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The Awesomeness of Humility

Awesomely Awesome — That's Me

It is imperative for you to understand the following fact: I am awesome. It's true. I remind my family, friends, coworkers, pets, and strangers at Wal-Mart of it quite frequently. I can't quite explain what makes me awesome or what exactly I do that's so awesome — I just kind of embody it.

Now, I understand that since most of you don't get to hang out with me on a daily basis, you may not have fully come to this realization yet. You've seen glimpses of it through my articles and posts in the Coffee Shop, but unless you have spent some quality time with me, I am willing to excuse your possible naivety on the overwhelming magnitude of my awesometacularness. But now you are informed. Done and done.

Besides awesomeness, humility is (obviously) a trait that I have worked long and hard to perfect in my life (the awesomeness came naturally; humility took a bit longer). Being the expert in humility that I am, I’ve pondered the topic a few times and shockingly, it's something the Bible talks about quite frequently.

A Humble Heart

My most recent contemplation of humility began as my Bible study group was finishing The Truth Project — a twelve-week DVD study related to worldview issues. The very last lesson talks a lot about community and humility and how those two topics work together.

Del Tackett, the instructor of the series, starts off by providing us with a biblical basis for why we should be humble. He points out verses which show that God "opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6, NIV). God "guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way" (Psalm 25:9). Scripture makes it clear that God wants us to be humble.

Del then goes on to point out the humility seen in Jesus. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus states that He is "gentle and humble in heart." It also obviously took a lot of humility for Christ to die on the cross. In fact, Philippians 2:5-8 says:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!

Christ exemplified humility, and Paul tells us that we should have the same mindset.

His Humble Love

In the book of Hosea, God commands a prophet to marry a prostitute named Gomer. (We've talked about this story in a couple of other TrueU articles.) I know that many of you have read this piece of Scripture before, but it really is quite amazing.

Hosea marries this prostitute, and the marriage is symbolic of God's relationship with Israel. Gomer is unfaithful to Hosea, but God tells him to reconcile with her. He says, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes" (3:1).

Now, I don't so much know what sacred raisin cakes were all about (they sound gross to me), but I do know that this is an amazing statement for Yahweh to make. God has continued to pursue Israel in spite of the fact that she has prostituted herself over and over and over again.

Israel does not get to go unpunished by God, but He is willing to restore her when she repents. After Israel repents, God says He will "betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord" (2:19-20). In chapter 11, God speaks of Israel as a child whom He loves — "It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them" (11:3). This humble love that God presents is quite breathtaking to me.

God kept His covenant with Israel in spite of her unfaithfulness. I have struggled with the book of Hosea, because if I were in God's place, I would've abandoned Israel after her first glance at those sacred raisin cakes. I do not understand His commitment to fulfilling His promises — not when Israel was so unfaithful. I do not understand why He loved us before we ever loved Him, why He died for us while we were still in our sin. The humble love I see in God grates against my naturally selfish inclinations.

You Have Never Talked to a Mere Mortal

So, Jesus humbled Himself. God was patient with Israel. What does that have to do with us? Everything — which is why I have such a hard time understanding (i.e. obeying) my call to be humble, especially in my interactions with others.

I approve posts in the TrueU Coffee Shop every day. I read every comment and follow every conversation. Lately I have been a bit discouraged by the lack of humility I sometimes see in our community. I think it is so easy for us (myself included) to get caught up in being right, in presenting a solid argument, in proving our points, that the humility exemplified in Christ can easily escape us.

We are all going to disagree with one another at some point. I don't think that's a problem. I'm a big advocate of knowing what we believe and being able to confidently and effectively defend those beliefs. However, the danger I can see is that it is very easy for us to forget two things:

1. We are asked to live a life worthy of the calling we have received by being completely humble and gentle (Ephesians 4:1-2).
2. We are interacting with children of God. Our words are powerful. The way we speak to one another (whether face to face or typing out responses on a message board) can be very effective, in either a positive or negative way.

In the Truth Project lesson I was telling you about, Del reminds us of the C.S. Lewis quote in his essay, The Weight of Glory:

You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations — these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit — immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. (emphasis mine)¹

Let's remind ourselves of this when we're in class listening to a professor, or driving on the road in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Let's remember that the woman taking your order at McDonald's has an eternal destiny, that the faceless person with the odd screenname in the TrueU Coffee Shop is beloved of God, and should, therefore, be loved by you. Our love for one another should be longsuffering and committed. Our conversations should be confident and yet overflowing with the humility of Christ.

C O F F E E  S H O P

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How do we work on being graceful in our conversations while still presenting solid arguments?

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The Bible shows us a God who is patient with us, slow to anger and abounding in love. Jesus Christ showed us humility in the way He lived while here on earth. You guys, the very least we can do is make an attempt to imitate our God by being winsome in our conversations, honoring the people we interact with, and in doing so, glorify the God who has been so gracious to us.