Have you ever found yourself in a situation that made you wonder, ‘What crazy sequence of events got me here?’
That was me this last Saturday afternoon, 30 feet off the ground on an indoor rock climbing wall.
For this risk-averse, heights-fearing, not-particularly-adventurous ground-dweller, being that high in the air is not a… comfortable place to find myself.
At the bottom of the wall, as I was clipping my harness into the belay system, there was enough excitement and adrenaline to overcome the fear and propel me 30 feet up the wall. But, at that point, the adrenaline ran out and I started to question the decisions that led me here.
Once I thought about it, the answer was easy, though: I was doing it for my brother.
I have the joy and honor of being the best man in my brother’s wedding, now just over three weeks away. Fulfilling one piece of my best man duties, I planned a day of Brent-themed fun for last Saturday.
Had it been my day, we probably would have done something much closer to the ground. But my brother is adventurous and competitive, so he had an absolute blast climbing around that gym for four hours. And, because it was our day to celebrate him, it was my joy to watch him have fun. (I have to admit, I had a blast too after I got used to the feeling of the harness and rope catching me.)
Thoroughly exhausted, we left the climbing place, cleaned up, fired up the grill, and enjoyed conversation over some rather large steaks. The groomsmen went around the table sharing first impressions of Brent and stories of how he has encouraged and helped us—and even helped lead one of us to faith in Jesus!
As the stories kept rolling, I think I was beaming with a bigger smile even than my brother was.
Why?
Because it was so encouraging for me to hear the many ways that God has used my brother to edify the people around him.
Fast-forward to the next morning, Pastor Jack is preaching through John 3:22–36 and he lands on verse 29:
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
I thought, ‘That’s it! That’s what I was feeling last night.’
In this story, some of John the baptizer’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Hey, John! Remember that Jesus guy you baptized? Some of your disciples are leaving to follow him!’
John could have been upset that his followers were leaving. He could have gone to fight for his disciples to stay with him. But, instead, John knew what was going on: he knew that Jesus was the true bridegroom and, thus, the people—the bride—rightfully belonged to him. And, because John had that proper understanding of his role, it was his joy to see people following Jesus.
I could have sat there and listened to those stories about my brother and thought, ‘man, I wish I had that kind of impact on people!’ Or ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah… another story about how great Brent is.’ But that’s not my place. He is the groom. I am that friend of the bridegroom, rejoicing at his voice.
Now, I can take that attitude and apply it to joining Jesus’ mission.
When I see people coming to saving faith in Jesus, what will my response be?
Will I grumble and be upset because I wasn’t the one who helped them get there? Or, like John, will I have a joyful perspective and rejoice that, no matter how they got there, the lost are being found in Christ?
No matter what shape my ministry takes, no matter what role I play in Jesus’ mission, it is not me who deserves the glory. Jesus is the true bridegroom, and the bride—his people, the Church—belong to him. And it’s that perspective that will allow me to sit back and smile.
I love you, Church!
-Nathan Ehresman