Success & the Life of John the Bapist
6On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much 7that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10and had John beheaded in the prison. 11His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. – Matthew 14:6-12
I hang out with church planters. A lot. Church planters have many things in common, one of which is the shared fear of failure. That fear is largely based on a definition of success that charts a trajectory common in the corporate world: (1) Start; (2) Grow large; (3) Adjust; (4) Keep growing larger; (5) Influence others to grow large; (6) Be lauded as one who grows things large and helps others grow things large. Whatever your vocation, you want to do well and generally have a cultural means of gauging success. Often it is in comparison to others.
I’ve been to many religious training conferences and with the exception the late Mike Yaconelli of Youth Specialties (who used to talk about the ever-shrinking size of his congregation), church conferences always feature someone who has not only been “numerically successful” but continues to be successful in terms of their influence. Never do you hear from someone who humbly pastors a church of 200 people or someone who has struggled for years to remain faithful, only to be run out of town by their church (like the great Jonathan Edwards in Northhampton, Massachusetts, circa 1749).
American church planters are in particular conditioned to think that unless their church is financially self-sustaining and replicates multiple times that there has been a failure of their leadership in some way. At best this assessment is inferred from Scripture. At worst, this type of “success” judgment is a byproduct of a consumer-based, celebrity culture where being known and liked by masses of people is the real gauge.
Contrast this pattern with the crazy ministry trajectory of John the Baptist. He was from birth known to be the forerunner of the Messiah and at the outset of his ministry had great success baptizing the masses into repentance and preparation for the arrival of Jesus. Then Jesus came onto the scene and the crowds at John’s “crusades” had shrunk to the size of the audience of a present day Jimmy Swaggart telecast. And not because John did anything seedy or beneath reproach. Suffering and ministry reduction were simply God’s plan for his life.
“30He must become greater; I must become less.” – John the Baptist – John 3:30
In the end, John was all by himself in a prison cell. He was then beheaded in obscurity by a man who was so turned on by a stripper that he couldn’t say no to her homicidal request for his head on a platter. You’d think there would have been a parade for John, or a memorial service to rival the one we’ll eventually have to honor Billy Graham. Nope. Death by pervert.
I can’t help wondering if John had lived if he would’ve been asked to be a plenary speaker at Jerusalem’s first “Gospel Coalition” conference? I mean, his ministry went down the toilet, so obviously he did something wrong. Right?
This to say, success in life is about faithfulness to God. Whether you’re a lawyer, a sales rep, a stay at home mom or a pastor, God’s pleasure over our efforts cannot be measured the way the world measures success. Our “success” must be defined as doing our best in response to His grace, and trusting Him with the outcome.
“3It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love.” - 3 John 1:3-6
