19th June, 2007

NILS VON KALM

Far be it from me to write an article on humility. At first it strikes me as kind of ironic to be writing an article on this topic, given that it will probably be read by many people. It's dangerously good for my ego, and therefore not good at all. It can be dangerous for me, someone who likes being upfront and receiving affirmation, to write an article on what it is to be humble. Who do I think I am?

PICTURE: Freddy Thorvaldsen (www.sxc.hu) "We don't need to grope in the dark trying to find out what it means to be humble. We have the greatest example that has ever been - God Himself become incarnate. The Creator of the universe come to sinful humanity, born in a pig's trough to an unmarried mother, born in poverty and forced to seek asylum in another land - the ultimate refugee."

However, write this I will, and I pray that it will not be me writing, but the Holy Spirit who guides me and teaches me more about humility as I write. For if there is one thing I have learned over the last couple of years, it is that doing life my own way does not work. I cannot do life on my own. I need someone or something bigger than me to guide me. Otherwise I keep running into walls and end up being selfish, resentful, fearful, anxious and unloving. It is God who keeps me on the straight and narrow.

Philip Yancey writes of heroes of his who have exercised humility by finding a group overlooked and undeserved. Listen to what he says: “I think of Dr. Paul Brand, a promising young physician who volunteered in India as the first orthopaedic surgeon to work with leprosy patients. Or of Henri Nouwen, professor at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard, who ended up among people having a fraction of those students' IQs: the mentally handicapped at L'Arche homes in France and Toronto. Both of these men demonstrated to me that downward mobility can lead to the success that matters most.”

"Downward mobility can lead to the success that matters most". What a great way to describe the getting of humility. Imagine being someone like Henri Nouwen, who gave up teaching at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard of all places, and ditched it all to look after a mentally-handicapped young man. Nouwen later said that his time with L'Arche was the greatest time of his life, a time where he truly learned what life is all about.

When I am tempted to live life my way (which is most days), I have to remind myself of the many times I have done so in the past and what the consequences have been. Self-sufficiency never works in my life. Pride has no place. Life is a constant teacher and reminder that I can't make it on my own. I need a God who I can trust, a God who is on my side, a God I can hand everything over to, a God who, when I do hand it all over to Him, will teach me and guide me into true godliness and Christ-likeness.

For that is what this is all about. We don't need to grope in the dark trying to find out what it means to be humble. We have the greatest example that has ever been - God Himself become incarnate. The Creator of the universe come to sinful humanity, born in a pig's trough to an unmarried mother, born in poverty and forced to seek asylum in another land - the ultimate refugee. This was the One who some 30 years later said that the way to life is to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, who said that the greatest among you must be the servant of all, and that those who want to save their life will lose it. This man then walked His talk. He did all of those things just mentioned.

Throughout history, you don't hear of many people accusing Jesus of being 'up Himself'. Yet here He is, when asked by the High Priest if He is indeed the Messiah, the son of God, replying with no hesitation, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62). What kind of megalomaniac is this man? However, it is a truly humble man indeed who can say something so outrageous and yet still be known throughout the ages as a humble man, by both believers and unbelievers alike. It is His followers who are (often rightly) accused of lacking in humility, people like me. Many people in fact feel for Jesus that his followers so poorly take after His example.

The essence of humility for me is recognising that my life does not work when I try to manage it on my own, when I am self-sufficient. But it cannot stop there, for if it did I would despair of ever being a better person. What would be the point of being humble? However, once I recognise that doing life my way does not work, I need to hand it over to the One who can deal with it; One who I can trust to do a much better job with my life than I can. This is about surrender, flying the white flag, saying 'Enough! You take it, I can't do this'. Then it is about realising that this One who I have given my life to is all-forgiving and full of grace and love. I come to Him with nothing but He gives me everything. How can I ever be thankful enough for what God has done for me and is doing in my life?

As I surrender all to this One, I find what it is to have peace, the peace that passes all understanding. I no longer need to be resentful, no longer do I need to fear. I am able to think more clearly, to not be so self-absorbed. I am actually able to give without needing something in return. However, having said that, I don't do this very well. It is a daily struggle where I hand my life to God but then sometimes take it back. I need to remind myself of the life that is truly life, and that I don't need to fight it - I just need to hand it to God who is so willing to take it.

This is also not about a negative self-esteem, where I see myself as worthless and I cling to a crutch like a mummy's boy and hide behind someone else to do it all for me. This is about genuine humility, about recognising reality, the reality that life does not work the way we plan it. Look around you at the world. Look at your life and measure it by the standards of Jesus, not by the success that the world (and much of the church these days) teaches.

Recognising our need for someone greater to run our lives is not weakness, it is meekness. It makes perfect sense to put your life in the hands of Someone greater when you realise that your way of life isn't working. After all, you would be pretty stupid if you had a broken leg and someone offered you crutches and you said 'nope! I'll be right' and you stumbled off and your leg got worse. Humility is about facing reality. I need a Saviour. I need Someone bigger than me to give my life to. And what grace He shows when I do give Him my life, forgiving me of all my wrongdoing and filling me with His Holy Spirit, to make me more like the One who came not to be served but to serve. I come to Him with nothing yet my cup overflows. How can I ever thank Him enough?

FOR MORE SIGHT-SEEING, click here...