Humility

What is humility?  Why is it important?  How do I attain something that seems so difficult?

It’s funny that the answer to each of these questions is the same and is found in the person of Jesus Christ.  He is humility, it is important because we follow Christ and He tells us it is important, and we attain it by asking our Savior to give us something that we don’t naturally have.  But what does this have to do with All Things New?  I’m glad you asked…it has everything to do with this ministry.  In each of our lives, we have the potential to be proud of what we accomplish.  I know there have already been times when I (Matt) have thought what a great job I must be doing for the ministry to be going the way that it is.  But we also have the potential, since we have been raised with Christ, to be proud of what Christ accomplished for us.

The truth is, we are taught to be proud from an early age, at least most of us are.  If we have good parents, we are told how talented and smart we are, and that is an awesome thing.  When we get to school, we are told that we have to focus on ourselves and make sure we get the education that we need.  When we enter the work force, we are told to work hard, put in long hours, and we will be promoted over the next guy because of how we work.  When we get involved with a church we are told to make sure we put our spiritual gifts to use and do the things that we think we should do regardless of what the church actually needs.  We are told that when we make money, we should be careful but get the things we like and do the things we want to do.

Here is my question, “Where and when are we taught humility?”  After reading through the Gospels and seeing the life of Jesus, I can’t think of anything that in our culture that is so different than the life of Jesus.  Think about His life and the humility that is seen all the way through.  

• He left Heaven to come here.
• He helped and healed the very people that He knew would kill Him.
• He lived a life without riches or even a home.
• He hung out with the lowest of society.
• He poured His life into 12 men who didn’t really understand any of His teachings until after He died.
• He was brought to trial and mocked and beaten for nothing!
• He allowed Himself to be killed and His blood provides forgiveness to people, like us, who turn our back on Him on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis.
• He did everything to bring glory to His Father even though He could have demanded glory for Himself.

I write all of this to say that my prayer is that All Things New somehow finds the humility of Christ.  As Jess and I lead this ministry, we lay ourselves aside for the good of others.  That when people think of All Things New they see something completely different from the rest of the world because it is a ministry and a people characterized by laying themselves down for the good of others.

I have been reading through the Gospels, and this idea of humility is one of the most challenging topics I have ever read…ever!  Honestly, I am naturally bent toward pride.  It is hard for me to admit when I am wrong, and it is even harder for me to listen to others or follow the advice of others when I am convinced that I am right.  The funny thing is, Jesus was somehow always right and always humble at the same time, and then I am rarely right and rarely humble at the same time.  I was in a situation recently when I knew (and I am still convinced that I am) I was right and others were wrong.  We spent some time arguing, actually none of us were experts on this particular subject but we all pretended to be.  And in the end, we each left our discussion without a shred of humility.  In fact, the only person who spoke with humility is not a follower of Christ, and probably the closest to an expert on this topic, how humbling!  I have just realized that I failed my first test of humility.  

So here is my challenge…Let’s strive for humility together!

Let’s listen to, memorize, and follow Philippians 2:5-11 so that we, as followers of Christ and supporters of All Things New, can be a people who strive to have the attitude of Jesus Christ, to put others above our selves, and to understand the importance of revolving our lives around humility.