I believe this addresses your question. It is what John himself testified to:
Joh 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
According to his own words he was busy acknowledging/pointing others to Him before ever meeting Him. He was, therefore, showing himself to be a “follower” of Christ - the definition of a Christian.
In the first couple lines I thought it was about St. Thomas More.
One thing I don’t get about Protestants (and many Catholics) who support divorce and remarriage is how they can ignore the Lord’s clear and unequivocal words on the question, as well as John the Baptist’s witness. And the witness of St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, and so many other martyrs.
Thanks. I have to do more Reading.