While in the bush of Mozambique, we ended up in a town called Machanga. We paddled in hollowed out trees that were used as canoes, walked up a several mile sand road, and eventually made it to the small community in a cornfield where we’d spend the month serving at. Our ministry involved a really random slew of opportunities like teaching at a pastor’s conference, helping teach theology at a women’s conference, teaching at an elementary school and a lot of other random ministries such as prayer ministry to locals, hospital visits, reaching out to an island off the coast.
On one of the days we sent a group to the elementary school. The group played games, did a skit, and would have a time of teaching. It just so happened (using the Biblical phrase that almost always indicates the providential hand of God) that the story we did that day was the story of Shadrach, Mischach, and Abednego. It was through that story that the Lord taught me something profound about this year…something I’ve been told a lot, but that I didn’t really comprehend until this month. The ministry that God is doing in my life this year is way more profound than the ministry I’m doing in these countries.
And I think about the purifying, refining, destructive nature of fire. John the Baptist made a statement when he walked the earth, “I baptize with water, but one is coming after me who will baptize with the Spirit and with Fire.”
John the Baptist understood that Jesus’ call demanded everything. He understood the words Dietrich Bonhoeffer would later pen, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” He understood that Jesus wouldn’t settle for only part of me, that Jesus always wants more of me, and I always have something more I can offer to him. In the words of a teammate – Nate Chaplin – “God doesn’t call us to do things that we’re uncomfortable doing, he’s calling us to do things we’re incapable of doing, at least without trust in Him and dependence on him.”
So here are my confessions, stealing a page from either Augustine or Usher, depending on how old you are. These are lessons John the Baptist is teaching me about my call to follow Jesus with every ounce of who I am.
I need to understand the purpose of my tongue. John, as we’re introduced to him, is known simply for his message, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near.” He understood he was just a “voice calling out in the wilderness, crying, ‘prepare the way for the Lord.'” John did everything he did to point people back to Jesus, knowing that he was so much inferior to his Lord and in no way worthy to receive any glory, but to help Christ get the glory rightfully his.
John understood that obedience was important. His obedience dovetailed well with his trust in the Lord. John consistently preached the same message, and because of it, people surrounded him. But that same message ultimately led him to prison, and eventually to his death. But his message of trust was so much a part of his identity, which is exactly the definition of integrity (having your identity completely consumed by the message you preach) that his gnarly appearance and appetite in no way sent people fleeing. Instead, they came to him because they weren’t there for John, they were there for Jesus.
