The Biblical call for humility among believers is common, well-known, and needs no citation here. The implications of humility, though, require some attention.
Humility is not saying, “I’m bad, I stink, I’m a loser. I’ll never accomplish anything for Him because I can’t.” Statements like this simply assert that the Spirit has bestowed nothing on us and that Christ did not die for us. There’s a technical word for that: heresy. Oh, and lest you think I am wagging my fingers at others who have behaved shamefully, allow me to add this:
To the best of my knowledge, I’m bad. I stink. I’m a loser. I can’t imagine that I will ever accomplish anything for Him because I don’t think I can.
Humility is not, “People say I’m smart, but I’m not. They also say I’m pretty, or a great artist, or a wonderful teacher, or a fabulous servant. Oh, if only they knew….I’m not any of those things.” This, my friends, is spitting on God’s gifts to us. Refusing to admit intelligence or creativity or ability is not an act of humility; it’s cognitive dishonesty. And lest anyone think I am unfairly criticizing others, allow to me to add this:
People say I’m good at this or that….but I’m not. They just think I am. They need to get out more, ya know?
What is humility? In recent years I have developed a personal definition for humility: knowing exactly who I am before the throne of God.
Knowing the answer to this requires that we see ourselves as He sees us. Remember, humility is knowing who we are as we stand in His presence. It is seeing ourselves as He sees us. In the midst of my schizophrenic approach to the subject, my Romans 7-esque attitude of knowing the truth yet being unable to behave as though I know it, I think we can see the hardest part of humility: standing there and accepting His definition for me as being final. The last word. Period.
I am at a crossroads of sorts in my work. I am uncertain, for the first time in years, as to what the next step is going to be. I cannot envision success along any path before me not because I lack knowledge, but because I lack humility. That is, I lack the ability to set aside my own view of me and accept who I am as I stand before His throne. My repeated internal claims are, “You can’t do it. Don’t bother hoping, because it is impossible. No, you won’t overcome that temptation. No, you didn’t do that thing well. People just tell you that because they like you, bizarrely enough. God CAN use you, but there’s no implication that He WILL use you.” And yet, I don’t think that is how He really sees me.
_________
There’s an arrogance in low self-esteem. Few people think that, but there is. Part of the perpetual low-is-me attitude is an assertion that I get to define me, regardless of what He might have to say on the subject. The usual imagery of humility is that God brings us low to kneel before Him because we presume to know too much. Usually, though, our definition of “too much” doesn’t apply to those who think they are worthless. Traditional thinking goes like this:
“It’s the big-headed guy; the woman who believes she can do no wrong; the rich man who depends on his cash; the smart woman who is going to solve her problems all alone; the Calvinist who has found all the answers; the Arminian who knows the truth; these are the arrogant ones, the ones who puff themselves up. Those who are low, discouraged, and unconvinced of their own skills and knowledge are not prideful; just the opposite, in fact.”
And yet, if I claim to know my worthless self better than He knows me and I belittle myself as a result, I do presume to know too much.
What is the key to our prayers to be lifted from the place of believing we’ll never make it? Humility. The key to knowing we really can be free of this or that sin? Humility. The key to realizing that we are truly children of the King? Humility. In humility we set aside what we have decided about ourselves, and leave ourselves open to His definition of things.
Prove me wrong, oh God, prove me wrong. Show me who I am as I stand before You. Teach me who I am as I kneel before your throne. Show me somehow, some way, everything I am and nothing that I am not.
Very deep insights. You should be proud. Oh, wait…
Seriously, I love the idea of humility as “knowing who I am before the throne of God.” That requires both a recognition of my failings and the potential produced in my by the work of Christ.
Excellent definition of humility, Jeremy. To be humble is to draw all of our self-esteem and self-worth from our standing as God’s creation and/or God’s children. Humility is thinking no more (and no less!) or ourselves than God does. Really great article.
P.S. You are exactly correct that self-abasement is a twisted form of rebellious pride. I cringe when I hear Christians say “I am a worthless, miserable sinner.” That sentence is a lie. Humanity is not worthless. The human race was worth the death of God the Son on a cross! Plus, if one is truly converted, the old is gone and the new has come. I once was enslaved to the power of sin, but now I am set free in the power of the Spirit so that sin no longer defines me. My value comes from the one who loves me and gave himself for me. I am worth the life of God incarnate; not because of my greatness, but because of God’s love for me. Excellent work!
