Understanding humility
Humility.
What pops into your head when you hear that word?
When I was younger, words like timid, quiet, and weak came to mind. I never associated it with strength, responsibility, or any other potentially positive idea…
And then I encountered Moses. I remember reading through the Book of Numbers found in the Old Testament when I stumbled across an obscure verse which most translations put in parentheses. It read, “Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”
What?!
Moses wasn’t timid, weak, or quiet! He was a leader! He was strong and had a ton of responsibility and power over others! He was the guy God worked through to end Hebrew slavery and form a new nation!
In that moment, my understanding of humility came crashing down. After a lot of studying, prayer, reflection, and posing many questions to a lot of smart people, a new understanding of humility began to form within me.
I now understand humility to be a correct understanding of who I am in relation to everyone and everything else around me.
Think about it. God is Creator. I am created. When I understand this, it makes sense for me to honor God and follow God’s lead. After all, no one knows creation better than the one who created it! The problems come when I don’t understand this (aka I am not being humble) and start acting as though I am Creator and God is created. Somehow, I don’t think I am alone in this.
But what about others?
What does humility look like with others?
According to the scriptures, ALL of humanity bears God’s image, is God’s handiwork (or masterpiece depending on your translation) and was created to rule over, care for, and move creation forward through “good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
In other words, humility is the understanding that ALL humanity is equal and no one is more or less valuable than anyone else. The problems come when we become arrogant and see ourselves as “more than” or become self-deprecating and see ourselves as “less than” others. The truth is, we do this all the time. We mistake our gifts, talents, positions, lineage, titles, possessions, and many other things as indicative of our value or worth and treat others accordingly! The Apostle Paul dealt with this both personally (as we all do) and corporately as he established and pastored many of the early churches we read about in the Scriptures. Here is what he said:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
At first glance, it would seem that Paul was saying we should not see ourselves as equal to others. However, the opposite is true. He was actually saying that we are equal, and because of that, we should intentionally value others above us! You see, when we do this, we sacrifice for the sake of others! And sacrifice is one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) expressions of love we can give! Paul then drives this point home by using Jesus (who absolutely had a correct understanding of who He was and is) as the ultimate example for us to follow (see Philippians Chapter 2)!
Many times, when we think about humility, we see it in reference to God and others. But there is one more aspect we cannot leave out!
Creation.
As we read earlier, we were created to rule over creation; to care for it and move it forward through “good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Therefore, a correct (or humble) understanding of our relationship with creation means that we recognize God has placed us over creation. God has given us the responsibility and the ability to lead creation into a better tomorrow! Unfortunately, we have a knack for doing the exact opposite by allowing creation to lead us! It doesn’t take much for us to be owned by or addicted to creation.
As I write this, I can’t help but think about all of the social and political unrest, injustice, and brokenness we have recently experienced in America, not to mention our current pandemic and all that has come with it. If nothing else, as followers of Jesus, all that has happened and is happening should cause us to pause and reflect on our role as we move forward.
Will we act in humility, with a correct understanding of who we are?
Will we honor and follow our Creator?
Will we see ourselves as equal to others and sacrifice for them?
Will we take responsibility, care for, and move creation forward?
My hope and prayer is that we will humble ourselves and pursue our calling as followers of Jesus to seek God’s kingdom first, living life “on earth as it is in heaven.”
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Justin Porter