September 29, 2015

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 2:3-5

“Let me give you 3 examples, and consider which is the best display of humility:

Example 1: A teenage girl walks to school with her head down and a chip on her shoulder. She often utters to herself – “I’m fat, stupid, and ugly.”

Example 2: A man talks to his friends about his terrible job – he doesn’t brag about his job because he hates his job, but he dominates the conversation with talks of how terrible his job is.

Example 3: A woman talks with her friends. She interjects briefly, but for the most part she listens to what her friends have to say.

The real example of humility is of course example number 3. The other two are not really displaying humility. Example number 1 is an example of ‘low self esteem.’ Low self esteem is not the same as the quality of humility! Example number 2 is really displaying pride! It’s difficult to see because he’s not saying something positive about himself, but by dominating the conversation with facts about himself he says, “My life is very interesting! Everybody look at me!” This is not humility – it’s pride. The third example displays a mature soul who does not draw attention to herself. She is not consumed with thoughts about herself but shows interest in other people. Applying this to the Christian life – Christian humility is shown when a believer dwells primarily on God and God’s glory and not his or her own self-image.

CS Lewis put it like this: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less”.” (HePrayed website — True and False Humility)

Humility is a topic that comes up a lot for Christians. We hear from scripture that we are to be humble, while others will add onto this teaching that we also “should not be door mats for others”. In other words, we are to be careful that others do not abuse and use our kindness for their own benefit. My answer to the dilemma is this: we should pray for the wisdom of Solomon, the generous heart of the widow from the story of the Widow’s Mite, and the closeness of a relationship with Jesus as demonstrated by Mary and Martha.

You see, we all need to approach each situation that presents itself to us with wise discernment. It is one thing to ask “What Would Jesus Do?”, and it is another to ask “What Wouldn’t Jesus Do?” Each situation requires a response, and doing nothing is a response. You see, sometimes Jesus acted, sometimes Jesus spoke, sometimes Jesus sat in silence.

The Widow from the story of the Widow’s Mite gave “all that she had”. She held nothing back in her generous response. We should have such a heart of generosity when we are called to respond. Again, discernment is the answer in the level of generosity.

Finally, we should seek a relationship with Jesus modeled on Mary and Martha. They respond one time with active hands, and another with listening ears. Sometimes they asked Jesus very, very difficult questions, and other times they simply followed, and gave him their total attention.

All of these responses require a level of humility where we demonstrate a mature soul that seeks to serve the “others” in our lives. We are not called to be door mats — we are called to have humble hearts, and active hands.

Pastor Dave