Humility

One crucial aspect of being a follower of Christ is humility. The Bible teaches this with numerous examples, time after time. Pride and selfish boasting are ever-present and ever-growing in our modern society. Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology sums up boasting as: “If it is God or the commendable qualities of others, then boasting can be described as proper; if it is wrongly applied to oneself, then it is improper.” Jesus talks about this throughout His ministry, but let’s focus on what He says, what James, Paul, and Solomon say, and then what Jesus did regarding pride—first, the Sermon on the Mount.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven. So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4) Notice, He starts with the words, ‘Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.’ To be seen by others is the definition of a hypocrite. Someone who practices religion for their gains, not to please God. The original meaning of the Greek word is “a person who wears a mask.” It’s an actor playing a role, pretending to be someone they are not. The Pharisees were such people; they acted righteous for the applause and approval of other people, not for the support of God.

The Pharisees practiced giving to the poor to sway God’s opinion to obtain salvation and seek other humans’ respect and adoration. These motives were wrong. You cannot earn your way into heaven, and the care and adoration of other people is folly and worthless without God’s approval. “For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,” (1 Peter 1:24). Now there is a caution. Giving to the poor is good, and everyone should give what they can when they can. However, the right motive to share is because that’s what God wants us to do: to help others, to care for the poor, the widows, and the orphans–to serve others as our Lord served others. But if one gives to the poor and boasts about it, for instance, on social media, you have the wrong motive for giving. Like Jesus said, you have your reward, people’s praise, but that’s it. You will not receive a prize in heaven or treasure in heaven. Openly giving isn’t necessarily wrong, but you should check your motives before you do it, lest you rob yourself and God.

Then, just a few verses later, He states it again. “Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18) Fasting is a common spiritual practice. It seeks to deny ourselves to seek God and His will for our lives. But again, the Pharisees practiced fasting, not for God, but for other people’s praise. They wanted to look righteous on the outside, but inside, they were proud. Their motives were off. Jesus highlights this in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”” (Luke 18:9-14) The Pharisees were the most well-respected people in the Jewish culture. They knew the Bible like the back of their hand. And they were the ‘religious police,’ you could say. The tax collector was the most hated person in Jewish culture and, in some respects, today in our culture. The Pharisee prayed and told God what he did, and others who were in the temple at the time could hear him. He set his standard by looking at others and comparing himself to them. That he was better than them. Again, he thought his good works would make God bless him and give him a spot in heaven. That’s not how it works. The Pharisee stated all the ‘good’ things he did, thought he was in good standing with God, and that God should bless him for this. The Pharisee didn’t realize how wretched he was; he was utterly in need of a savior and a radical change of mind and heart.

Here is an actual prayer that the Pharisees would recite during this time: “I thank thee, Jehovah my God, that thou hast assigned my lot with those who sit in the house of learning, and not with those who sit at street corners. For I rise early and they rise early: I rise early to study the words of the Torah, and they rise early to attend to things of no importance. I weary myself and they weary themselves: I weary and gain thereby, while they weary themselves without gaining anything. I run and they run: I run toward the life of the age to come, while they run toward the pit of destruction.” Doesn’t that sound awful? The Pharisee had no compassion for his fellow man, which is the spirit of the times today.

But the tax collector only stated one thing to God, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” The phrase ‘a sinner’ is translated in Greek as ‘the sinner.’ He saw himself as a worse sinner than others. Like Paul did when he said he was the chief of sinners. It shows true humility and that the tax collector knew what he had done and was doing, and he hated it. He was a hopeless and helpless sinner, and he knew it. There was no hope outside of God’s mercy. He knew he was not worthy to even be in the presence of the Lord. He realized he was nowhere near perfection or deserving of anything God could give him besides judgment. He set his standard by looking at God, not others. And the gesture of striking his chest was an acknowledgment that evil comes out of the heart. And the word ‘be merciful’ he was asking God to provide a substitute sacrifice; this man knew that nothing he could ever do could atone for his sin (and this is true for all of us).

Yet, this tax collector, this self-proclaimed and self-acknowledged sinner, was justified before God on that day, not the Pharisee. On another occasion, Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, “For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” We need that mercy, and we need to know to what extent we need that mercy, which the church seems to have lost in the past few decades. The pharisee was condemned for his pride, but the tax collector was forgiven because of his humility. To further the matter, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” means that anyone who thinks they can work and earn to get into heaven and gain God’s favor will receive the opposite, damnation. “the one who humbles himself will be exalted” means that those who acknowledge and understand that they can’t do it and deserve damnation will receive heaven and God’s favor.

James states it more bluntly. “You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely? But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:2-10)

In the key verse, verse 6, James quotes Proverbs 3:34, “He mocks those who mock but gives grace to the humble.” But let’s look at the whole section in Proverbs 3:27-35, “When it is in your power, don’t withhold good from the one to whom it belongs. Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later. I’ll give it tomorrow”—when it is there with you. Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor, for he trusts you and lives near you. Don’t accuse anyone without cause, when he has done you no harm. Don’t envy a violent man or choose any of his ways; for the devious are detestable to the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright. The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous; He mocks those who mock but gives grace to the humble. The wise will inherit honor, but he holds up fools to dishonor.”

One of the worst sins, if not the worst sin, is pride. The word ‘resists,’ as in God resists the proud, is antitassó (an-tee-tas’-soh), which means to be militarily opposed. It is almost like being at war with. The opposite of pride is humility. And God loves the humble, the ones who realize they are the ones in the wrong, they are the ones who need Him, they are the ones who need to seek Him with everything, to set themselves aside and welcome whatever He gives. To put ourselves lower than others and to put God higher than others. All virtue is rooted in humility; just as all sin is rooted in pride. Pride is essentially the source of all strife and conflict. How many friendships, marriages, businesses, and even congregations would still exist if the offenders would simply humble themselves and work to repair what has been damaged? To be humble, you must be honest with yourself. To view ourselves compared to Jesus, not to other human beings. After all, it requires humility to acknowledge that you are a sinner and you need a savior.

