What does a humble
Christian look like?
Recently I enjoyed a
series of devotionals by Selwyn Hughes on the subject of humility as
a fruit of the Spirit. This virtue is much misunderstood. Hughes
spent much time explaining what it was not before going on to what it
was.
In the ancient world
humility had a bad press. Christians had to more or less reinvent the
whole concept, because humility was looked down on as a “servile,
grovelling spirit”. Writers throughout the ages have given it
overtones of hypocrisy. Witness Charles Dickens’ character Uriah
Heep – “We are so very ’umble, Master Copperfield.”
Yet God’s people felt
driven to work at changing this view of humility because they were so
inspired and impressed by the character of the Lord Jesus, “who,
though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a
thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a
servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human
form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore God has
highly exalted him ...” (Philippians 2:6-9 ESV).
Hughes quoted Philip
Brooks, a great American preacher, as saying,
“The true way to be
humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to
stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show
you what the real smallness of your greatness is. Stand at your
highest, and then look at Christ, then go away and forever be
humble.”
In John 13, the famous
chapter where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, Jesus begins with
the breathtaking awareness that God the Father has given everything
into His hands. Then, in the full knowledge of this, he takes the
towel and washes the disciples’ feet. He is our perfect example. He
had greatness, but it was rooted in God.
We should not get above
ourselves, but neither should we put ourselves down: that is false
humility. The apostle Paul urges us in Romans 12 not to think of
ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think soberly,
Romans 12:3. That means we should have a balanced view of ourselves
in God’s sight.
So what is humility?
William Barclay calls it “a gentle, gracious and submissive
spirit”. He offers us five Bible examples that, taken together,
give us a composite picture.
James 1:21 counsels,
“Humbly accept the message that God has planted in your hearts, and
which can save your souls” (J. B. Phillips). Humility is a
teachable spirit. We learn nothing if we approach the Bible in a
proud and know-all way.
Then humility is needed
if ever we must say to someone, “A word in your ear”. If you put
yourself in the other person’s shoes, a word of warning or rebuke
can come across as very threatening. Correction must be given in a
spirit of humility if someone is caught in a sin (Galatians 6:1) or
is in dispute with us over a vital matter (2 Timothy 2:25). It can be
given in a way which discourages or in a way which sets a person on
his or her feet with the determination to do better.
The same applies when
non-Christians ask you why you believe and behave as you do. 1 Peter
3:15-16 advises, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone
who asks you ... But do this with gentleness and respect.” Courtesy
in word and deed is only wise. James 3:13 – “Who is wise and
understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds
done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”
Seeing that Christian
humility may not be what you imagined, you may conclude that it is
sadly not for you. Nature hasn’t endowed you with a mild-mannered
personality or the gift of seeing yourself and others in perspective.
Yet it is amazing what God can do in you if you let Him. Didn’t
proud Paul eventually come to regard his carefully built up status
with the leading Jews as so much muck, and call himself the chief of
sinners?
