From Limelight to Shadows: Growing in Humility
A little different. Strange. Eccentric. A bit off. Straight-up weird. No matter how you put it, John the Baptist was not your average guy. He dressed funny, had a strange diet, and played a unique role in prophetic history.
Despite his unorthodox appearance, John had a significant following as he prepared people for the coming Messiah. Today we’d perhaps label him an “influencer” (though if he were around today, I doubt he’d have a smartphone, let alone a TikTok account). However, he acted in a most un-celebrity-like fashion.
When his popularity began to decline, he didn’t hire a publicist to boost his ratings or to splash his face across every news outlet. Instead, he stepped aside and made way for the Savior who had come to take away the sins of the world. John checked his ego, demonstrating humility that feels unfamiliar and incomprehensible to us today.
While I wouldn’t recommend a diet of locusts and honey, John the Baptist has a lot to teach us about the path of humility.
Settled in Your Identity
About six centuries before John’s birth, the prophet Isaiah foretold the advent of one who would call out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert” (Isa. 40:3).
A few hundred years later, after four centuries of silence from God, here came one who would break the silence. John the Baptist, a “miracle baby” given to elderly parents, had one job: to prepare the way for the Messiah. By its very nature, this job could not last.
I’m sure it didn’t come as any surprise to John when crowds started gravitating toward Jesus instead of himself. In fact, some of John’s own disciples “jumped ship” and followed Jesus. This dwindling in his popularity did not go unnoticed:
So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi, the one you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, is baptizing—and everyone is going to him.” (John 3:26)
“Are you okay with this?” they wanted to know. “Everyone is leaving you and going to him!”
John answers with jaw-dropping humility: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
How could he respond like this? The answer is simple, though far from easy. John was settled in his identity.
His worth was not tied to the crowds he gathered or the disciples who followed him. He was not motivated by “likes,” “reshares,” “follows,” or subscriptions. He was called to prepare the way of the Messiah, and because he was settled in that identity, he wasn’t bothered by a drop in his approval rating.
None of us have the same calling as John. It wasn’t just his clothes that made John unique—he truly had a one-of-a-kind vocation. However, we can be easily swayed by ups and downs in our popularity if we’re not settled in who we are as described by Scripture.
Consider these truths:
- You belong to God (1 Cor. 6:20).
- You are secure in the palm of the Shepherd (John 10:28).
- You are adopted (Eph. 1:5).
- You are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
- You are holy (1 Pet. 2:9).
- You are no longer a slave, but a child of God (Rom. 8:15–17).
Your identity is settled. Living in this reality will foster humility as we recognize that our worth and value comes not from what others think of us, but from what God says about us.
Let Go of Glory
The first sin had nothing to do with fruit, trees, or snakes. The first sin was attempted theft—theft of the glory only and rightly befitting the Creator. It shows up first when Lucifer proclaims, “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14). And again when Eve’s ears perk up in the garden at the serpent’s promise that she can be like God (Gen. 3:5). And every sin ever since has, in one way or another, been a grab at the glory of God.
Think about it. Lying? Cheating? Infidelity? Murder? Jealousy? Disrespect? All of these—and all of their compatriots—are an effort to usurp the glory rightly deserved by God.
The path to humility lies in letting go of this glory. While John, no doubt, did his own share of glory-robbing, we never see that in Scripture. Instead, we see him willingly letting go of the earthly glory he had enjoyed and basking in the glory of the Messiah.
Contrast this with Nebuchadnezzar who refused to acknowledge the glory of God, who had allowed the king to enjoy riches, fame, and earthly glory. Though warned about his pride, Nebuchadnezzar refused to change his ways. Instead, one morning he walked out on his terrace and began admiring his own handiwork: “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?” (Dan. 4:30).
The words hadn’t left his mouth before the humiliation began. Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man in the world, would spend the next seven years acting and living like livestock.
Letting go of the glory leads to humility. Clinging to it leads to humiliation.
All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5)
Magnify Christ
Conflicts, fights, disagreements, kerfuffle, and brouhaha—regardless of the occasion for the scuffle, all tiffs arise for the same reason: a divided heart. When two hearts, each pursuing idolatrous desires, collide, conflict inevitably follows. Jesus’ brother James explains:
What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you? (James 4:1)
Maybe your issue isn’t interpersonal conflict, but instability. You feel like your life is out of control and nothing settled. James gives the same diagnosis:
[A doubter] should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstablein all his ways. (James 1:7–8)
The diagnosis of a divided heart wends its way through all of Scripture, causing the downfall of many a hero, from Abraham and Jacob to David and Solomon. A united heart fears only one name: God Himself.
Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name. (Psalm 86:11 ESV)
If you fear others (and you do), desire to exalt yourself (and you do), or suffer from a divided heart (and you do), John the Baptist has one more lesson for you.
John never lost sight of his identity, nor did he try to cling to his own glory. Instead, he made his entire life about one thing and one thing only: magnifying Christ. Of course, as a man with a fleshly nature like yours and mine, he undoubtedly sinned in similar ways as the rest of us. However, in His wisdom and providence, the Holy Spirit doesn’t record those struggles for us. Instead, He leaves us with an example of a singularly-focused man, totally devoted to the exaltation of the Savior.
We see him giving his glory away as he calls out, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). This summarizes his whole life and ministry—totally dedicated to getting the spotlight off of himself and onto the Savior.
When magnifying Christ is our priority, other lesser desires will fade. Suddenly our hunger for applause, adulation, and approval will subside. As a result, when the name of Christ is exalted, we’ll be able to say along with John, “So this joy of mine is complete” (John 3:29).
Do you want to grow in humility?
- Take a lesson from John the Baptist and rest in your identity.
- Believe what God has already said about you.
- Loosen your grip on glory. (Remember, seeking your own glory will probably backfire anyway. Just ask Nebuchadnezzar.)
- Finally, make it your aim to magnify Jesus alone.
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