Too often I suspect that I have sought to "show" humility in one of two directions. The first is being humble towards God - something that clearly Scripture clearly speaks to multiple times. The second is being humble towards other people, which seems to create a sort of underlying resentment in my life.
Underlying resentment? I wonder, as I think through it, if it is caused by something as humanly silly as I do not want to be humble "in all directions".
I think I would argue that I, and most Christians have no problem being humble before God (at least in theory). Even the most lackluster of theologians gets the great distance between the Creator and the created, and in our minds we can somehow justify that we should "humble" ourselves before the Someone that is greater.
At least for me, humbling myself before others - not infrequently, but rather on a daily basis - seems, frankly, like an inconvenience that has been put on me.
Sure, if I manage to claw my way through my own pride and towering self confidence, I can "generously" see my way clear to being humble in the presence of those that are more educated or know more than I. But being humble to everyone? That often seems like a bridge too far.
And yet, I wonder if God's true measure of our humility is how humble we are to the lowliest person in our lives.
It is easy to be humble to someone we consider our superior in some form or fashion, and most can rally the effort to humble themselves (at times) to those whom they consider their equals. But to those who in some way are "below" us? Those who have nothing to offer us? Those who clearly struggle through things that we hardly think about it? How often I struggle to be humble towards those folks as well.
But the command to be humble is not a ranked one in Scripture; it is not as if God said "Be humble to this group - but no need to worry about these folks over here. Them, you can just act as you please." No, He simply said "Be humble". The implication, of course is, "to everyone".
I wonder what my life would look like if, for one week, I made a significant effort to truly humble myself towards every person that came into my life.
I suspect it, like many things, would be an example of the saying by G.K. Chesterton that "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried."
I suppose anything that is not yet habit is a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that make your posts so interesting and worthwhile to read is your self-analysis and your willingness to share it in words.
After reading this post, my impression is that you see humility as an action. Something that has to be put on and performed toward each person. I would say that it's preferable to view humility as a state of being. I would argue that the implication "to everyone" isn't necessary if the emphasis is on "be." Be humble. Just be. No additional people necessary.
Accepting humbleness 24/7 is the struggle it seems, not just at certain times and in certain places. Because of social media it seems certain "influencers" have never heard of humbleness nor know how to even spell it TB. This country hasn't had the class system of so many European countries or what India has, yet economics are the class divider here TB.
ReplyDelete"gets the great distance between the Creator and the created"
ReplyDeleteRomans 8:9-11 Christ and His Spirit dwell in the Christian. That's not very far away....
"to those who in some way are "below" us?"
Phil 2:3-11 ..let each esteem other better than themselves... following Christ's example of leaving Heaven to become a servant and die like a criminal for every human that would trust in Him.
What always comes to my mind is our similarity not difference. I could just as easily be the server, the cook, the dishwasher, the pig poop picker-upper. I've done all that and more. I'm only different if I'm saved and they aren't. And my sole reason to exist is to point others to Jesus. Everything about me should smell and taste of His character, lightly flavored or spiced by me. Jesus on earth, in His STxAR form.
Happy Sunday!