Voice of the Bridegroom

5 min read

29 “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”

John 3:29-30

John the Baptist (JB) led a major spiritual movement in Palestine. His movement was so large that the Jewish authorities wondered if he was claiming to be the promised Messiah. But JB flatly denied that he was. Rather, he claimed to be preparing the people for the coming of the promised Messiah, who was his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth.

And so when Jesus came onto the scene, JB was overjoyed because the ministry to which God had called him had been fulfilled.

The bride is the church. The Bridegroom is Christ. The Bridegroom has come, and His voice is heard in the word of God. Am I overjoyed in the hearing of His voice?

Of course, the hearing of His voice means living out His word, not just being familiar with His words.

Church is a community of broken and sinful people who have received Christ into their lives. As a community of broken and sinful people, there is a strong inclination and tendency to operate based on the ways of the world.

Of course, we do so with the best of intentions—to serve Jesus and build up His church. Our desire is to implement “best practices” to achieve excellence in all that we do for the glory of God. And we should do that. We should do that zealously.

However, because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), there is a very great and real danger of feeling and thinking that it is these “best practices” that are responsible for building up the church—and by association, our strategizing, planning, and executing that are responsible for building up the church—and by association, me-myself-and-i who is responsible for building up of the church.

When it comes to church, the Bridegroom’s voice tells us that love is what actually builds up the church (Ephesians 4:11-16). And love that comes from the Holy Spirit never feeds the ego.

Because, when it comes to church, I have to keep in mind that it is 1,000% not about me. In my heart, I must become nothing because Christ is everything. And it is in that posture of my heart that I may be full of joy in hearing the Lord’s voice.

Father, It is my joy to serve You and Your church. But I confess that me-myself-and-i often gets in the way of giving You the glory, honor, and praise due to You. Me-myself-and-i gets in the way of experiencing the fullness of joy in hearing Your voice. Teach me to be nothing so that Christ may be everything in my heart. In Jesus’s name. Amen.