Meditation Luke 3:15-20 Part 2

Scripture Reference:

'15) As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16) John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17) His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18) So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19) But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20) added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison. ' - Luke 3:15-20

This scripture opens up like a movie. Opening scene... A drone shot in the desert reveals people looking like ants...Crane camera swoops down into the crowd... We encounter throngs of people clamoring to hear this man with great wisdom and knowledge. He was profound in his speech, speaking so powerfully that people began to ponder if this man might be the Messiah. He didn't look the part; appearing on the screen is the bible verse describing John as a man who "... wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey." - Matthew 3:4. Yet his anointing was that of Elijah, being a "lone voice crying in the wilderness" - John 1:23. End scene!!!

John the Baptist’s ministry grew in popularity, as Matthew 3:5–6 recounted: "People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." To be baptized by John was to admit your sin and repent—which was a great way to prepare for the Savior’s coming. The repentance associated with John’s baptism also kept the self-righteous out of the water, as they did not see themselves as sinners. For the self-righteous, John had stern words, calling them a "brood of vipers" and warning them not to rely on their Jewish lineage for salvation but to repent and "bear fruit in keeping with repentance" (Matthew 3:7–10). People of that day did not address leaders, religious or otherwise, in this manner for fear of punishment. But John’s faith made him fearless in the face of opposition.

I want to pause our collective thoughts here and ponder before the Lord for a moment what took place in verse 15 of the above-referenced scripture. This is incredibly insightful into John's leadership. Jesus displayed the same leadership multiple times when seeing people's hearts; he answered them before they could speak.

I wonder if leaders wait too long to say things before trying to correct a problem they know is coming. I have observed that a measure of poor understanding of biblical leadership that we have been taught is a scriptural fact. We often wait to see "fruit" before correcting, and nothing is wrong in that regard. However, we fail to realize that the nature of the fruit is the fully formed and replicable product of what has already been planted, matured, and is currently existing. That is no way to run a kingdom, a business, or any life that will be successful in the long run. We often see Yahweh repeatedly communicating the kingdom's standards in the Old and New Testaments. God does not wait to communicate His expectations, nor is He shy in sending messages to communicate His pleasure or displeasure to His subjects through approved channels.

Of course, we cannot deal with people based solely on their thoughts, nor should we judge people based on what they haven't done. However, in leadership, we often perceive problems based on much lower metrics than those in the scripture. You don't need to be prophetic to see that someone might have a problem with you or your organization. Yet we too often wait to cut off the problem and even far less frequently cut off the person who will not correct their issue. The scripture calls us to uphold and keep kingdom standards personally and communally. 

I wonder how safe our churches and personal lives would be if we "raised a standard" the moment we perceived issues. How much more trust would we garner (not necessarily conversions) from the general public if we maintained our standards, regardless of the external pressures and conditions placed upon us? I wonder how much favor would be restored to the church when standards are adhered to, and God can trust that our yes is our yes and our no is our no. I wonder how many more times the devil would flee when the resistance to him starts far before the fruit is ever born.

What would happen if the seeds of division and doubt never made it to the soil of men's hearts because we halted its progress at the point of perception? Now let's be clear... This daring idea will come with persecution. John got put in jail and then beheaded. Jesus was crucified, in part, because he perceived the wickedness in men's hearts and spoke the truth of the Kingdom of God. Yet isn't this call of leadership to be willing to sacrifice for the cause of the Kingdom?  Isn't this a much more worthy effort? So many leaders quit because they are trying to keep up appearances. So many people around them won't keep the minimum standards of the Kingdom. Hence, they are left doing everyone's job at the cost of their health, marriages, and children.  Then, once they burn out, the foolishness still remains; no one has gotten better, and the people are left with no vision, just another group of pharasies talking about their former leaders and their failures.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, sweat, and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;". I love this quote for many reasons, but in the end, I love how it speaks to the man who upholds a sense of ethics and standards, who will not stop doing so because of the cowards in the stands squawking but will unwaveringly stay in the arena and fight the good fight.

Dream with me for a moment... consider a leadership that would uphold the kingdom's standards rather than be political. That would be loving enough and caring for the people's hearts enough to be willing to address foolishness before it ever matures. A leadership where the idea of a faithful witness is not angry or proud but humble, loving, and steadfast. Dream with me of a leader willing to be honest with themselves before ever looking at others and be willing to look like a fool to deliver a simple message. Dream with me... please dream with me... Maybe you are that leader. Maybe you and I are called to raise that leader. Maybe it's both... all I know is that we are waiting too long to check issues, which isn't love. We are afraid. Can we admit that? We are afraid of what people will say and what damage we might do because we won't take the time to pray, repent, and seek His face for solutions. Well, I'm solution-hunting right now and done with being fake. Join me... listen to John the Baptist, listen to Yeshua. Let us listen and, at the point of perception, be willing to provide a prescription before things metastasize into full-blown cancer.