Knowing

John 3:²⁶ “So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.” (emphasis added).

In today’s scripture reference, John the Baptist’s disciples were practically blaming Him for identifying Jesus as the Messiah because now Jesus is also baptizing people, and everybody is going to Him instead of coming to John and his disciples. In other words, see what you have done, you are running yourself out of business and you are taking business away from us. The disciples of John the Baptist were visibly upset and they expected John to also be upset? In engaging the scriptures, you have to ask questions. Sometimes, some things may look obvious but when you ask questions, you begin to uncover new depths and get answers that are not on the surface.

On one hand,  their leader John the Baptist had his personal revelation. John 1:³³ “I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” But after John the Baptist had announced it to his disciples, shouldn’t they have caught the revelation? John had been announcing that he himself is not the messiah and that is why he said to them, ‘Did I not tell you before?’ However, this query led John the Baptist to unpack the deity and the supremacy of Jesus Christ further, for his disciples and for all of us to benefit from.

John 3:²⁸ “You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’” If you do not know who you are, you would not know who you are not. And if you do not know who you are not, you will be trying to be who you are not meant to be. John understood that his job was to prepare the way. That is the fulfilment of John’s destiny and he is not a failure. We are so driven by competition; when we do not know who we are, we do not know who we are not supposed to be. So, we try to be who we are not supposed to be because we do not know who we are. Unfortunately, some churches see other churches as competition as ‘taking our members’. Some churches are competing because they do not know who they are. Some churches insist on doing certain things because other churches are doing it. I get such proposals often and my response is always, ‘No, we will not’. Why would we not do it when it is working elsewhere? We will not do it because that is just not who we are.

As a church, as a people, we are not in competition with anybody. Our DNA is unique; we are who God has called us to be. We know who we are, therefore, we know who we are not. So, we cannot be trying to be who we are not because we already know who we are. You are not in competition with anybody, your DNA is unique, you are who God has called you to be. You must know who you are so that you can know who you are not. That way you will not be trying to be who you are not because you already know who you are.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, I ask that You please reveal me to me as You have written in Your books concerning me, in Jesus Name. Amen!