In her excellent February 23,
2026, Our Daily Bread devotional,
Lisa Samra wrote of a conversation
she had with Butch Briggs. Her
friend had been the respected
coach for his high school’s
swimming teams for a remarkable
51 years. She knew he had been
very successful and asked how
many state championships he had
won during his coaching career. He
gently corrected her, saying, “I’ve
not won a single championship
because I’ve never swum in a
single race.” With a smile, she rephrased her question, “How
many championships have your swimmers won?” and learned
his swimmers had won 39 championships during the coach’s
five decades at the school.
While coaches play a pivotal role in every team’s success,
no coach should take credit for their athletes’ accomplishments.
Samra wrote, “Butch’s humility reminds me of how John the
Baptist saw his role. John was tasked with pointing people to
Jesus as the Messiah—the one who fulfilled God’s promise
to send a rescuer. Before promoting Jesus as he did, John had
garnered so much attention that the religious leaders wanted
to find out exactly who he was.”
In John 1:20, John the Baptist answered those who asked
if he was the Messiah, saying, “I baptize with water, but right
here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. Though
his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave
and untie the straps of his sandal.” (John 1:26-27, NLT)
John knew his role and was intent on encouraging others
to follow Jesus, the true Messiah, not on having them follow
him. Later, when again asked about Jesus, he was even more
direct, saying, “…I am filled with joy at his success. He must
become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.”
(John 3:29-30, NLT)
Followers of Christ need to regularly remind themselves
to mirror John’s incredible example of promoting Jesus rather
than themselves. Because each of us tends to be selfish, we
need to remember John’s selfless attitude. He could have
increased his own following had he not encouraged his
followers to leave him and follow Jesus. He saw his role as
pointing people to the Messiah, and his unselfish service did
not go unnoticed by Jesus, who described him this way, “…of
all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist.”
(Matthew 11:11, NLT)
We are doing what Jesus wants when we advance God’s
kingdom, without worrying about whether others recognize
our efforts. Like John the Baptist and Butch Briggs, we
experience joy as we serve God by unselfishly serving others.
