Sometimes in our church life we bring the outside world with us and seek to turn the church into a place of personal influence. In fact, there are some people who actually have very little influence in the outside world, so they try to compensate for that by coming into the church and looking for a position from which they can start giving orders and start “being in charge.” Some people come to the church so they can be seen. Some people come to church in order to pursue and advance their own personal program and their own private agenda. Most fights and problems in the church start at this very point; with somebody who is more interested in lifting themselves up than they are in lifting up Christ.

That kind of discipleship points in the wrong direction. We do not come to church so we can be in charge; we come to church so we can serve. Christ said that He came “to serve and not to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Christ is the only one that should be lifted up in the church. Everybody else ought to decrease so that Christ can increase. There is one good reason for that; nothing happens when we lift up ourselves. Nobody gets saved when we lift up ourselves. Nobody gets healed when we lift up ourselves. Nobody gets strengthened in the face of life’s challenges when we lift up ourselves. There is absolutely no benefit to anybody when people come to church in order to lift up themselves.

On the other hand, when we lift up Christ He can make things happen. Christ can change people’s lives. Christ can guide people’s steps. Christ can dry people’s tears. Christ can deliver people’s souls from death and the grave. Christ can escort people into life everlasting. Christ himself said, “If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).

There is somebody here who can testify as to what happened when Christ was lifted up. There is somebody hose life is different, and whose burdens are lighter, and whose path is brighter, and whose song is sweeter, and whose hope is stronger all because somebody lifted up the name of Jesus and you invited him into your life.

Let me challenge everybody in this church to follow the example of John the Baptist. Let’s tell everybody we know that they should follow Jesus, because He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Not only that, but let’s follow John’s lead in one more thing. Let’s all agree that when we come to church we will do all we can to decrease so that Christ can increase. Lift up the name of Jesus. Sing praises to the name of Jesus. Let there be less and less of us so there can be more and more of Jesus. That is the best direction that any disciple can follow.

Unlike Marion Jones, when you are willing to empty yourself and practice humility and servanthood and resist the impulse to achieve at all costs, there is a blessing waiting for you down the road. Remember how Phil. 2:5-11 ends. It does not end with Christ being emptied and humbling himself. It ends with this declaration:

“Therefore, God has given him a name, That is above every name, That at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is lord, To the glory of God the Father.”

When you humble yourself now, He will elevate you later on. When you refuse to spend all of your life pursuing self-advancement he will advance you to places you could never have imagined and never achieved on your own. Do not follow the impulses of this world and be driven by the pressure to achieve more and more, sometimes at any cost. Instead, let Jesus lead you into a life of service and self-sacrifice and into a life where you decrease so that He can increase. You will never be sorry that you let Jesus become your leader. ❖