John the Baptist is an Advent voice. . . . He confronts us with the message that God uses people in our lives to tell us the truth about ourselves. He was by his very lifestyle as well as his words a confrontation, calling people to repentance and conversion of life. We need to ask whether there is a John the Baptist in our lives who, unpleasant as it may be, points out by his or her example a sinful habit or desire in our lives with which we need to deal. Perhaps God cannot break through to us until we have dealt with our sin decisively.
-Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004), 46.