Stand Out

As I often point out, many church leaders think that in order to reach people they must adapt their lives to be “cool” or “relevant.” Contrary to this belief, most of the leaders we read about in the Bible who changed history were significantly different to those around them. One example is John the Baptist.

Luke 3:1-3 says, “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” 

In other words, when all the “important” people were busy in their palaces and temples, the word of God came to the guy who lived in the desert. God doesn’t need your degree. Nor does he need your fashionable clothing, communications training, smoke machines and spotlights. All he wants is a hungry heart.

I don’t think someone like John would be invited to preach in many churches in the 21st century. Matthew 3:4 says, “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.” He was strange. He stood out from the crowd and he didn’t care. He had no desire to fit in with the times. His passion was to preach the word of God. Nothing more. 

Despite all of this, the crowds still followed him because they were hungry for truth. Our generation is screaming out for a greater purpose. They are starving for truth and we are robbing them of it by telling them that Christianity is no different from the meaningless world around them.

Revival will only come when we hunger and thirst after the Lord. Lets stop focussing on the temporal things of this world and start leading our flocks towards the Kingdom of God.