John 3:29-30!– He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.

Some time ago I wrote about the contradictions between Christian and secular beliefs. Here is another one. Great men of God have no doubt that they should be content when greater men grow in influence and success — even if their own influence seems diminished because of it.

I was reading something by John Philipps today that triggered this thought. In commentary in Peter he mentions Peter’s obvious affection for Paul despite their early history. He goes on to comment that Peter might have converted a thousand, while Paul had converted tens of thousands. But that’s how it is with the great spiritual leaders. John was the greatest example. People knew John was the real thing — but as soon as his cousin Jesus came on the scene John stepped right back.

Not all “leaders”, even in Biblical history, show that humility. Remember how Saul reacted when the women of Israel said, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands”? “Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.” Saul was not going to be content to decrease while David increased!

This line of thought connected with some others today … I happened to be chatting with a Godly young man while we worked on something, and we shared the thought that the miracle is not so much that Jesus saves millions, but that He saves individuals — that He reaches into the hearts of individuals, sees their sins, and wipes them away.
Then I stumbled across a piece of research (admittedly not new) from the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development (FASICLD) about declining church membership. The analysis contained this splendid quote — “It is imperative we understand that growth statistics are just one aspect of an indicator of a healthy church. True success is being obedient to what God has called us to do and realizing that although we are responsible to serve, we are not responsible for the results. Our surrender to the will of God over our will and desires equals success; we are called to have the focus that God has and the passion and prayer to follow through. These are the marks of a successful church leader.” That’s a long way of saying, I think, that a good pastor understands that he must decrease and that He must increase.

Now, I’m pretty sure he’s not going to see thus, so it’s safe to brag on our pastor. He is one who isn’t on an ego trip — and our church is growing. But it seems so many churches are going the other way. So many seem to be looking for better structure, or better programs … Anything rather than surrender, let God lead, and let Him increase!