Is that how it is with us? We come to the house of God to worship, not to meet with friends. We are going to do that too. We are going to enjoy greatly Christian fellowship, brothers and sisters in the Lord. But that is not the prime reason why we come. It is to hear the voice of Christ; it is to hear him speaking through his word; it is to come in the morning, to come in the evening to the evangelistic service and sense that the bridegroom’s voice is going out, that Christ is being heard, that the Gospel call is being made, that the Holy Spirit is at work, and hearts are being opened and affected. And day by day in our personal devotions, in our reading of the word: to sense we have heard the voice of God, that we have been moved and affected and instructed and influenced.
Think of that when you are apportioning your time – what will I do this day, this week? How will I organise my leisure moments? How will I organise my time? He must increase, he must get as much of it as I can possibly give him. And I must decrease, not dreaming dreams for myself – what wonderful arrangements I am going to make, what things I am going to enjoy, what things I am going to acquire or possess. No, he must increase, I must decrease. In conversation, he must increase, I must decrease. I do not want to talk about myself. As the opportunity arises, let us switch the conversation to the things of Christ and the things of God.
If you aspire to be in the ministry for Jesus Christ, you do not want to ever be that kind of preacher who shows off, who struts to and fro, who concentrates on making a personal impression, on being thought well of, getting a reputation for one thing or another. Your great burden will be clarity and persuasion and convincing people of Christ so that his voice is heard and he is pre-eminent.
Consider the world of ‘blogs’: the people who write them, are very keen on exhibiting their opinions, and they have their own language, ‘What’s your take on this? What’s your take on that? What is your view of this? What is your view of that?’ You get the impression that too many people are getting too keen on their view, their mental acumen, in looking at this, or seeing that in a particular way. ‘He must increase, I must decrease.’ We almost say, as Christian people, ‘If possible, I don’t want any opinions.’ You can have opinions on whether you prefer red to blue, that’s immaterial, but on things that matter, and on spiritual things, ‘I don’t have a take; I don’t have an opinion. I am not going to project myself as someone special so that you must hear my view.’ Of course, in a sense, we’ve all got to have views, but this is the point: my great goal is to hear the opinion of Christ, and if I can understand that, if I can really understand what the word says, that’s everything. That’s the kind of humility of John the Baptist. Hear the Bridegroom’s voice – ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’