God’s Strategy For Being #1:
Humility
Illustration: A coach and his recruiter were talking about the upcoming football season. The recruiter asked, “What kind of players are you looking for this year coach?” The coach replied, “you know the player who gets knocked down and doesn’t get up?” The recruiter answered, “You don’t want that player.” The coach said, “right.” “You know the player that gets knocked down and gets back up but gets knocked down again?” the coach asked again. The recruiter said, “You don’t want that player either.” The coach said, “You know the player who gets knocked down, gets back up, gets knocked down and gets back up, gets knocked down and gets back up?” “That’s the player you want isn’t it coach”, the recruiter asked. “No,” the coach said. “I want the player that is knocking everybody down—that’s the player we want!”
So many people think that is what greatness is all about. The one always standing. The one always pushing himself forward.
God has his own strategy for greatness. His strategy is so foreign to us. We think of how we get to be #1: hard work, long hours, step over people, be tough, be stern, make lots of sacrifices. Our world is missing those who model true greatness. Our world needs people who will model true greatness. This church needs those who will model God’s approach to being #1. Our children are bombarded on television when they see sports stars and movie stars give a false sense of what true greatness is about.
In September (12th) 1994 the Star Tribune (in Minneapolis, Minnesota) carried a guest editorial that captured the atmosphere that asphyxiates humility:
“There are some who naively cling to the nostalgic memory of God. The average churchgoer takes a few hours out of the week to experience the sacred . . . But the rest of the time, he is immersed in a society that no longer acknowledges God as an omniscient and omnipotent force to be loved and worshiped. . . Today we are too sophisticated for God. We can stand on our own; we are prepared and ready to choose and define our own existence.” (Taken from a sermon by John Piper)
Unfortunately, this is the way the world turns. But it’s not the way God intends.
Here is God’s strategy for being number 1: Let’s look at Mark 10:35-45.
In this story Jesus had just finished telling his followers that he was going to be betrayed and condemned to death. It is as if James and John didn’t even hear what Jesus just said when they asked their “Teacher” if they could sit on the left and right of him in his glory. It was one of those, “you guys just don’t get it” moments. Jesus responds with telling them that those who want to be first you have to be a servant to all. He then ends in verse 45 with an example from his own life.
This reminds me of Philippians chapter 2. Paul tells the church there to imitate following Christ’s humility. In verse 5 he says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” It is as if Paul talks about what humility is and then he says o.k. here is how Jesus did it. He says in verse s 6-8, “Who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
We see God’s strategy for being number one in these verses.
* God’s strategy for being #1 is this: the way up is the way down.
True greatness in life is not found in an accumulation of medals and trophies but in a life emptied into the Person of God in the service of others.
Here are some other scriptures that support this:
Proverbs 18:12 “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.”
Matthew 23:12 “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Philippians 2:8-9 “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,”
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
So, what do I mean by the way up is the way down?
In Mark 10:45 Jesus tells us that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus’s purpose was not to be served but to serve and give his life. We are called to be followers of Christ. We are called to serve others. Not step over them. Not to do whatever we can do be successful or to get that promotion.
So, if you want to strive to be the best husband or best father or best wife or mother serve them. You want to be successful in this life? Serve others.
One thing we have to remember is that we have to have the help to do this. Let’s be honest…humility is a tough thing. It is foreign to us. It’s totally not the norm. So, how do we live a life of humility? We have to depend upon the one who promised to help us.
In Mark 10:45 Jesus says that he can not to be served but to serve. You know what that means? He doesn’t need your help. He doesn’t ever have car trouble. He doesn’t need his yard mowed. He doesn’t need you to cover for him when he takes a vacation. (I’m being silly, God doesn’t take vacations). But you know what? We are the ones who need the help. That is why he has come—to serve us. He serves us in the since that he gives us guidance. He gives us the power to walk humbly with him. We need to always remember that apart from him we can do nothing!
True greatness is a life of humility. God honors and exalts a humble person. May we never forget that humility is not a sign of weakness but of an abundance of strength.
How do I know if I am living a humble life? Answer these questions in your own heart.
1). How much of your decision-making do you entrust to the Lord?
2). Do you give God thanks for all that you have and all that you are?
3). Are you governed by God’s word or does your own “conscience” guide you?
4). Is God getting credit for what only God can do in your life?
5). Do you seek out to be the center of attention? Are you always looking to be honored?
Illustration: One of the main motivations for me to get so involved in school was so my peers would think highly of me. I always sought to get my name in the paper. I realize now how prideful and foolish that was.
6). Do I trust my present and future to the Lord? (Pride seeks to be anxious and fearful abut the future because we are not really sure God has the best intentions in mind for us.)
7). Is it more important to me that God is honored than I be #1?
8). How do you respond when someone praises you?
If you are here tonight and you have been really struggling with living a humble life do not give up. Don’t get down on yourself. View tonight as God’s invitation to you to know what true greatness is—serving others in the power and strength of Christ. God does not want to give up on you.
ILLUSTRATION: In Nikos Kazantzakis’s novel Christ Recrucified, there is a scene in which four village men confess their sins to one another in the presence of a clergyman. One of the men, Michelis, cries out, “How can God let us live on the earth? Why doesn’t He kill us to purify creation?” And the religious leader answers, “Because, Michelis, God is a potter; He works in mud.”
Here are some practical things I want to leave you with tonight that might help you get serious about humility.
· Ask God to make you unimpressed by your successes, accomplishments, and position.
• Express to God a willingness to remain in humble, invisible positions of service.
• Keep godly company.
• Get in over your head in ministry ventures. Let God stretch you.
• Confess your pride to a trustworthy friend.
• Pray John Wesley’s prayer every morning: “Let me be nothing and Christ be all in all.”
• Persist in seeking God. Ask Him daily for His strength, wisdom, provision, direction, peace, and rest.
• Don’t do anything to make yourself appear better than you are, and don’t let people get away with building you up inappropriately.
• Memorize Isaiah 66:2; John 3:30; James 4:6; and Rev. 3:17–18.
• Give it all back to Him every day thru prayer—your success, wealth, home, family, ministry—everything.
• Receive compliments, but then pass them on to the Lord.
• Ask God daily to humble you. Give Him invitation and room to break you daily, even hourly, so that He need not break you in greater, more painful ways.
* Never forget the cross.
David Henderson—Discipleship Journal