Now, we come to Paul’s take on the subject. “Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence. It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption—in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31) The world is puffed up in its pride, strength, wisdom, and self-proclaimed significance and worthiness. God hates this because this world cannot function without Him–though it thinks it can. So God chose the ones no one thought would amount to anything, the ones hiding in the corner, the ones who know they can’t do it. And He lifts them, takes them, and shames the world to demonstrate humility and a proper attitude towards Him.

But that’s not all; the key, the crux of our salvation: “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) Salvation is what God does for us, though we don’t deserve it. Not what we do for God because we can’t do enough. Grace is a gift–a gift. If it’s a gift, you can’t boast about yourself. When you brag about your gift, you say, “Look what she gave me!” You emphasize what the other person did for you, not what you did. The only way you can boast about your salvation is to say, “Look what God did for me!” You are emphasizing what He did, boasting in the Lord. You are glorifying Him, not yourself. We then do the works He has prepared for us on our walk and sanctification. To bring glory to Him, praise to Him, honor to Him, and worship to Him. And these works aren’t even really us; it’s Him working in and through us, so we can’t boast about them unless we boast in Him.

Solomon even wrote the six things God hates. And pride is the first thing. “The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16-19) These verses could be a whole sermon, but look at the first thing: Arrogant eyes, other translations say, a prideful look. It has been said that pride is dust deifying itself. Notice pride is in the eyes or the face of a person. As Jesus stated, ““The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23) If our eyes, thoughts, and hearts are preoccupied with worldliness and materialism, in this case, our works and glorifying ourselves, there is no room for praising God and the things of the spirit.

Lastly, look at Jesus. We looked at what He said. Now, look at what He did. Three things Jesus did that showed humility. 1. The advent. “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors! When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:1-20)

The King of kings and Lord of lords. The King of Glory. God Himself, the creator of everything. He could have had a more extraordinary reception than this. With all respect and rights, He should have been born in a palace of gold, wrapped in the finest linens, and laid in the most comfortable bed. The angels could have flown around the world telling the nations that the universe’s creator had just come to earth and been born as a human. Trumpets sounding, and parades and music. But that didn’t happen. God came down here in the most humble way. Instead of being born in a palace, He was born in a stable. Which also foreshadows how His people would treat Him. Instead of wrapped in the finest linens, He was in swaddling clothes. Instead of the most comfortable bed, He was placed in a horse trough. He was the lowest of the low. J.N Darby wrote, “He began in a manger, and ended on the cross, and along the way had not where to lay His head.” The first will be last, and the last will be first. He chose this way and made it all happen exactly as it did. It was cold, smelly, unsanitary, lonely, and quiet, just the three of them and some animals. No extended family members rejoicing over the birth of their first child, no friends by their side congratulating them. If that doesn’t make you think and humble yourself, nothing will.

2. Suffering and Service. “James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them. They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We are able,” they told him. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” When the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John. Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-45) Straight from the mouth of God Himself. He came to serve others and be a servant, even though it should be the other way around. The world promotes itself and tries to show they are better than everyone else. You can look at social media to see this in its most blatant form. But if you want to be exalted in God’s kingdom or be considered great, you must humble yourself and be a servant. But do not boast about your service. “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth—a stranger, and not your own lips.” (Proverbs 27:2). Do not bring attention to your works. Let others notice and praise you. And if they don’t, God knows what you did and will reward you for it.

3. Washing the disciples’ feet. “Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God, and that he was going back to God. So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.” “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said. Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you. “Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:3-17)

Only servants would wash their master’s feet. Sometimes, on special occasions, a host would wash the feet of their guests. God Himself, the most excellent teacher and the greatest friend, became the servant and washed the disciples’ feet. And He set the example. He showed His humility and served others. And we are to do the same. And this humility is a two-way street. It requires humility to serve others, but it also requires humility to be served. We can learn that from Peter here. Peter had to humble himself once he understood what Jesus was doing and allowed Him to wash his feet. Now, put this into perspective: Jesus is the most outstanding leader. Imagine if we had leaders that served us instead of us serving them. But let’s take it further: imagine if the servants would lead. It all requires humility, something lacking drastically in our world.

This humility helped the apostles change the world back in the days of the early church. And this same humility will do the same if the church, as a whole, would demonstrate today. He is our example; our eyes are on Him. But the world’s eyes are on us, and we are to be the example by following His example. The world doesn’t know Him, so they can’t set their eyes on Him. Instead, their eyes are on us. And they perceive who He is by what we do. We are to be holy because He is holy. We are to serve because He served. Against all opposition, we are the light of the world and are to show who He is to the unbelieving world. But we can only do this if we humble ourselves, put our pride, our anger, our hatred, and bitterness aside–even our differences and let Him work in and through us and serve and demonstrate who Jesus of Nazareth is to the world that so desperately, and despondently needs Him and needs to know Him. To show them so that they know His love, mercy, grace and forgiveness, gentleness, patience, and goodness.

So, what do you do if you see the pride and the wrong boasting in your life? Pray about it. Take it to God, confess it to Him, and let Him work through you. Ask Him to help you change.

“I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you and be kind to you! May God bless you with his love, and may the Holy Spirit join all your hearts together.” (2 Corinthians 13:13)