Tag: humility

On the Need for Humility

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment

Univeristy College Student Lifestyle

One of the reasons I like being around millennials and college students is that they have a very well attuned BS barometer.  Unlike children, and unlike more mature adults, this group of people live in a nexus between an emerging awareness of the world without having yet been crusted over with bitterness or disillusionment.  They can spot a disingenuous person across the room like an eagle eyes the difference between a fish and a rock at 5,000 feet in the air.

You know the experience.  You might not be able to explain why, but you’ve had the encounter with the person who seems off, just a bit contrived and manipulative in his speech or behavior.  He/she might talk a good line, but your instincts tell you different.

One of the things that is difficult for many people is that life isn’t about learning a certain skill set, as if life is like a trade school.  The skills approach simply thinks that you learn to say certain things, do certain things, and press certain buttons in others and you will get a solid expected outcome.  That kind of approach is where the BS meter goes off in others.  They sense that this person talking to them is not bringing anything of themselves to the discussion; they’re just talking without listening; they just go on without a sense of dialogue in which they learn from you or reveal anything of themselves to you.

I truly believe that the virtue of humility is so very important and necessary.  Without humility, there is no sense of the majesty and dignity of the other person.  Without humility, there is only competition – I conquer, and you are the conquered.  Without humility, life is a trade school in learning to get what I want on the backs of others.

But with humility, who I am as a person matters.  I bring my feelings, my thoughts, my beliefs, my experiences, and my questions into the conversation or situation and seek to, in turn, discover what you think and feel.  Then, together, we come to a third way of seeing that honors our collective sharing.  That isn’t a skill set; its just being a good human being.

The trade school approach wants to know how one becomes humble.  However, humility is a posture, not a skill.  It is taking a position of learning, growth and development.  It is to sit with uncertainty and mystery so that genuine relationship has a real go at happening.  Humility is much more sitting on the floor at Jesus’ feet and discovering something about yourself, God, and the interaction between each.

rich young ruler

The rich young ruler wanted a clear, concise, and certain answer to his question: “Good teacher, what can I do to have eternal life?” In-other-words: “What skill set do I need that I don’t already have to get eternal life?” Wrong question.  Jesus didn’t even begin to touch it because he had the most attuned BS meter ever in history.

Jesus asked his own question: “Why do you call me good?”  That question was way off from what the rich young ruler wanted or expected.  But the question was meant by Jesus to evoke a sense of humility that would lead to discovery and trust of God.  Jesus finally got around to telling the man what he needed to do: “Go sell everything you own. Give the money to the poor… Then come and follow me.” (Mark 10:17-27)

The humble emptying of oneself is necessary in awakening to a new awareness that God is with you.  It may not mean that you give everything you own away, but it will mean coming face to face with yourself.  It will mean exploring God.  It will mean living in the awkward in-between of assurance and uncertainty, being loved but not knowing where that love will take you, and following Jesus without a pre-negotiated plan.

You can’t BS your way through the Christian life.  You need the posture of humility.  Jesus will be your Teacher, but you will need to bring yourself to the mix because Christianity is not dispassionately taking notes and then forensically regurgitating it all on an exam.  Instead, Christianity is a dynamic spiritual encounter between you and God through the person of Jesus.  It begins with humility.

The Humble Leader

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
            In this Advent season as we anticipate Christmas, I have been reflecting on the great importance of humility.  Since Jesus humbled himself and became one of us, it seems to me that Christian leadership and church ministry really ought to take some cues from the posture of our Lord.
 
Humility is the queen of all Christian virtue, especially that of leadership.  Yet, humility is one of the hardest virtues to practice because it requires that we willingly put aside pride, ego, and personal agendas in order to embrace God’s agenda.  Being poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), becoming like a little child (Matthew 18:3), and thinking of others as better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3) are the cornerstones to becoming open to what God has for us.  To be a humble leader means to be obsessed with seeking God’s will and way in everything, and then to have the courage to lead others in God’s direction despite resistance and opposition from those who want to follow a different path.
 
            Therefore our task as Christ followers is to be consumed with seeking God’s direction rather than living purely according to our instincts, pragmatic desires, and personal views.  We continually need a radical openness to God.  We must work to develop an ever-deepening awareness of where God is leading us.  God is up to something and He has plans for us and our community.  Humility allows us to listen well to God’s Spirit.
 
            But being open to God is not quite as easy as it sounds.  We need to recognize that not everyone is open to God.  There are those, maybe even including ourselves, whom are closed to God.  If our focus is more on creating safety and security, trying to do enough good deeds to be recognized by God and others, and having the church be what we want it to be, then we have become closed to what God wants.  This comes out in a couple of different ways.
 
