By Bob Beanblossom
15 November 2016
It seems to me that we have a basic misunderstanding about what humility means. We had an interesting pair of questions posited in Sunday School recently that got me thinking and considering what the Word had to say about humility. For this discussion, I will use the words humility and humble interchangeably.
These are the questions: 1) People who exhibit humility don’t know they have it. How do the rest of us become humble?, and 2) People who say, “In my humble opinion,” are seldom humble. Let’s look at those, and a bit more.
Language is a powerful and abused gift of God. Words today are being hijacked to mean something different while sounding like something else. For instance, 100 years ago gay meant happy and carefree. Today it signifies a male homosexual. Quite a change. Another is marriage. God instituted marriage as a unique inseparable bond when he created woman to complete man: marriage was established as the inexplicable union of one man and one woman. It was the framework in which to procreate the race and raise offspring in a safe and nurturing environment. This understanding was universal in all societies, in all times. Man has abused and distorted that concept over the years, but the definition has not changed. Today, the term gay marriage or equivalent is accepted in ‘enlightened’ societies for a legally sanctioned relationship between two individuals of the same-sex. That is an oxymoron, a combination of words that doesn’t fit together. The meaning is meaningless.
Stability in language is a primary reason that I prefer the King James Bible. I accept that there have been advances in Hebrew and Greek scholarship since 1611 when it was translated, and that additional manuscripts have been discovered, both of the canon and as historical adjuncts. I don’t ignore them. But, to me, the stability of the language in King James provides a benchmark for study. I can go to the original languages if I find a confusing word or phrase. They, too, are stable. I can deal with thee and thou, and even Britishizing coinage, calling a shekel a penny. (We do know that the 1611 language and some format was updated in 1769–very few of us use, or would recognize, the original). But, I don’t get bogged down in comparing versions and paraphrases, remembering when each was written so that I can linguistically place each in a contextual timeframe of changing ‘written for today’ language and environment in order to understand them as intended. The advances are not worth the setbacks for me.
The point is, that words should have relatively stable meanings. I know the world is changing rapidly, but if we don’t have a stable language, communication is impossible. Meanings do change over time, but the process should not be intended to foster an intentional deception.
Now, let’s look at the first question: what is humility, the act of being humble, and how do we get it–or do we even want it? Foremost for Christians is that we understand that humility is not a man-made characteristic, not a personality trait, but a gift of God. Our perfect example was Jesus. He exhibited humility throughout His ministry. As you consider that statement, you might question my competence to write on this subject. The first thing that comes to mind is Jesus making a whip, overturning tables, and violently running the money lenders and sellers of sacrificial animals out of the temple. But at that moment in history as throughout his life on this earth, he was exhibiting humility. We will get two lessons from this event.
Our first lesson is that humility is not introverted, mousey behavior. The expression of humility is situational. I’ll explain in the second lesson.
The next, and most important lesson about what humility is, is that all humility is of God; it is a gift of God; it reflects the righteousness of God, not the goodness of man.
We looked at Jesus clearing commerce from the sacred precincts of God’s temple. Let’s look at Jesus when the woman taken in adultery was brought to Him (John 8:1-11). Jesus talked about the evils of adultery some 18 times in the New Testament. Yet when the spiritual leaders brought this woman to Jesus, He stooped down and wrote in the sand. When they persisted, He quietly charged them to stone her as the law provided–with the proviso that the one who threw the first stone must be without sin. Her accusers melted away, and Jesus dealt with her sin. He did not argue, did not call the wrath of God down upon the adulteress or her equally sinful accusers. He exhibited great humility as He stooped down and let them vent. He appeared passive, but was, in fact, in charge of the whole event, the event that led to the salvation of a lost soul.
These are, perhaps, the two extremes of Jesus humble behavior until we approach the cross. We have to remember who Jesus was: John said He was the WORD, eternally existing, that He was with God, and, in fact, was God (John 1:1-2). The writer of Hebrews said, “He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2b).
Jesus is the Son of God, Himself the Creator, yet one with God the Father. His humility was seen every time He prayed: Jesus always sought God’s will through prayer throughout His earthly ministry. In the garden before He was arrested, he “prayed, saying O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, Thy will be done” (Matthew 26:42). God the Son, with the greatest humility, accepted the will of God the Father to go forward to the torture and death to come in order to accomplish the will of His Father: the plan of salvation for lost man.
Throughout His trial, torture and crucifixion, He meekly took the abuse of the religious and political leaders without a murmur in order that God’s perfect will be achieved for our salvation. During the trial His silence was overwhelming. He did respond when the governor “asked Him, saying, ‘Art thou the King of the Jews?’ And Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou Sayest’ ” (Matthew 27:11-12). This is God the Son’s humility, Jesus’ example for us.
In spite of an intensely cruel government, Jesus ignored the political situation and concentrated on presenting the Gospel to lost man. On one occasion where His enemies again sought to trap Him, they asked if it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar. Jesus asked for a shekel, held it up for their inspection, and answered, ” ‘Whose is this image and superscription?’ And they said unto Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ And Jesus answering said unto them, ‘Render to Caesar all things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’ “ (Mark 12:14b-17a). The lesson in our context is this: Humility is of God, and is granted to us to serve Him in His way, in His time, and in His place. For guidance, He has provided us with the indwelling Holy Spirit. Following is a decision we make individually and continually.
Humility is not something of man, nor is it something that we don’t know we have. Humility is the gift of God that allows us to be the Christian he wants us to be in a world that is sin-sick and hostile. It is a manifestation of His grace to each of us as Christians. It is a tool He uses through us to achieve His will. It is a characteristic of Christ that increases in us as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us. There are markers: A Christian who consistently tells us what “I” have done, where “I” have been, and who “I” have talked to, may be missing the mark; the Christian who regularly tells us of the grace of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit in their lives, is probably growing in this all important characteristic. Personal pronouns are scarce in their vocabulary. It is a growing process.
Let me not ignore the secular side of this. There are humble individuals in the world. They are caring, empathetic, and altruistic. Just remember, it is a gift of God, and it is not mousey, self-effacing behavior. It is far more than humanistic altruism that seeks to ‘make the world better.’ It is the essence of the Christian lifestyle as we endeavor to live more like our Savior in subservience to God the Father, and in service to our calling, that “vocation wherewith ye are called” according to Paul in Ephesians 4:1 through the power (alone) of the Holy Spirit.
“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life” (1 John 5:20)
Humility is the bright spot on the horizon. It is the light of Jesus Christ in our world today, and a pointer to that time when we will live in the presence of the source of all light.