Had a thought while reading today..

One of my devotionals today was speaking about how John the Baptist was mindful of his purpose.. his whole being was just to point the way to Jesus.. and it got me thinking.. Stephen is widely hailed as the first Christian martyr but.. I kinda feel like maybe John was.. granted he died directly as a result of calling Herod out for scandalous behaviors.. and granted “Christianity” was not ”a thing” like it was when Stephen was killed.. but there is none more faithful to the message of Christ than John.. and I believe he’s pointed as many if not more to Christ than Stephen (not that it’s a competition..) so while John was not preaching Christianity specifically.. he kind of was wasn't he..? And while he didn’t die because he refused to stop proclaiming Christ specifically he did die for calling out actions that are not “Christian”.. so.. I don't know.. I could be way off base.. I’m in no way a theologian.. I offer just one mans perspective.. just a thought that struck me as I was reading my first devotional of the day..