There once was a man, his name was John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light. (John 1: 6 – 8)

I was at a holiday party standing around the chips and dip with a number of people, most of whom I hadn’t met before. We were enjoying lively conversation about movies, politics, and current events. Then one of the people made a pointed comment about capital punishment. Clearly he had strong feelings about the appropriateness of capital punishment, but it wasn’t clear whether he was for it or against it. What was clear is that he was fishing to find out how the rest of us felt. His question was designed to put the rest of us on the spot while not having to take a risk of his own.

The question wasn’t really meant to involve people in an honest and respectful search for mutual understanding but rather was a means for him to pin each of us down on some arbitrary scale of his making. Then he could deal with each of us not as persons but as a category.

John the Baptist went through the same ordeal with the representatives of religious leaders who were out to get him. He was burning inside with a message of repentance and openness to the power of God, and all the religious leaders wanted to know was what religious camp he was in. They weren’t true seekers trying to broaden their own understanding. Instead they were cowards who wanted to diminish this passionate prophet by reducing him to a label.