Jeremy L. Berg

The following post is by Skye Jethani, who writes “a daily devotional for people who hate daily devotionals”. Learn more and subscribe at With God Daily.

As a young pastor, I read a number of books about ministry and church leadership. One memorable book included a chapter titled “Bigger is Better” in which the authors said: “a church should always be bigger than it was. It should be constantly growing.” And they “firmly believe that bigger is what God intended for his church. Consider Jesus’ ministry on earth. Wherever he went, growing crowds gathered to hear what he had to say.”

Apparently the book’s authors didn’t read the end of the gospels where Jesus died rejected and alone. There were no adoring crowds at the foot of the cross. They must have also skipped John 6 where the crowds came to Jesus asking to see more signs and miracles. They wanted a spectacle. Instead, Jesus challenged them with difficult truths and uncomfortable commands. “After that many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” Jesus must not have gotten the memo that in ministry bigger is always better.

When we are shaped by the cultural idols of effectiveness and impact, reading the gospels will cause significant cognitive dissonance. We will have trouble understanding why Jesus ignored opportunities for more power, like when he rejected the crowd’s revolutionary expectations as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Nor will we be able to understand why he would do and say things to intentionally thin his herd of followers as he did with the crowds in John 6. To maintain our cultural idols, these stories must be ignored or explained away.

Jesus wasn’t driven by the praise of crowds. He didn’t need the validation of an ever-expanding ministry. What compelled Jesus was not impact but obedience. He was nourished by doing everything his Father commanded. “My food is to do the will of him who sent me,” he said. This was possible because his legitimacy did not come from his celebrity but from his identity which was declared at his baptism when the Father said, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” With his identity anchored in his Father rather than his fans, Jesus was able to engage his mission and abandon the outcomes to God.

The only hope we have of resisting the idol of celebrity is rooting our value in our identity. That way whether the crowds are growing or shrinking, whether we are deified or despised, we will always know we are God’s beloved child.

DAILY SCRIPTURE

JOHN 6:22–69

WEEKLY PRAYER

Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536)

Most merciful Savior, whom to know, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is life everlasting: increase the faith of your servants, that we may never stray from your truth; our obedience, that we may never swerve from your commandments. Increase your grace in us, that, alive in you, we may fear nothing but you, because nothing is more mighty; love nothing but you, because nothing is more lovable; glory in nothing but you, who is the glory of all the saints; and finally desire nothing but you, who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the full and perfect felicity forever.
Amen.