Uncomfortable moments brought to you by...John the Baptist.

Day 3

OT Reading: Genesis 6-8

NT Reading: Matthew 3

Most things I read tell me that it takes 21 days to build a habit. So if you're reading with me, today is day three and I hope you're still going strong. If you've missed a day, it's not a problem...we're still very early in the process and you can easily make up time or even invite someone to join with you. That will be a little more difficult when we're on day 157 :-). So give yourself a little grace, catch up if need be, and press forward.

In today's reading we came across a man named John the Baptist. He had this name because he was baptizing, not because he was a member of a certain church (e.g. Jim the Methodist, Phil the Presbyterian, etc.). And in the little bit of speech we have recorded, it's apparent that John has some less than flattering words for the religious types of his day. Unfortunately these aren't comfortable ideas to wrestle with...but reading the Bible isn't all about feeling warm and fuzzy (See the list in 2 Timothy 3:16 if you'd beg to differ). I see three quick hits that may make it into sermon form some day:

1. True repentance translates into change. John the Baptist told the most church-going people of his day to "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." (Matthew 3:8, NIV) Repentance isn't just feeling bad for how I've been living...it's actually changing to live the way God desires. In fact I love how Martin Luther stated it when he said that, "All of a Christian's life is one of repentance.¹" Too often I, and others, have been content to ignore this simple truth.

2. Your religious tradition won't save you. Unfortunately I meet a lot of people who believe that their church attendance, or the fact that they were brought up in a church years ago, or that they have church membership at a certain place assures that they and God are tightlikethis. John told these religious folks that while they flaunted the fact they were Abraham's descendants, God wasn't impressed.

3. John's purpose was ultimately about Jesus. While this idea is in Matthew, this is really clear over in the Gospel of John, where John the Baptist (trying to keep my Johns straight) says, "He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:30, NIV) John was all about pointing people to Jesus. I know that too often I get those backwards, thinking that I'm the one that must become greater. And unfortunately my actions sometimes begin to reflect that mentality. But John shows that his purpose was to be about Jesus.

Three different ideas, all from John the Baptist. I suppose the question is, which one makes you the most uncomfortable? Because that's probably where God is wanting you to grow the most.

¹Paraphrased from the first of Luther's 95 Theses, available here if you're really interested in reading :-).