Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Humility

We could all use more of it - especially me! Check out these and be challenged.

"God, give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their worst!" - George Whitefield

"The way of the Christian leader is not the way of upward mobillity in which our world has invested so much, but the way of downard mobility ending on the cross...It is not a leadership of power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Chrsit, is made manifest...I am speaking of a leadership in which power is constantly abandoned in favor of love." - Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus

What does it mean to be humble?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Humbleness is difficult to achieve if you consider the arrogance inherent in Christianity:
*everyone who disagrees with MY beliefs will go to hell
*Jesus love ME
*the creator of this vast universe LOVES ME and approves of ME;
*MY beliefs are true and right; all other religious teachings are wrong.

peacereality said...

i will not even try to defend the arrogance of some Christians, but i think the message of Jesus (which is the message of Christianity) is a message of love and service. Jesus, who actually claimed to be God (see john 5.18), came and clothed Himself like a man so that He could live the life we should have lived and die the death we deserve to die. i cannot think of a greater humility than that. Christians are called to be Christ-like and i think the biggest part of that would probably be to serve in love as Jesus did. i'm sorry for your experience and my own of "christians" that don't live like that, but i believe the heart of christianity is love, grace and service.

Unknown said...

You misunderstand. It's not my experience with Christians, it's the fact that if you-not a hypothetical you, but peacereality you, are in fact born again, then you believe that I am going to hell. You believe that I am wrong to have a faith other than yours and you believe it is your calling to save me from my misguided beliefs.
You have the arrogance to believe that an omnicient God who created this vast universe is involved in your daily life.
These tenants of your faith are at odds with "humility".
One other question: You state that Jesus claimed to be God. You do not state that Jesus was God. What do you believe?

peacereality said...

i believe that Jesus is God and that, like He said, He is the only way to heaven. i don't believe there is anything special in me - actually, i'm the biggest sinner i know. i came to faith in Christ when i was an atheist sitting in a drug rehab in the midwest with five felony charges hanging over my head. i am so thankful for the mercy God has shown me, because if anyone deserves to go to hell, it is me. Jesus changed my life though. i don't think it is arrogant that i share that with people, i just think it would be terribly unloving of me if i didn't.
i don't think it is arrogant to believe that God is personal, either. as i look at the world around me, at the people and the trees and my dog and the way that snow falls so slowly at night, i have a hard time remembering when i didn't see God's fingerprints all over it.
many people, as i once did, think that Christians put God in a box by saying Jesus is the only way to heaven. do you think that saying God is not personal, cannot be known, and would not reveal Himself to His own creation may be putting God in a box that just looks a little bit different?