Ever since I was a kid, my whole environment in regard to all of my relationships, have been pushing me to be someone. You know, to make something of my life. For we men, we are defined on where we have been, what we have done or are currently doing, are we headed somewhere significant, etc. etc. to the place of utter ridiculousness. We get defined in these pursuits and it falls short of how we ought to be defined. For those of us in ministry, we get defined by where we have served, how many people come to our services, are we at a big church or a small or medium one. On and on it goes.
John the Baptizer had an incredible ministry. He set up shop not on a strategic street in Jerusalem where everyone could see the building, but he set up his ministry out of the city where people would really have to travel and go out of the way to be a part of his ministry. As his ministry started to really thrive, the curiosity of who he was, was really getting to those in the religious circles as to who John was, they came to him one day and this is what happened,
"And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you? He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am the voice of on crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."
They come to him, wanting to define who he is. John does not and will not play their game and does not attach himself to any names other than the one that is really most important. He just says, "I am only a voice". He defines himself only as a voice. He speaks to what was going to define him more than anything. He does not put forward his credentials in regard to his ministry numbers, his fame, his on the edge clothing, etc. He is just a voice.
I wonder if our ministries might be different if we just wanted to be a voice and let that activity define who we are and what we do daily.
Who wants to be a Voice?
