Learning Humility

By Jeff Curtis

Humility is a quiet, elusive virtue. Its opposite, arrogance, is seldom self-proclaimed. The apostle Paul’s opponents wouldn’t likely have identified themselves as being among those who “have become arrogant.” Most people recognize what they judge to be humility or arrogance in other people; they are generally less successful at seeing the traits in themselves. The arrogance of Paul’s critics at Corinth resulted in their refusing to listen and learn from an apostle of Christ. They were similar to young man who thinks he knows more about love than his grandfather who has been married to the same woman for sixty-five years. Humility is the willingness to learn from those who have travelled the road before us.

Arrogance is a frame of mind that places excessive value on the worth of our own preferences and judgments. It is self-confidence gone amok. Arrogance is an outgrowth of the same pride that caused the first man and woman to defy God and say, in effect, “I know what You want, but I will do it my own way.” Humility, by contrast, is the willingness to question ourself and value others. Those who Christ to be Lord who holds humility as a virtue. In the fifth century, Augustine offered this judgment on how to gain truth; “The first way…is humility; the second way is humility, and the third way is humility, and as often as you ask, I would say this.”

To be humble is to assess ourself realistically, and that is not a small task. It doesn’t require us to engage in constant self-deprecation like that displayed by Uriah Heep in David Copperfield, who considered himself “the umblest person going.” True humility is Jesus’ washing the feet of His disciples. It’s a child in the arms of the Lord. It’s Paul, “condemned to death,” “a spectacle to the world” (1Corinthians 4:9). It’s Jeremiah, being uncomfortable and confused about being called to be a prophet, but unwavering in his determination to preach. It’s Job, suffering with pain and questions, but trusting still trusting in God. Humility is serving, trusting, and giving without fanfare. Paul’s critics preferred their own glorification over submission to God. With that ungodly mindset, they had fostered disorder and confusion in the church.

Meditate on these things:

Psalm 138:7-8

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out

Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me.
⁸ The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands.

An Open Mind and an Honest Heart

By Jeff Curtis

In the account of the Ethiopian eunuch we read of an open-minded official we see that people with honest hearts, people who recognize their need for God – can be found in the world if we will simply look for them. We may fail to see these people because, like the eunuch, they hold important positions and we may think they won’t see their need for Christ. We may fail to see them because, like the eunuch, they are strong in the religious beliefs, and we think they will not listen to us. Let’s not prejudge any man but diligently search for good and honest hearts. When we find them, let us guide them to the Lord.

Consider the conversion from the standpoint of the eunuch. He knew nothing about the divine message given to Philip. For him, the story started with an obscure passage in Isaiah and Philip’s question “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). He invited Philip into his chariot, and as they rolled along, Philip “preached Jesus to him” (v.35). Philip preached the gospel, God’s power to save. When the treasurer heard this message, he believed and obeyed it (vv.36-39). He wasn’t saved by some “feeling better felt than told,” (Romans 1:16; 10:17). God’s plan was to get the honest sinner and the preacher together – and then let the Word do its job. If you desire to be saved, don’t wait for mysterious “experience,” but rather hear the gospel, believe it, and obey it.

Although God’s intervention in this case doesn’t prove that the alien sinner must have a miraculous experience. It does demonstrate God’s concern for the lost, especially the lost who have “honest and good hearts” (Luke 8:15). It is implied that God will help honest searchers for the truth find the truth (Matthew 7:7-8). Many examples come to mind of men and women honestly trying to discover God’s truth who came in contact with every person who could teach them the truth under circumstances that cannot be explained as coincidence.

There is a story of a meeting that a young man had near Waco, Texas. He had grown up on the streets of Brooklyn but had moved to Dallas, Texas. One hot day, not long after he arrived in Dallas, he was travelling on a bus and started talking to a young woman seated beside him. She invited him to church. The young man wasn’t a church goer, but he didn’t know anyone in Dallas, so he went. The people were so friendly that he went back the following week to see them again. Soon he became a Christian. The story goes that he went around asking people, “Are you a Christian? Let me tell you how I became a Christian!” Think about this story for a moment. What are the odds against the young man sitting on the bus that specific time beside that specific young woman who would invite him to the worship services? Both Scripture and experience should convince us that if one is an honest searcher, God will providentially make a way for that one to learn the truth.

How important it is for each of us to have honest hearts (Luke 8:15), to be diligent searchers for God’s way (John 5:39; Acts 17:11), and to be lovers of truth (2Thessalonians 2:10).

Meditate on this:

Psalm 51:1,2

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.