Jim G.
oops…”of ourselves” at the end of the first paragraph.
“My value comes from the one who loves me and gave himself for me.”
JIM G.
I think C.S. Lewis saw a similar connection when he wrote: ““Christ died precisely because men are not worth it,
to make them worth it.”
Jeremy – ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR POST!!!!
I learned this from my OT professor @ GGBTS. Biblical humility is not the self-deprecation or the “putting-myself-in-check” that happens so often in American culture.
Moses demonstrates this when he himself wrote, “now Moses was the most humble man.” This was a declaration that he knew EXACTLY who he was and what he was to be doing because of his relationship with God. It allowed/caused him to be sure of what he was doing in leading the Israelites for 40 years.
Even he lost track of this when he struck the rock at Meribah for water rather than speaking to it. However, he quickly regained his perspective when barred from the Promised Land: he didn’t whine or plead. He knew what he had done and who he was in the Lord.
And, that was enough.
It seems to me that both extremes denigrate Christ.
If I say “I am great, I am good” I am failing to realize my sinfulness and my need for Christ – and failing to give him full credit for his grace and work.
On the other hand, if as a redeemed sinner, I simply bemoan my sinfulness and incapacity, I fail to honor the power of Christ to work in me.
I hear people say, “I just a sinner saved by grace.” No! I am, in fact, a sinner saved by grace, but I am not “just” that. I am redeemed, renewed in my mind, given life by Christ, indwelled with the power of the Spirit, in the process of being transformed into the image of Christ, and…well, you get the idea.
I am a sinner, but in Christ I am much more than that. If I fail to honor either side of that statement, I deny Christ’s glory and power.
It is all of Christ. But Christ works in me!
REDEEMED!! How I love to proclaim it!
REDEEMED!! BY the blood of the Lamb!
REDEEMED!! Through his infinite mercy!
HIS CHILD and FOREVER I am.
BUT: I still sin.
Is that stanza 2?
“BUT: I still sin.”?? I think it’s stanza 0.
The early days of my Christian walk were the most humbling time of my life. It seemed that the closer I was to Christ the more I saw my filth, my hopelessness, my inabilities and why I needed Him totally for my sustenance. As I was teaching years ago I mentioned this sense of humility as I was growing and thought; have I stopped growing? Am I backslidden? Have I lost something? I didn’t feel that humiliation any more. The answer was no. Maturity brings with it a healthy fear of God. I know where I stand now and the humility works a little different. Still, I must keep my flesh in check. Humility has a manifold approach and we must find that humility in our faith toward God. Great post.
Yeah, the battle’s never over, is it?
I have lived on both ends of the spectrum. In the earliest days of my serious faith, I thought too much of my skills and too little of my sins. Now I have plunged to the opposite extreme: I think too much of my sins and too little of my skills.
The worst part is that I still struggle to think of myself as someone who has something to offer my Lord. I wish to accomplish something for Him out of gratitude and willing service, not to earn anything; at least I’m avoiding the sin of earning my salvation.
Yet still I pray. I know He has not forsaken me, and that He will ultimately be there to lift me up.
Amen, Jeremy. Amen!
One of the great questions in theology
. . .’What is man, that Thou art mindful of him ?’
That question arises in the souls of men and haunts them with a great need to seek the answer.
I love this quote:
“You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve”,
said Aslan.
“And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar,
and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth;
be content.”
(C.S. Lewis)
I was just listening to a song, “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. The words brought comfort and humility at the same time. One of the phrases in the chorus went, “Yesterday, I was forgiven. Today, I am secure. Tomorrow, is in His hands.” How can we not walk humbly, but confidently, when we know He has the east and west and north and south covered?
Romans 12:3 says we’re to think of ourselves with sober judgment, according to the faith God has given us. Since that faith comes from God, it’d seem to preclude pride or false humility.
I tell my classes to use the same judgment with reference to themselves they’d use on anyone else.
Good post.
Easy to say, as I am sure you know, yet very hard to apply personally. Emotions are funny things.
J-Parks,
Wow, this post has raised the bar on thoughtful, intelligent, and Christ honoring blogging. Bravo old friend! Keep writing!
I look forward to the day we can converse over a bowl of fish soup again.
God bless,
RJM
Ahhh… this is a good post. I particularly like the imagery of seeing yourself before the throne of God. It’s an odd mix of seeing yourself as one who will never measure up and who already has.
Good thoughts.