What happens when your influence starts to shrink?
When fewer people are paying attention. When someone else gets the promotion you wanted. When your follower count drops or your platform gets smaller. When the thing you were known for—the skill, the role, the reputation—starts slipping through your fingers.
Most of us panic. We grasp. We cling to what we had and resent what we’ve lost. We compare ourselves to whoever’s gaining what we’re losing.
But there’s another way. And it’s hidden in one of the most overlooked verses in the Bible.
The Moment John’s World Started Shrinking
John the Baptist was famous. Thousands of people traveled three days through the wilderness just to hear him preach. He was the biggest thing happening in first-century Israel—the guy everyone was talking about.
Then Jesus showed up.
And John did exactly what he was supposed to do: he pointed people to Jesus. “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Some of John’s own disciples heard him say this and immediately left to follow Jesus instead. They unfollowed John.
This didn’t bother John at all. But it really bothered some of his other followers. They came running to John, essentially saying, “Rabbi, that guy you’ve been talking about? Everyone’s leaving us to go follow him.”
If you were John, what would you feel in that moment?
Your platform is shrinking. Your influence is decreasing. The crowds that used to come to you are now going to someone else.
Your better days might be behind you.
The Verse Everyone Misses
Most people know what John says next: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
That’s a famous line. Christians quote it all the time.
But here’s what most people miss: that’s not the verse that gave John the power to actually say that and mean it.
Look at what John says right before that, in verse 27:
“No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven.”
Pastor Anthony called this the bigger truth—the foundation that makes “He must increase, I must decrease” actually livable:
“Everything that’s been placed in these hands comes from God. Which means when God places it there, I give credit to God. And when God decides to take it away, I give credit to God and I don’t freak out.”
Do you see what John understood?
Everything in his hands—his influence, his ministry, his reputation, the crowds that came to hear him—came from God in the first place.
John never owned any of it. He was just a steward.
Why This Changes Everything
Understanding that everything you have came from heaven does two things:
First, it kills pride when you have a lot.
You can’t boast about something you didn’t create. If your influence, your opportunities, your skills—if all of it came from God, then there’s no room for you to take credit.
“Gratitude replaces pride,” Anthony explained, “when you realize you are simply a steward of God’s goodness.”
Second, it stops panic when you lose it.
If God gave it, and God takes it away, you can thank Him in both moments. Because your worth was never tied to the size of your platform in the first place. Your worth is in the God who is sovereign over all your moments—big and small.
This is what allowed John to watch his ministry shrink without spiraling. He wasn’t holding on to something that was never his to begin with.
From Foundation to Posture
This is why “He must increase, but I must decrease” isn’t just religious language we say but don’t actually mean.
When you genuinely believe that everything in your hands came from heaven, you can actually live out the posture of decrease. Not because you’re trying to be humble or spiritual, but because you’ve recognized reality: it was never about you in the first place.
“How was John able to see all of this this way? Because John wasn’t wrapped up in being known. He was concerned about humbly being used of God.”
John’s joy wasn’t in his follower count. His joy was in being used by God for whatever God wanted—whether that meant preaching to thousands or fading into the background while Jesus took center stage.
What This Looks Like for You
You might not have a platform. You might not be famous. But you have influence somewhere.
Maybe it’s at your job. Maybe it’s around a table with friends. Maybe people just like you, and that carries weight.
Or maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t have any influence at all.”
Here’s what Anthony said to that:
“Can I tell you whatever has been placed in your hands, it’s been put there by your Heavenly Father. Not for your purpose, but for His.”
The question isn’t how much influence you have. The question is: who gave it to you, and why?
Everything you have is from God.
Everything you have is for God.
Everything is for Him to be known.
When you live with that understanding, you stop obsessing over whether your influence is growing or shrinking. You stop clinging to your reputation like it belongs to you. You hold everything with open hands.
And when God wants to take something out of your hands to put something else in, you don’t panic. Because you never owned it in the first place.
The Real Freedom
John the Baptist understood something most of us are still learning: being known isn’t the goal. Being faithfully used by God is.
That’s the freedom that comes from recognizing everything you have came from heaven.
You can have an infinite amount of influence and it won’t go to your head.
You can lose everything you had and it won’t crush you.
Because your worth was never in what you had. It was in the One who gave it to you.
Reflection Question:
What’s in your hands right now that you’ve been treating like it belongs to you instead of recognizing it came from God? What would change if you started holding it like a steward instead of an owner?
