The Ideal Focus

The Ideal Focus

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 God’s joy as we serve God by unselfishly serving others.