| PowerLife - Mar 13, 2009 |
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| Friday, 13 March 2009 00:00 |
By Dr. Chuck VancePastor, Calvary Baptist Church I was playing golf some years ago with two of my mentors in the early years of my ministry, two older retired pastors. On about the 14th hole I asked them, “What is humility? I confessed my struggle with defining it for a parishioner who has asked? I will never forget Dr. Jimmy Baldwin’s multi-part answer, as he putted. At first it was humorous, and then I saw just how profound it was. He said, “Humility is something that if you think you have it, you don’t, and if you don’t feel it, then you probably do have it, and everyone else will definitely know if you have it, or not.” Wow, that still makes me stop and think. Webster defines it as “not proud or haughty, not arrogant or assertive.” In other words, humility is not the absence of pride, but the presence of healthy pride and self awareness, not a biased elitism. The key question of the day, is do I have an arrogant, elitist view of myself? Another or my historical mentors, Charles H. Spurgeon, the great Baptist pastor of London in the 19th century, wrote one day about this with the following quote: “Be not proud of race, place, face, or grace”. The value of Spurgeon’s exhortation is how he shares a way to practice healthy biblical humility. Spurgeon makes it clear that in the biblical view of life, there is no room for: Arrogant Racial Elitism, because we all came from the creative hand of God. Arrogant Social Elitism, because the realities of this world and its actions are out of our control, and what we have today can be lost in an instant tomorrow. You know, like how your 401.k is now a 201.k Arrogant Physical Appearance Elitism, because you cannot control you DNA and you did not choose your parents. Arrogant Self-Righteous Elitism, because your standing with God is not from your own works or self-righteous achievements, but all of the Total Grace of God. Notice how God deals with humility in Scripture in the following passage: “…God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. 1 Peter 4:6, 10 hcsb) This passage shows us the power of Humility, in that by it the door is opened to let God work in our lives according to our needs and His purpose. Yep, I think Old Dr. Baldwin hit the nail just right just on the head. This humility thing is pretty important after all, isn’t it? Happy Reflecting!!!!! With Pen in Hand, Dr. Chuck This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
