Matthew 3
John 3 4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
Gucci loafers. A Yves Saint Laurent suit. Tie by Carlo Franco. Complementary colors. Matching belt and shoes. For many this is the picture they have of a preacher. Suited up and ready to present a three-point sermon with seven subpoints all of which follow an easy-to-remember alliterative pattern. On a good Sunday perhaps one person will go to the front to accept Christ as Lord and Savior and one family will join the fellowship.
Contrast that to John the Baptist. His camel's hair suit was not Brooks Brother's. The leather belt most likely did not match is tattered sandals. His breath smelled of grasshoppers. He came from out of the desert, not the SW Theological Seminary. Yet people from "Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of Jordan" were repenting and being baptized because of this radical man of the cloth.
Little is known about what John the Baptists preached. Was it a hellfire and damnation or a theological discourse? Did he speak of God's love or God's wrath? Whatever it was I envision a long-haired, unshaven, arm-waving, passion-filled preacher quoting the Torah and telling it like it was. His message was true, his passion evident, and his ministry fruitful.
John the Baptist illustrates the importance of substance over flash. The message of Christ is the thing, not the light show, the size of the orchestra or the catchy sermon title. Whether the pastor eats locust or caviar, wears jeans or suits. The message will win people for Christ. Reconciliation. Healing. Rest. Comfort. That's what the world needs to hear delivered by a passionate, confident, loving Church.
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