“He must become greater; I must become less” John 3:30

About 10 years ago, a group of media savvy Christians started an online campaign in which prominent athletes, celebrities, influencers, and Christian leaders were videoed shared their authentic story of coming to know Jesus Christ.  Baseball’s Albert Pujols, football legend Joe Gibbs, on-air personality Kathie Lee Gifford, former supermodel Kathy Ireland and musician  Lacrae were just a few of the 140 videos that they compiled.  The group put up billboards, aired commercials and put up a website. They called the movement “I Am Second because lives are radically changed when Jesus becomes #1 in a person’s life. And every video ends the same way, “My name is _________ and I am second.” It’s powerful to hear someone famous say that Jesus is Lord of their life. To date, the videos have been viewed over 150 million times. Check it out… here’s a full list of the video testimonies available on the site.

I couldn’t help but think of “I Am Second” when I read today’s advent devotional on John the Baptist. (This fall our whole Bethany family is reading daily devotionals in preparation for Christmas).

In fact, “I am second” could have been John’s life motto.  From the very start, he recognized that his position was second to Jesus.  He was popular and famous, for sure.  But he knew his job was to prepare the way (John 1:23) and to point to the One who would “take away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He was Jesus’ warm-up act. And so even though he was very successful and had a huge following, it didn’t bother him when the crowds fell away and the attention went to Jesus.  In the end even his own disciples left to follow Jesus. But that was the point. It wasn’t about him, it was about Him.

The advent devotional ended by asking the probing question:

“How might you become less?”

Hard question, huh?  But in a “me-first” world, it’s an important one. Maybe the reason others don’t see
Jesus in us is because we’re always getting in the way.  It’s hard to point to someone else when we’re preoccupied with ourselves.

How can we become less?

• Maybe we can be a little less critical and a little more merciful
• A little less self-conscious and a little more aware of the needs of others
• Less concerned about our own rights and more concerned about God’s reputation
• Less devoted to our own comfort and more generous with our time and possessions
• Less consumed with things that don’t last and more attentive to things that last forever

In what way do you need to become less?  There’s only so much bandwidth in your life, there’s only one steering wheel, and only one stage.  It’s either about you or about Jesus. But it can’t be both.

John the Baptist said, He must become greater and I must become less.  Let’s make that a lifelong pursuit- more Jesus, less us. Because when you think about it, that’s a pretty good definition of discipleship.