Let's Stay In Our Lane

John the Baptist was called to "prepare the way for Christ", right?  Luke attaches this descriptor to him in chapter 3 of his Gospel when he quotes Isaiah in reference to John which says ...

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord."

John was here to prepare the way.

He was here to ready the ground.  

To stir the waters.

To lay the foundation.

... He was the forerunner, right?  He was the vision casting meeting that comes ahead of the actual casting of the vision, he was the notebook full of ideas before the ideas become more concrete and applied, he was the whiteboard of ideas thoughts the plan is solidified and put into motion.

John prepared the way for The Way and although it may seem obvious ... John was NOT The Way.

Yes.

John prepared the way for The Way; John (himself) was not The Way.

In other words, John knew his role, right?  He knew his place.  He knew what he was here to do and he did it.  He didn't try to position himself as The Way, The Truth, and The Life and he didn't try to use his voice in a way that it wasn't meant to be used.

Instead ...

John stayed in his lane.

John fulfilled his purpose.

John acted according to his internal wiring.

... John spoke in a way that prepared the way for Christ as opposed to speaking on behalf of or for Christ.

I was thinking about this while sipping my coffee this morning and (again) although it seems so obvious, I think that so many of our churches and pastors and leaders and everyday Christians have really, really, really got this backwards.

Right?

Because these days I see a whole lot more people speaking for Christ as opposed to preparing the way for Christ.

The other day, for instance, I scrolled by a Facebook conversation where a (I'm assuming) well-meaning Christian was "speaking on behalf of the Lord" to "correct" and "rebuke" another Christian's "deconstruction phase".

"I realize it's just a phase", this person said, "but you need to realize how you are breaking the heart of the Lord.  The Lord wants you to know that ..." ... and on and on this person went quoting all of these random and displaced Bible verses in an effort to "speak on behalf of Jesus" and call this person back to the tribe they were clearly trying to disconnect from.  

I see this type of approach A LOT from Christians and it's completely backwards, right?  Sure, we can give our thoughts and share our opinions.

BUT.

They ought to be framed as just that - OUR thoughts and OUR opinions, not the thoughts, opinions, and words of GOD.  

And I get it ... I used to be one of those types of Christians and, in all honesty, I still can be.  It's very easy for me to switch gears into that mindset and start telling people what God REALLY SAYS about ...

Hell.

LGBTQ inclusion.

The Bible.

Salvation.

... and all the things; but, the reality is, that my place isn't to speak on behalf of God because God is more than capable of speaking for herself.

Yeah?

My role is simply to share with people what I think I've learned on my journey with God and remain humble in that there is always more to learn and there's always more room for growth and evolution and development.  

My role is to speak from my experience, not to force my experience to be someone else's experience.

My role is to stay in my lane.

My role is to make sure the mic is turned on and then hand the mic over to Christ.

My role is  to trust that as I prepare the way with how I intentionally use my words and live my life ... The Christ will make themselves known in the lives of those around me just as he's made himself known to me.

Let's stay in our lane today, friends.

Glenn Siepert