What John the Baptist’s Ministry Teaches Us About Recognition

Have you spent your days living in someone else’s shadow? Do you ever wish you could be liked and admired by more people? If so, John the Baptist may have felt a bit like you, and his life has a lot to teach you.

Few people were ever more prophesied about than John. Isaiah, Malachi, Lehi, Nephi, and Gabriel all spoke about John before he was born. The Bible Dictionary tells us that he “was the outstanding bearer of the Aaronic Priesthood in all history and was entrusted with its most noble mission.” That mission was to prepare the way for Jesus Christ to be received. And yet during his lifetime, John was known by relatively few and liked by even fewer.

John’s life proves that just because your role isn’t widely recognized doesn’t mean it’s not important. When we receive church callings, projects at work, or assignments in our communities that are low-profile or unglamorous, we must resist the temptation to shirk those duties. They are needed. We are needed.

The New Testament may have gone quite differently if John had cared about being well liked. Because he knew popularity wasn’t his purpose, he was willing to preach boldly, even at the risk of his life. He even condemned the king! This landed John in prison and eventually led to his murder. But John the Baptist’s fearless integrity is what allowed him to fulfill his mission and gain followers like Andrew and John the Beloved.

We’ll all want a piece of John’s bravery in our tough moments. When we know that something is right, we need to do it. It’s possible that making unpopular choices could lose us some friends or even make us some enemies, but what are hundreds of adoring fans worth to us if we can’t respect ourselves? And who knows? We could wind up with some better friends than we started with.

Some people might say that John was upstaged by Jesus. John was called as a prophet, then Jesus came as the Messiah; John taught sermons, then Jesus came and performed miracles; John worked hard to gain a group of followers, then Jesus came and the group followed him instead. That sounds kind of defeating, doesn’t it? But John knew that the important thing wasn’t getting attention—the important thing was doing his duty.

Maybe that one sibling or classmate of yours is always everybody’s favorite. Or there might be times when someone else gets a leadership position or exciting opportunity that you thought you deserved. But moping about how unfair life is will only make things worse. In the end, it won’t matter how many people we impress in this world as long as we please God.

When Jesus heard from John the Baptist in prison, he began one of the most generous speeches he would ever give about any of his friends or servants. He spoke of John’s greatness and spiritual strength. But perhaps the trait Jesus emphasized most about John the Baptist was his humility:

“For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28).

As we fulfill our assignments to the best of our abilities, no matter how small or unrecognized they may seem, we may begin to grow John’s kind of humility.