Humility and Her Unlikely Friends

When humility is lacking in others, it is easy to spot. When we lack humility, we rarely notice. Pride, boasting, and arrogance are all smelly vices. Our noses are sensitive to the smallest whiff coming from others, but we become accustomed to our own stink. This is why we need God’s Word to bring us back to our senses.

There are different ways to be humbled. Sometimes this occurs through illness or injury when confronted with how fragile we are. The natural rhythms of life: “dust-to-dust”, “diapers-to-diapers” and the one-third of our lives that we spend in sleep are all inescapably humbling experiences. And then there is the humbling of embarrassment when you have a piece of food stuck in your teeth or you trip in front of a crowd. These slices of “humble pie” come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors. 

But the kind of humility we want Summit students to embody is a particular kind of Christian humility. The kind of humility we are going to see in 1 Peter 5. In this chapter, Peter begins by addressing those in the office of elder in the local church. He then gives one command to those who are younger before addressing the whole congregation. 

1 Peter 5:5a
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. 
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another

Humility is for everyone in all directions. The younger must be subject to the elders with humility and the elders must exercise oversight with humility to those entrusted to their care. Humility, then, is fulfilling your station and duties in proper relationship to God and others. 

The image Peter provided is putting on clothes. Humility is an aspect of our outward presentation to others. Differences in architecture and fashion are evident depending on the purpose of their designer. Is the primary purpose personal experience and expression or is it a display of beauty for others? Apparel should be worn in a virtuous way, just as virtue should be worn like apparel. What is the reason? Peter quotes from Proverbs:

1 Peter 5:5b
for“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

This is one of those laws of reality that governs our lives. Similar to:

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 18:12
Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

Or, as Jesus said at the end of the Parable of the Wedding Feast:

Luke 14:11
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In sum, what goes up in prideful arrogance, must come down in destruction. And what goes down in lowly humility, will be raised in honor and glory. And because this is the way the world works, we are given the instruction:

1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

At this point, we begin to see four sets of humility’s unlikely friends.

Humility and Honor
Honor is a friend of humility. Honor flows from humility when it is “under God” and “at the proper time.” In the beautiful hymn of Philippians 2, these themes are developed in the person and work of Christ Jesus, who has the mind of humility in “taking the form of a servant” because “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Ultimate humility turned into ultimate honor, rejection into exaltation, and cursing into confession.

Humility and Confidence
A person with no anxiety is a person of humble confidence. 

1 Peter 5:7
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

There is a bright and obvious side to pride that manifests in arrogance and boasting. There is also a shadow side or underbelly to pride that masquerades as humility. This kind of pride is full of anxiety. Some think humility is about doubt or low self-esteem, “Well, I’m just not sure God could ever love someone like me.” But this is like carrying around a mirror inviting others to come and gaze at your blemishes instead of carrying around a scrapbook detailing all the excellencies of Christ. True humility is not self-hatred but self-forgetfulness, as many have noted, humility “is not thinking less of yourselves but thinking of yourself less.”

Humility and Strength
Humility is not becoming a passive doormat, but is actively and firmly resisting sin.

1 Peter 5:8–9
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (first published in 1678), Christian descends into the “Valley of Humiliation” where he faces the dragon Apollyon. The combat was severe because Christian’s pride was severe. The progression was this: (1) Christian was proud, (2) God resisted his pride causing Christian to stumble and slip into the “Valley of Humiliation”, (3) Christian had to battle Appolyon until he recognized his wounds and weakness, (4) God gave grace to the humble to help him overcome, (5) Christian gave praise to God. We see, then, that true humility is not the absence of strength but the strength of the Lord in action.

Humility and Glory
The call to humility is also a call to glory in Christ. 

1 Peter 5:10–11
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Our Summit Handbook gives the following definition, “Humility is a posture of the heart in which one seeks to bring to glory to God above oneself in both thought and action.” Humility and ambition are not at odds when ambition is aimed at bringing glory to God. In this sense, pride is misdirected worship. It is the attempt to glorify something lesser than God. Therefore, humility is consistent with winning glory for the Lord. Hiding your talents or dismissing your good qualities is not humility, whereas displaying God’s glory so that it is seen and loved and enjoyed is holy and humble ambition.

You may wonder then, are we not in danger when we celebrate our athletic wins, CLT scores, or how much money we’ve raise for the new building? Is that prideful boasting? It certainly can be. To the degree we do those things to exalt ourselves apart from Christ, it is pride and it is wrong. To the degree we bring them up to celebrate God’s grace and gifts to us and through us we are bringing glory to Christ in spite of ourselves. We want to get to the place where we, with the Psalmist, declare:

Psalm 115:1
“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to you name be the glory.”

A distinctively Christian humility then is full of godly honor, confidence, strength, and glory. This kind of humility flows from an understanding that God is not like us, He is almighty and holy, and that He became like us as a servant in his incarnation. Each day we are called to have the humility of Christ and dress for battle. You either clothe yourself with pride to do battle against God, or you clothe yourself with humility to, with God, do battle against your pride. May the Lord help us to not be wise in our own sight, but to be humble, fully relying upon his strength, wisdom, and grace.