America is a Christian nation” or that we have a Christian heritage. Not so much anymore. Perhaps one reason is that our values conflict with what has become the popular norm. What used to be honorable character traits are often seen as archaic, outmoded values.
As a Christian—a follower of Jesus—exalting ourselves isn’t just a paradox; it’s the exact opposite of Jesus’ call to all who would follow Him (see Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).
Are you concerned about your diet? How about going on a self-diet? It’s the diet John the Baptizer was on, as we also see in Jesus. Pursuing a self-diet is when less truly is more and is honorable.
Scripture
Later, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them and baptized people. John was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim. Water was plentiful there. (People came to John to be baptized, since John had not yet been put in prison.)
Some of John’s disciples had an argument with a Jew about purification ceremonies. So they went to John and asked him, “Rabbi, do you remember the man you spoke so favorably about when he was with you on the other side of the Jordan River? Well, he’s baptizing, and everyone is going to him!” [vss 22-26]
John answered, “People can’t receive anything unless it has been given to them from heaven. You are witnesses that I said, ‘I’m not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’
“The groom is the person to whom the bride belongs. The best man, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed when the groom speaks. This is the joy that I feel. He must increase in importance, while I must decrease in importance. [vss 21-30]
“The person who comes from above is superior to everyone. I, a person from the earth, know nothing but what is on earth, and that’s all I can talk about. The person who comes from heaven is superior to everyone and tells what he has seen and heard. Yet, no one accepts what he says. I have accepted what that person said, and I have affirmed that God is truthful. [vss 31-33]
The man whom God has sent speaks God’s message. After all, God gives him the Spirit without limit. The Father loves his Son and has put everything in his power. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God’s constant [continuing] anger.” [vss 34-36]
(John 3:22-36 GW) [Context– John 3]
Key phrase—
He must increase in importance, while I must decrease in importance.
Reflections...
John the Baptizer’s final testimony about Jesus is consistent with what he said at the beginning of his ministry. He knew his role as the “best man” to the groom—Jesus (see verses 27-28). John’s own disciples were jealous of Jesus for John’s sake, but John set the record straight for them — “He must increase ... I must decrease.”
John’s testimony is what every follower of Jesus ought to hold true in their hearts. A genuine encounter with Jesus and His grace is a humbling experience. We realize who He is and our place as believers. As John said, “(He) is from above ... I (am) from the earth” (verse 31).
John’s testimony at the end of this chapter ties into the conversation of Jesus and Nicodemus at the beginning of chapter 3. Jesus told Nicodemus of his (and our) need to be born from above. It’s an invitation to enter into a personal trust relationship with the Lord.
But we see there’s a caveat in the last segment of verses in chapter 3 (see verses 34-36). Jesus is far more than a good man or prophet—He’s the Son of God. He’s eternal in nature and authority, and has the power of the Holy Spirit without measure. As John declared, Jesus is far above us, though He appeared on earth as a human.
Whoever rejects trusting in Jesus will not receive eternal life. Rejecting a relationship with the Lord means continuing in a self-focused life—continuing to remain under God’s wrath because of unconfessed sin and an unrepentant heart.
There is no upside to this choice. It brings exclusion from God’s kingdom—His domain of gracious love and eternal life. We all make this choice at some point in life. Either by default or by intentional choice.
If we’re unwilling to go on a “self-diet”—to die to ourselves as John the Baptizer chose—this choice is made by default.
Digging Deeper...
What prompts John the Baptizer's disciples to question him about Jesus?
What seems to bother John's disciples about Jesus?
How does John answer the concerns of his disciples? What does he tell them?
In what way does John say he needs to decrease while Jesus increases?
Taking it to heart...
How is John's statement about decreasing in importance just as relevant for us now as it was for him then?
How is it possible for us to decrease in importance so that Jesus can increase in importance?
In what way can this take place in your own life? How can John's example guide you?
Since this idea of decreasing our self-importance is so opposite of what’s common in our culture, what are specific steps that anyone can take to do this?
Personalize it...
A personal relationship with the Lord Jesus only comes through a personal encounter with God's grace. When we truly experience God's grace, it will bring a humility and desire for the Lord's nature to increase in us and our selfish nature to decrease.
Does your heart desire and cry out for the Lord's nature to increase within you at the cost of your own selfish nature? If not, ask the Lord to work in your heart in a fresh way by His grace.
