The Assignment

The ASSIGNMENT
(John chapters 1:19-34, 3:26-30)
I don’t understand these folks. 
What do they think ministry is? 
A competition? 
Apparently, they have no idea. 
I have a ministry: I was sent to be 
the fore-runner of the Christ. 
I know I am NOT The Christ. 
I have no illusions about that. 
But these guys…
I started my Ministry about 6 months ago. 
My job is to enlighten the people on the 
coming of the Christ. 
It is all about HIM, not ME. 
As many times as I tell them I am not 
the Christ, they keep asking the same 
question! 
What part of I AM NOT THE CHRIST do 
they not understand? 
They even asked me, “Are you Elijah?” 
No, I am Elisha! Silly people. 
They are just looking for someone 
to put on a pedestal, someone to revere 
and practically worship. 
I will not be caught in that web!
But then, I won’t really blame them- 
these folks have been without a Prophet 
for 400 years! They had not heard any 
word from God, the religious rites and 
rituals, laws and ordinances have 
become boring and monotonous. 
The Pharisees and Sadducees had 
bastardized religion. 
They had turned it into show business. 
They flaunt their religiosity for people 
to see and respect. 
The people see through them and 
know they are fake. 
But they are the religious leaders 
and scribes, so they have no choice 
but to respect and follow them. 
Seeing me in unconventional clothes 
and saying things totally different 
from all they had been taught made 
them curious, hence the questions.
I have been going around Israel, saying 
the same thing: repent and be baptized! 
The messiah is coming! 
Turn away from sin! 
Turn away from wickedness!
Turn away from unrighteousness! 
That was when the questions started 
coming:
“Are you the Christ?”
“No!”
“Are you Elijah?”
‘No!”
“Who are you then?”
“I am a voice in the wilderness!”
“A voice? Ok, if you are not the Christ, 
why are you baptizing people?”
“I baptize with ordinary water. 
He who will come after me will baptize 
you with the Holy Spirt!”
“Holy Spirit? What is that?”
In that moment, I saw him: 
he walked up to me and I recognized him! 
“See- this IS the Christ! 
He is the one I have been telling you about- 
the Lamb of God that takes away the sin 
of the world! I’m not even worth to untie 
his sandals.”
The Christ asked me to baptize him. 
I did, after he insisted strongly. 
And the Holy Spirit came upon Him 
as a dove…
Now, after introducing the Christ to the world, 
my ministry has ended. And His began. 
Some of my followers left to follow Him. 
In that moment, one of them said, 
“Sir, see this dude you just baptized? 
He has started baptizing too, and 
everybody is going to Him! 
He is stealing your congregation! 
He is stealing your ministry! 
He is stealing your shine!
Woah!
These guys think ministry is a competition- 
who has the larger crowd, 
who is better anointed, who speaks 
with better flair, who has the better stagecraft, 
who wears the better clothes, who is 
more polished…
No! Ministry is an ASSIGNMENT!
People have stopped following ME 
and are now following HIM- and 
you have a problem with that? 
Apparently you don’t know how 
ministry works: it’s all about HIM. 
We are just servants; we are just 
supporting cast, co-actors. 
He is the Main Actor. He who has 
the Bride is the Bridegroom, not the 
guests, not the best man, not the 
Groom’s Men.

He MUST increase, I MUST decrease…

-Haruna Daniels