Skip to content

2025-02-11 A Country Bumpkin

John the Baptist

And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey. Mark 1:6 KJV

John the Baptist was a rugged man of the outdoors. He could certainly find his way around the wilderness as he preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. How would you feel if your pastor was clothed in camel’s hair and rawhide? It might feel a little strange for us in our modern era, but that is certainly how John dressed in his day. The words of an old country song come to mind when thinking of how we might greet John if we saw him today. The song goes, “I’ve seen some sights, but, man, you're something. Where’d you come from, country bumpkin?”

However, these clothes that John wore were not for dramatic effect. They were the clothing of a simple and humble man preparing the way of the Lord our Savior. Reading about John and his humble appearance should give us gladness and hope for our daily lives. It takes the pressure off of us when we might try to “overdress” for the occasion by putting on our own self righteousness, which is like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6) Rather, we should humbly ask Christ to embolden us to share the good news of His salvation as we go about our daily lives. There is no need to dress up special when telling your son about Christ’s love while you help him change the oil in his new car. There is no need to get decked out in a suit before telling your cashier, at the grocery store, how good God has been in your life. No, we can simply share the gospel with everyone as we go about our daily lives, just as John did. It doesn’t matter whether we’re a country bumpkin or city dweller, as Christ is our shared Savior about whom we can all tell others.

Lord, help us to humbly share your message of salvation with all who will hear. Amen.