less is MORE.....

John 3:30, "He must become greater; I must become less."
These were words spoken by John the Baptist, and as all of you know he was referring to Jesus Christ. I have thought a lot about these words over the past couple of days, and they are taking on a greater meaning to me with each day passed. When I came to Maple Hill in July of 2007 (my first full-time ministry job) I had the idea that if I can't do it, it won't get done. How silly is that? My thinking was that I knew the job that I would do and I knew I would do it right, therefore who else was there better to trust than myself.....WRONG!!! As I was studying the other day after reading this verse I began to think. "He must become greater; I must become less." How can that be true IF I do everything myself? How can this possibly happen if I allow myself to do everything and not empower others to pitch in and help? What is the real job of a "minister"? Is it to be up front and prepare great lessons, activities, and programs so he or she gets the credit? Or is it to empower the people whom you minister to and let them do it? I was having a conversation the other day with a friend of mine, when this concept hit me square in the jaw. If I am doing it all myself, then I am failing to "become less"! The idea of a successful ministry is when you are gone NOTHING skips a beat. The idea being that God has become MORE in minds of others that you have become LESS. No matter who the captain is, the ship is still going to sail, and sail just as fast and effective as ever before. I am learning with each and every passing day of my life that I need to really check myself when it comes to my role in God's plan. I am learning that I need to get out of the way and stop trying to hog all the spot light and turn that light on him. I am learning....sometimes slower than I would like....but it's happening!!

God has blessed us here at Maple Hill over the past month with some great spiritual growth in our Youth Program. Just last night we witnessed another become a child of HIS by naming HIM in baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. God knows best and he also knows LESS IS MORE!!!

Learning- Nick