HUMILITY IS A VIRTUE, NOT A VICE
(I Peter 5:5-6)
1. Humility can be one of the toughest challenges of the Christian life.
2. Leonard Bernstein was once asked which instrument was the most difficult to play. He thought for a moment and then replied, "The second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm - that’s a problem. And if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony." (elbourne.org)
3. Most Christians sort of know what humility is.
4. In the OT, humility is sometimes translated "affliction." In OT we see this correlation: when Israel became proud, God afflicted (or humbled) the nation. When Israel humbled herself, God exalted (or delivered) the nation. Humility addressed an attitude toward the sovereign God and toward others.
5. The Greek philosophers had a different view of their word for "humility." The Greek work more or less implies the concept of degrading oneself and wallowing in the mire.
6. So the NT authors had the task of taking the Greek word and giving it more of an OT Hebrew flavor. Unfortunately, the European languages still leave us with a bit of that Greek flavor…that humility = being humiliated or trying to think of yourself as scum.
7. Regarding the New Testament meaning of the Greek word, “?????????” Colin Brown writes, “The demand to humble oneself like the …not mean that one should make oneself lower than one actually is. Rather, one should know, like the child, how lowly one really is. Humility is to know how lowly we really are before God."
8. Paul wrote that we should "not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think of ourselves with sound judgment" (Rom. 12:3). Pride is a lack of sound judgment about ourselves. Humility is simply aligning ourselves with reality, bypassing our natural propensity to replace God with ourselves and withdrawing from thinking I am capable of ranking myself in comparison to others. I view myself as part of a team rather than God’s star athlete. I view myself as part of my family, community, workforce, church, or neighborhood –which is, in turn, less than perfect and certainly not a God replacement.
9. The fiction character Sherlock Holmes stated: "My dear Watson, I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one’s self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers."
10. Holmes is right; the problem is that the common definition of humility implies lying to ourselves. The only difference is that we compare our strengths to God’s, and thus align our judgment.
Main idea: Everyday and throughout the day, we choose between humility and pride. But how important is this choice? According to Peter, very important.
I. People With AUTHORITY Issues Lack Humility (5a)
A. Submission to authority and humility are DIRECTLY connected
1. Humility might be defined as, "not thinking more highly of ourselves than we should."
2. Humble people recognize that they depend upon God and others; there is something arrogant about an independent spirit; those who think they are better than others (special relationship to God, special gifts) are prone to be troublemakers
3. Self-image and pride often have an inverse relationship (most common)
4. In other instances [great success], they have a direct relationship (Nebuchadnezzar)
B. Pride is behind MOST church conflicts
Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.
1. Young men are often the most energized & idealistic
2. Age “in the Lord” is probably in view
3. Pride makes us think we have little to learn, and we therefore value our opinions as much as those who know their stuff…
4. Or pride can work within those who know their stuff to automatically rule out the opinions of those less trained, educated, or experienced!
5. The truth is, we all have plenty to learn, and we can all learn something from one another…
6. Pride makes us want to get our way, and can turn molehills into mountains…
7. Pride is the devil’s invitation to destroy churches (I have never seen it so intense among churches that really teach the Bible)
: Everyday and throughout the day, we choose between humility and pride. But how important is this choice? According to Peter, very important.
II. Humility Is A CHOICE (5b)
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another
A. Pride is like a virus that MUTATES
1. It started in Eden: take the fruit and be like God
2. Vs. 7 is next week’s sermon, but in both Peter and James, Satan is brought up right after believers are encouraged to humble themselves!
3. It can appear as humility, Christian love, or zeal
4. Number one reason missionaries leave the field….
5. Pride is a greased pig that gets away; a chameleon that changes color, a virus that mutates, a master of disguise that can put on many faces…
B. We choose HUMILITY just as we choose CLOTHING
1. The word used here was used of a servant who puts on an apron before he served his/her master
2. But a servant does not keep that apron on 24/7; so we cannot "put on humility" by making a choice and be done with it; it is a frequent choice
3. John Piper comments about the pricetag of humility, "…in all its forms humility is the risk of losing face. Humility is the risk of not being noticed, not being appreciated, not being praised and not being rewarded. Lowliness runs the obvious risk of being looked down on."
(source: sermoncentral)
: Everyday and throughout the day, we choose between humility and pride. But how important is this choice? According to Peter, very important.
III. Humility Shows Itself within RELATIONSHIPS (5c)
A. “Toward One ANOTHER”
B. Immediate family KNOWS if you are humble
1. family life: things like apologies, respecting rights
2. work: giving other praise for a job well done
3. church: eagerness to learn
4. Am I smug? Superior? A know it all? Do I amplify my strengths while amplifying the weaknesses of others? Are my conversations balanced?
: Everyday and throughout the day, we choose between humility and pride. But how important is this choice? According to Peter, very important.
IV. Pride and Humility Are SPIRITUAL Issues (5d)
A. We are not predetermined TO BE PROUD
B. We are not EXCUSED if we acknowledge our problem
• Nowadays if you admit something, you don’t have to change it…
• It’s not because we have German blood
• Some people really believe stubbornness & arrogance are virtues…
• It’s not just a personality weakness that doesn’t matter
C. God demands that we HUMBLE ourselves
D. Aesop’s Fable about Humility: A bull was bitten by a Mouse and, angered by the wound, tried to capture him. But the Mouse reached his hole in safety. Though the Bull dug into the walls with his horns, he tired before he could rout out the Mouse, and crouching down, went to sleep outside the hole. The Mouse peeped out, crept furtively up his flank, and again biting him, retreated to his hole. The Bull rising up, and not knowing what to do, was sadly perplexed. At which the Mouse said, "The great do not always prevail. There are times when the small and lowly are the strongest and are able to prevail!"
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
: Everyday and throughout the day, we choose between humility and pride. But how important is this choice? According to Peter, very important.
V. Humility Plus Patience Equals Honor (6)
A. Humility has its REWARDS
B. In God’s Kingdom, the humble are EXALTED
"The humble man is he who acknowledges that he has no claim on God but that God has a total claim on him." ISBE, A.D. Verhey
C. But it takes PATIENCE
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
: Everyday and throughout the day, we choose between humility and pride. But how important is this choice? According to Peter, very important.
Conclusion
So how do we humble ourselves?
1. Focus upon and learn about God. The study of God is very humbling.
The Talmud expresses a common Jewish view of humility: "he that loves God loves men; he that makes God glad makes men glad; and it (the law) ….clothes him with humility and fear.’’ R. Meir {b}
2. Worship God (an adjustment…He must increase, I must decrease)
3. Catch yourself throughout the day (am I comparing, setting myself up as superior)
4. Monitor your thoughts
5. Monitor your tongue
6. Never consider yourself fixed; you must address this every day…