            First, people who want to maintain tradition at all costs may be closed to God.  When doing things the way we have always done them makes us feel safe and secure, then anything that threatens that security makes us angry.  This is the place where folks practice either fight or flight – they wage either a holy war or just leave.  Living with uncertainty and ambiguity is too much for them.  But that is what it takes if we are going to follow God.  Like Abraham, we are called to move and change without always knowing where we are going.
 
            Second, it is not just members trying to maintain traditions who can be closed to God.  Those who want to get rid of traditions can be just as closed off to God.  Sometimes folks who want new or different music, spiritual practices, and ministries desire to create a church of their own making to serve them and their needs, and not a church that focuses on what God is calling them to do.  Like Timothy, we are to hold onto the great deposit of doctrine and heritage given to us and not always be looking for the next new thing to turn things around.
 
 
 
            So, what to do?  Have the humility as leaders to continually and constantly ask the question: “What is God’s will?”  We need to practice leadership that is incredibly open to God.  This allows us to lead from a position of faith, and not fear.  This helps us to let God flow in and through us, rather than willfully insisting it should be our way or the highway.  This enables us to practice hope and love, and not rely on our own strength and desires.  Humble leadership which is open to God makes prayer and discernment the foundation of what we do, always seeking what God wants and then leading others in that direction by inviting them to the same kind of prayerful process.  We must read our Bibles as if our lives depended on it, and pray like there is no tomorrow.
 

 

            If we have humility and a deep openness to God; a conviction that we are primarily called to follow Jesus Christ; a willingness to let God’s power flow through us; and, a determined readiness to move people lovingly and graciously in God’s direction, then amazing things can happen in our churches.  Let our prayer together be this:  “I’m yours, God, no matter where you call me to go, what you call me to do, and how you call me to be.  I will seek your will and way as I lead others to do the same.”

Luke 18:15-17

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment


            Current Western society has experienced a juvenilization of culture in recent decades, and perhaps the past two hundred years, in ways that would seem strange to ancient people.  In the biblical world, children had no rights.  Life did not revolve around them whatsoever.  They were looked upon more as potential adults, and were expected to conform to family, synagogue, and society.  So, it was quite understandable, within such a society, that Christ’s disciples were perturbed with people bringing their children to Jesus – this was adult business, and not for kids.
             But Jesus would have none of this from his disciples, and he said something which was a jaw-dropping shock to them:  “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”  The upwardly-minded disciples did not have this as their strategy for taking over the world.  It was not even close to being on their radar because the worldly tools of power, influence, and position were their ambition.
             Citizens of the kingdom of God, in-other-words, enter through sheer humility and remain through complete dependence.  Like little children, they have nothing to offer and no rights to claim.  It would all have to be given to them.  Ah, now we are not far from the kingdom!  A life of faith and entrance to God’s kingdom is a gift of grace.  We cannot enter through superior skill or intelligence and not by hard work or savvy insight to the system.  None of that stuff neither impresses nor influences Jesus in the slightest.  Rather, the subjects of his kingdom need the king, and the realm of King Jesus is wherever the will of God is done.  And the will of God cannot be done apart from the spiritual virtues of humility and trust.  Will you become a little child and embrace a life of humility and dependence?
             King Jesus, I forsake all pride and selfish ambition and come to you with all the humility I can muster.  I need you for all things, and trust in your grace and compassion to gently and mercifully guide me into a life of faith that pleases you and blesses the world.  Amen.

1 Peter 5:1-11

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Humility is the consummate virtue of the believer in Jesus.  “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  Without humility there is no grace because there is no recognition of the need for God.  We wrongheadedly think we can do just fine on our own, thank you very much.  So, how’s that been working for you lately?  Are you frustrated, worried, and/or despondent?  Humility opens to us the wide vistas of God’s love and mercy.  A humble spirit makes church leadership both possible and bearable because the building of the church ultimately rests with Christ.  A humble spirit helps relieve the anxious worries that wash over us because our care is really in the hands of God.  A humble spirit enables us to resist the devil and remain strong in faith because Satan has nothing we want.  A humble spirit fortifies us to stay steady through suffering because we share in the sufferings of Jesus, and it is a privilege.
 
            This isn’t just some biblical spin-doctoring in order to have a positive attitude in the middle of crappy circumstances; humility really is the virtue to which we all need to aspire.  Genuine spiritual humility actually delivers what we need the most:  to rest secure in the merciful arms of God.  And it is what this old world needs the most of, and to which we must reinforce in all of our church leadership appointments, political elections, and work staffing.  No amount of brains and hard work can make up for a lack of humility.  God will be in control forever, and the sooner we sync our lives with this truth the better off we will be.
 

 

            Sovereign God, you cause people and nations to rise and to fall.  I place my complete trust and devotion in you.  With all the humility I can muster, I bow to you and submit to your gracious work in my life and in the life of the world.  Shoo pride far from me, and let me share in your sufferings so that I might share in your glory through Jesus Christ, my Lord.  Amen.