Unity & Humility
February 9th, 2009 by Todd JohnsonHow we as believers live together and treat each other at home is equally as important as how we ‘walk worthy of the gospel’ when we leave each other’s company after a given Sunday morning. Paul’s great concern was that the church in Philippi would walk in unity, and to do so meant that they would have to also walk in humility.
Phil 2:1-5 ESV
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Michael Ramsey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, addressed a group of men on the eve of their ordination on the subject of humility giving out the following list of practical advice. I find it helpful and I trust some others will find some help in it as well.
Here’s what he said:
1. Thank God, often and always… Thank God, carefully and wonderingly, for your continuing privileges … Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow.
2. Don’t forget the confession of your sins .. Be sure to examine yourself in God’s presence: And put yourself under Divine criticism.
3. Be ready to accept humiliations (failures, setbacks, mistakes, embarrassments).. They can hurt terribly, but they help you to be humble. There can be the trivial humiliations. Accept them. There can be the bigger humiliations … all these can be so many chances to be a little nearer to our humble and crucified Lord.
4. Don’t worry about your status .. There is only one status that our Lord bids us be concerned with, and that is the status of proximity to Himself.
5. Use your sense of humor.. Laugh about things, laugh at the absurdities of life, laugh about your own absurdity. We are all of us infinitesimally small and ludicrous creatures within God’s universe. You have to be serious, but never solemn, because if you are solemn about anything there is the risk of becoming solemn about yourself.
And don’t forget that the place where humility grows best is at the foot of the cross! Go there often and get a fresh glimpse of Jesus and, in turn, a more accurate picture of yourself.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
Todd, I loved, yet hated all the stuff on pride and our obsession with ourselves. (Loved it because it exposed my evil heart, yet my evil heart hated it– it doesn’t want to be on radar, because then it must die.)
“What about me?” This, not murder or lust was the sin that brought the devil down. That was a powerful point and must be remembered.
Pride is such a subtle, hard-to-detect trap; It can even be hidden in disappointment of ourselves, or self-loathing. It’s also a weird twist in our friendships–we boast pridefully hoping that showcasing our accomplishments will make folks admire and like us, when it only bugs them as we brag.
We’re so weird, we try to read, learn, memorize the Bible, a book that clearly teaches God loves humility, became humble himself, and then we take pride in our knowledge of the scripture and secretly hope to be admired for it! How pathetic! I can’t wait to be rescued from my stupid self.
Lewis said it best in Screwtape: (Do you all think I’m cool and smart for quoting Lewis, do ya’??? See what I mean?) Sigh, anyway:
“Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is specially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, “By jove! I’m being humble,” and almost immediately pride–pride at his own humility–will appear. If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt– and so on, through as many stages as you please. But don’t try this too long, for fear you awake his sense of humour and proportion, in which case he will merely laugh at you and go to bed.”
I’m anxious for next Sunday and a look at the Cross where I’ll really be brought down to size. We’ll be praying for you this week.
I loved the five points from Michael Ramsey, especially the first two. Getting our eyes off of ourselves can be such a struggle, it’s good to have some practical steps.
If we think we are being humble, are we still? Can you take your eyes off yourself and still see your own shortcomings? This is difficult.
It reminds me of how Adam and Eve looked at themselves and tried to hide. This goes way back, doesn’t it?!
The practical advice from the archbishop is quite good; especially liked the advice to be serious but never solemn.
Isn’t all sin simply the outworking of our pride in various forms (murder, covetousness, adultery, theft, lust, ect. all begin with and are fueled by pride)? Are there any sins that don’t involve pride? Don’t all sins start with “I”?
Hi Blogging and Bookclub Brothers: This is off-subject, (sorry, Todd!) but I wanted to do a shout-out reminder about the potluck at our house NOT THiS Sunday, but the next, February 22nd. For details on food, directions, please refer to blog archives, and find the one titled “2009″ and see comments #19, #21 and #26. Disregard the original date of potluck, obviously, but the rest is relevant. If you have any questions or to RSVP call me at 274-7676. If you’re reading this, you’re invited.
Now, go back to topic, and discuss that righteous sermon. Please don’t get started on the potluck here or things go crazy. Thanks.
Todd – “It’s not that I hate you, I just love me.” Talk about gettig the right perspective and hitting pride at the source! That sums up most of what I have read and studied about this subject. This is a great companion sermon to the ones you taught from James and is helping me as I work with others around me.
