What is my Role?

The year I sat on the bench the most was my senior year. We had a sophomore on our team who just moved from another state. I didn’t want to admit it then, but she was faster than me and had played at a higher level at her previous school; she also just happened to play my position.

As the season went on, I saw my on-field minutes slowly tick away, and for the first time in four years, I had no clue what my role was on this team. I wanted to be the starter I had always been, but things had changed; I had to find a new role on my team.

Knowing your role is hard, especially when you have to take a backseat role instead of one that gets all the glory. This is precisely what John the Baptist was excited to do for Jesus. When you read the verses before verse John 1:26, you see people trying to give John a more elevated role. They asked if He was a prophet and if He was Christ himself. John’s response is covered in the humility of a servant who knew who deserved all the glory. He said that He was simply someone who would point you to Christ and that he was not worthy enough to tie the Savior’s shoe when He arrived.

It would have been easy for John to agree with the crowd and elevate himself to earthly glory. He chose to know his role and use it to glorify God in the best way He could. John knew that His only job on earth was to make room so people could have real encounters and relationships with Christ. I had to know that taking a backseat role on my team benefited us because we had the best players on the field.

Humility isn’t easy, but we are all called to a backseat role when it comes to glorying Christ above everything.