It
has been said that, “humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of
yourself less.” But what exactly does that look like? Perhaps there is no
better example than the story which is told about Christian theologian John
Stott (1921-2011).
Now
the name John Stott may not mean much to you, but to many pastors, “Stotty” as
he was affectionately called, was a dear old friend. In fact, his New Testament
commentaries line my library shelves along with his masterpiece, The Cross of Christ. He was not only a
fine expositor and intimidating scholar, but he was also as common as dirt.
In
an excellent article about his life featured in Christianity Today, here is one memory of his legacy. Latin
American theologian Rene Padilla remembers vividly one of his early
encounters with Stott. “On the previous night we had arrived in Bariloche,
Argentina, in the middle of heavy rain. The street was muddy and, as a result,
by the time we got to the room that had been assigned to us our shoes were
covered with mud. In the morning, as I woke up, I heard the sound of a
brush—John was busy, brushing my shoes. ‘John!,’ I exclaimed full of surprise,
‘What are you doing?’ ‘My dear René,’ he responded, ‘Jesus taught us to wash
each other's feet. You do not need me to wash your feet, but I can brush your
shoes.’”[1]
Wow!
Think of it, here was a man known around the world for his preaching and
writing, who rubbed shoulders with Billy Graham and other VIPs, yet he was
humble enough to clean the muck off a friend’s boots. That’s a great
illustration of what Paul wrote concerning the elusive virtue of humility, “Do
nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own
interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil 2:4-5).
Let
those words sink in for a minute. How often we stumble when we fail to be
humble. I like what Charles Swindoll wrote on this, “Genuine humility isn't
something we can announce very easily. To claim this virtue is, as a rule, to
forfeit it. Humility is the fairest and rarest flower that blooms. Put it on
display and instantly it wilts and loses its fragrance! Humility is one
character trait that should be a "closet utterance,” not something we
announce from the housetop. Humility is not something to be announced. It
simply belongs in one's life, in the private journal of one's walk with God,
not in a book that looks like a testimony but comes across more like a
"bragimony."[2]
So
how do we become humble? Paul tells us in the very next verse from Philippians
2:5, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” The
basic law of relationships is this: You tend to become like the people you
spend time with. No one has done anything more humble than Jesus, coming from
Heaven to Earth to become a man, live for us, give his life for us, and be
resurrected for us. When you spend time around him, it makes you more humble.
God help us to put others first like Jesus. -DM
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