Andrew Murray adds this, “It needs to be made clear that it is not sin that humbles but grace. It is the soul occupied with God in His wonderful glory as Creator and Redeemer that will truly take the lowest place before Him.” This is from his little booklet, “Humility – The Journey Toward Holiness”.
Humility is “”TRUSTING”" the Lord is every thing I do, and say. And, by all means.. LAUGH
Blessings..
PS… IT IS SNOWING * * * * * * * BIG TIME!!!!
Thanks for all the insight on humility. The Holy Spirit has been working or trying to work humility into my life for the past months. It is my pride that gets in the way.It is truly hard to be humble. It is only when I look to the cross that I am filled with true humility.
In post #5 I asked if all sins were simply an outworking of pride, and if ANY sins we commit are void of our pride. I know it seemed rhetorical, but it wasn’t. The point that pride (not murder or theft, ect) cast the devil down from his heavenly splendor to the depths of hell is convicting every time it is made because of the pride that is in my heart. During the Bible study this past Lord’s day, I was thinking about how the sin that unifies everyone in the room is not murder or adultery, it’s pride. This took my mind to the thought that pride is the foundation of every other sin. Is this thought accurate? Brethren…?
PS- this post may be the result of a bit of cabin fever here in the GV blizzard, day #4. Smiley face.
Chavez..
You are accurate.. all sin has pride at its root.
And you’ve made a great point.. the sin that unifies everyone in the room cannot be any specific sin, but pride itself. I wish you would have made that point sooner so I could have used it.
The next point to be made I will make though.. and that is that Jesus now unifies all that have brought their pride and laid it down before our crucified Savior. A better unity for sure.
Unity in sin is a terribly dark phrase, and I almost didn’t use it in post #11.
TJ- your point is the greatest ever, that our pride is to be laid down at the cross, resulting in a far better unity. This point is in my head in picture form, as I recall you telling us one Sunday morning in the HSM some years ago about a sculpture in (probably) Italy- the artist’s name is escaping me, but it’s a rendering of Jesus on the cross. What stands out about this particular sculpture of the Crucifixion is that Jesus’ head is bowed to the point that the only way to see His face is by kneeling down onto the ground right close at the foot of the cross and looking up. There’s no humbler or more glorious position than that.
PS- if I’m mis-remembering this, I’m chalking it up to more cabin fever.
Great memory Chavez.
That is a great picture.. please forgive me if I bring it up tomorrow.. (I’m going to hire you as a consultant!!)
Isn’t the foundation or definition of pride the refusal to accept God’s sovereignty in every situation? I have been thinking long and hard about the issue of pride because of my long slow study in James. As I have sinned I look back at its cause. And like TC said, the root of it is in pride. Then I look at what is the particular thing about pride that encourages me to move forward with my sin…it’s my refusal to accept God’s will, His sovereign right to do what He pleases with and in my life. The image that TC brings up is wonderful but what does it mean practically? It’s symbolic of what Jesus said in Luke 22:42, “yet not My will, but Thine be done.” So when I am faced with my temptation how do I look at it? I am thinking out loud here…so when I am faced with temptation my thought is that, although I now recognize it for what it is, pride, how do I defeat it? My relationship with the Father has to bring me face to face with pride but what drives it? Sometimes I think it is my lack of contentment with what He has given me so I lust, covet, get angry, murder…all because I am not satisfied…I deserve better than this…after all, I am me. Why should someone else get in front of my in line, on the freeway, in promotion, in leadership, in praise? Why did someone else get acknowledged but not me? It’s because I am not satisfied with God’s will for me in these events. So ultimately, unless I realize and acknowledge God’s hand and right to humiliate and humble me then I will carry out my sin and quite possibly blame Him for it. But I am too smart for that because we all know that God is not to blame (though inside I sure seeth) so I get angry with myself. Why…because I am too good for that. I should know better. I am better than that.
But until I recognize that no, I am not better than that, no I am not above my peers, no I have nothing to offer of eternal value apart from Christ, then I will keep fighting pride in a way that is not victorious. I think the only real way to fight pride and thus sin (assuming that pride is the root of all sin) is to acknowledge, recognize, submit to God’s absolute will, His absolute right in my life.
I don’t know, it’s been a long day and I am smarting from the Sword of the Spirit, you know…the one that disciplines.
Wow! Good stuff Mr.Crabby right to the bone.