Humility in the Chaos!
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Our Confession
Because God created me in
His image:
·
I represent the
dignity of God
·
I represent the
Holiness of God
·
I represent the
divine righteousness of God
·
I am appointed
steward of His Kingdom
·
I represent the
rule and reign of Christ Jesus
Character, Conduct,
and Conversation
If we are the confession
we have just declared, then we must think, behave and converse in a manner that
reflects the image of God. Spiritual maturity is about attaining the full
stature of Christ! To be the image of God is to reflect the very nature of God.
Consider the following verses:
Eph 4:11-13 It was he who gave some as apostles, some as
prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of
ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God - a mature
person, attaining to the measure of Christ's full stature.
There are two questions
every Christian should be asking ourselves:
• “What does a mature person look like?”
• “How do I grow into the measure of Christ’s full stature?”
These questions are
foundational questions to understanding a maturing person. I want to clarify an
important distinction between the whole of Christian maturity versus humanistic
maturity.
Christian Maturity
Versus Maturity of the World
The maturity of the world
is not the same as Christian maturity. The difference between the two types is
the focal point of the purpose of maturing. Worldly maturing is centered in
self. While worldly maturing has many noble characteristics, it is about self;
as an example, self-improvement is about self. Whereas Christian maturity is
totally about Christ and others. I say this because there is a foundation to
Christian maturity, a basic characteristic that is the cornerstone of Christian
maturity. That basic characteristic is humility, Christ-like humility.
Paul in his letter to the
Ephesians declares:
Eph 4:1-4 “I,
therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner
worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility
and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” ESV
Prisoner Mentality
Paul
challenges us to live in total humility. The phrase “with all”
means without exception, humility accompanies us in the whole of life.
Imagine with me, together we are listening to the Apostle Paul speak these very
words to us. Paul does not describe himself in any glorious terms, rather he
identifies himself in the lowest position understood by the all; Paul in
calling himself a “prisoner for the Lord”, reduces his social status to that
even lower than a slave, he is a prisoner for the Lord! The implications of
such a simple phrase are earth-shaking! Does your understanding of Christian
maturing have its foundation in the humblest state of humanity, a prisoner?
Imagine, daily we are to journey in a manner worthy of
the calling; what is the calling? The calling is to place ourselves as “prisoners
for the Lord.” Understand this is a volitional act, I choose to be a prisoner
for Christ. It must be understood, remembered that Paul was writing this letter
from prison. His life in the light of humanistic or worldly maturing was a
complete failure. Paul was a prisoner of the Roman Empire or was he? Paul
declares his current status was due to that he was first a “prisoner for the Lord.”
His journey began in a humble state, blindness. Paul coming to Christ resulted
in temporary blindness, a strong young man suddenly captured by Christ on the
Damascus road, blinded and dependent on strangers to care and protect him till
Christ returned his sight. In that Damascus Road encounter, Paul understood
immediately that he would place himself in the humblest position in life, he
would be a “prisoner for the Lord.” Without exception, without personal regard,
humility was Paul’s constant sense of self-worth! Likewise, Paul’s words call
out to us today. Without exception, constantly and always humility is present
in all our thoughts, choices, actions and behaviors. So this begs the question
of what is humility?
Defining Humility
Simply
stated from the website preceptaustin.org,
“Humility is not thinking less of ourselves but is
really not thinking of ourselves at all.”
The dynamic of humility
is not in comparing ourselves to others, but Christ Jesus. This is the whole
impetus of humility, I never take my eyes off of Christ Jesus. When I am in
constant awareness of the presence of Christ Jesus in me and with me, when I realize
God abides with me continually when I am cognizant of the Holy Spirit is the
dynamic power of my life, I can ask myself, who am in the presence of God? Oh,
it is in these moments of meditation, of reflection that I hunger to be a
prisoner for the Lord! Humility can grow, mature. I view things differently, I
speak differently, I shift from a demanding personality to a personality that pleads
for others, that seeks the welfare of others over myself, even unto to death.
The Ethics of Humility
In all
this, we are speaking of the ethics of Christ, how Christ lived among humanity.
It is a stark lesson because Christ was always humble in the face of conflict. Humility
is the ethics of Christ!. Today’s Christianity is void of this humility of
Christ. Evangelicalism is searching for a fighter, a defender, someone who will
punch back in the name of Christ. We have abandoned the humility of Christ for
the sake of worldly gain. Evangelical Christianity argues with loud voices, justify
their speech as apologetics, demands rather than converse, plays in the
politics of the world rather than pray for the influence of the Holy Spirit. The
humility of Christ is not about avoiding conflict, rather it is how we respond
to conflict, crisis, and chaos; in humility, we face all things. Humility is
our constant and ever-present life! The humility of Jesus was manifested in his
prayers, professions, and proclamations!
What
does scripture teach us about the humility of Christ? Paul insists that we have
the same attitude that Christ Jesus had:
Phil 2:5-8 You
should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who
though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as
something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself by taking on the form of a
slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. 8 He humbled
himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross!
The demand
for recognition is the opposite of humility. In the politics of the world, we
demand equality. In the Kingdom of God, humility, obedience is the expressions
of Christian maturity. Yet this current error of political security is
reflective of something lacking personally, missing in our own individual
lives.
Humility
Personified
Christians today see themselves as more important than
others. “How,” you ask? Consider the instruction of Paul:
Phil 2:3-4 “Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or
vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as
more important than yourself.”
Is everyone more
important than you? What about your needs? Are your needs more important than
the needs of others? Would you share your last morsel of food, your last bottle
of water with another knowing that in doing so you and your family will not
have enough to live another day? Would you reject the legal constraints of men
to feed the hungry, to shelter migrants, to give medicine to sick no matter
their legal status? People who are infected in other parts of the world more
important than yourself and your family. My point is if we cannot love even
those in our communities, we are vain and selfish people.
Paul
journeyed with a single mindset, it was not to preach the Gospel, it was not to
establish churches, his single mindset was obedience to Christ Jesus. Out of
his obedience, he responded to missionary work even unto death as commanded by
Christ. We have much more to say in the days ahead about humility. Yet this
morning we are challenged by a virus that has raised the fears of this nation,
of the people of the world. We are wrong in thinking it is coronavirus-19. This
virus is a symptom of our sinful nature. We are a sinful people, we have polluted
our habitation, our communities are infected with a multitude of diseases, many
born directly of sinful behaviors.
Only in humility should
we respond to the viral sin of our human nature. Like Christ Jesus,
·
let
us too not insist on equality,
·
let
us empty ourselves for the sake of others,
·
let
us share in the suffering with human nature
·
let
us humble ourselves even unto death in obedience to God
What will be our attitude,
will we be humble and serve others because they are more important than ourselves?
Will we empty ourselves, will we advocate for others over ourselves, will we
empty ourselves unto obedience as Christ Jesus?
What will we do in the days ahead for others?
Let me close with this
final admonish. Peter tells us “and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility
toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the
humble.” 1 Peter 5:5 NET
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