Can you imagine what it would be like if John the Baptizer were the pastor of this congregation today? I wonder who would run away first, John or all the rest of us? The way the scriptures decribe him, it sounds as if he would have been very hard to get along with. The man could never have come to your home for dinner, for instance, because he ate only locusts and wild honey. Most of you ladies don’t know how to fix locusts, I don’t think. He never drank any alcohol so he would have been no good at a cocktail party. He was loud and probably obnoxious. He looked like a "weirdo," going around in a coat of camel’s fur. If he were our pastor we’d probably be embarrassed to death if we ever had to introduce him to any of our friends.

Worst of all, he was always talking about sin, harping at pe…