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Crosswords: Working behind the scenes
“He must become greater;
I must become less” (John 3:30).
 
Years back I attended a dinner to pay tribute to a famous evangelist who was in town for a 3 day crusade. The dinner did not disappoint - to honor the evangelist that is. For a full 10 minutes, those in attendance were presented with a glowing resume full of accomplishments and accolades directed towards the world traveling soul winner. When the evangelist took the podium he essentially backed up the claims made by others. In other words, he talked about himself quite a bit. To his credit he did talk about Jesus. But Jesus certainly didn’t get top billing at the event.
Believe me when I say that I’m not trying to take the man to the mat. Spiritually speaking, he’s got me by 8 inches and a good hundred pounds. My point of telling the story is that if someone who has given their life trotting the globe to lead others to Christ can succumb to personal pride, what chance do the rest of us stand at not falling.
It’s human nature to seek attention.  Whether we’re willing to admit it or not, we want others to recognize what we’ve given and/or given up. Collectively we want others to know how great our church is. Or our pastor. Or our denomination. And while it’s fine to give credit when due, we mustn’t ever put ourselves or others in such a position as to overshadow the person of Christ.
Before the first Gospel was penned, the early church struggled with the same problem. The Apostle Paul caught wind that members of the Corinthian church had in essence developed apostolic fan clubs. Peter, Apollos, and Paul himself had unwittingly garnered their own faithful followings. Paul’s response? None of us are Jesus. We didn’t die for you and we can’t save you. So stop. (1 Cor. 1:10-17)
The problem with giving too much praise to humans is that we’re human. At some point we are all going to falter. Our image is going to take a hit. And if we’ve been elevated anywhere near to the level Christ belongs, He’s going to take a hit as well.
“But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32).

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