He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” John 1:20
John said, “I am not the Christ.” In other words, “I cannot fix myself, let alone other people.” As Christians, we don’t think for one minute that we have all the answers.
Christians need to be honest. Our message to the people around us can never become: “We are here to show you how to live.” We are not here to say, “Look at us,” as if we had model lives, model marriages, or model children. We must say with John, “I am not the Christ!”
We are not the Christ. We struggle with our own sins, have tensions in our own homes, and disagreements in our own churches. If the whole world were Christian, it would be a great deal better than it is, but it would still be full of problems. Paul says, “What we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:5).
Sinners who know that they depend wholly on the mercy of a gracious Savior cannot present themselves as the answer to the world’s problems. There is a humility about gospel ministry and we see it on day one in the launch of the ministry of Jesus: “I am not the Christ! I am not worthy to untie the sandals on the feet of Jesus! This is not about me.”
We are here to draw attention, in every way we possibly can, to him and to what he is able to do for all who will believe in him. He takes away sins. He drenches people in the life of God. We know that we are not the answer, and we are convinced that Jesus is.
Where are you most tempted to drift into subtly saying you have all the answers?
