Humble Servants of Christ

(originally published in The Daily Press - Religion Section, August 23, 2014) 

“Humility” too often is assigned a weak connotation in our culture, going against the dominant values of competition, self-promotion, egotism, and hobnobbing.  Ancillary dictionary definitions include “ranking low in hierarchy; insignificant; low in condition or rank.” Humility, from a biblical perspective, is something more to be understood.

Harvard did a study that looked closely at how society participates in social ranking. The control group was asked if they would rather earn $50,000 a year while other people make $25,000 or would they rather earn $100,000 a year while other people earned $250,000? The majority responded that they would rather earn twice as much as others, even though it meant having half as much.

This result is one among thousands of experiments in behavioral economics demonstrating that rank trumps absolute financial status.  Moreover, this flies in the face of the psychological myth known as homo economicus; where economic man is considered rational, self-maximizing and efficient in making choices.

Not only is this irrational, but diametrically opposed to the ways of God. Our behavior will consistently reveal how we think. Does your behavior as a Christian model your belief? If someone were to shadow you for a day, could you relax and be yourself or would you feel a need to adjust some of your behaviors to coincide with your professed belief?

I must confess I am a left lane driver; when I drive into Pasadena during the week and get stuck behind a car that disregards the “slower traffic keep right” instruction, I don’t often have biblical thoughts toward them. Similarly, we would do well to remember that everyone is traveling at a different pace along the road of sanctification.

Contrary to the ways of the world and this culture, Philippians 2 states that our attitude “should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” The text goes on to say we are to be “like minded, one in spirit and purpose.”

Unity must be a mental attitude as much as an actual practice. These qualities are essential not just for our own personal spiritual growth and maturity, but also for the spiritual growth and maturity of the church. The church is only as effective in advancing the kingdom of God as the people comprising the body of Christ.

The next few verses say to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” C.S. Lewis reminds us “humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” Sometimes we are blind to how we see others and how we treat them based on our perceived needs, rights, or privileges.

The ways of the world are dog eat dog, replete in one-upmanship. Perhaps there is a place in your heart of selfish ambition or vain conceit that masquerades as false humility. It’s easier to have others to serve us; assigning social classes and rankings, and stepping over others to get where we want to go.  

This conflicts with the truth that theologically, apart from God, we are not entitled to anything. We are the ones that owe. Who we owe is God, and what we owe is this: “To love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves” (Luke 10:27). 

If we are doing that, we’ll stop keeping score of rights and wrongs, who’s in front or behind, or the need to toot our own horn.  

The repeated message, not only in Philippians 2, but throughout the entire Bible, is to live humbly as servants of Christ and obediently as children of God. Therein lies the blessing.  While the social ranking studies at Harvard represent a majority that desires to rank first, we know that as Christians, we aren’t supposed to socially categorize ourselves first or even second.  Imitating the humility of Christ is to find true J-O-Y: Jesus, Others, You.

The Rev. Heidi Summers is affiliated with Freedom in Christ Ministries, is a board certified pastoral counselor, board certified life coach and is currently completing her doctorate at Fuller Theological Seminary.