A New Devotion - Reclaiming Some Humility

Below is a copy and a recording of a new devotion. I hope you find it meaningful.

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Luke 18:9-14 [Contemporary English Version]

Jesus told a story to some people who thought they were better than others and who looked down on everyone else:

Two men went into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood over by himself and prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and unfaithful in marriage like other people. And I am really glad that I am not like that tax collector over there. I go without eating for two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all I earn.”

The tax collector stood off at a distance and did not think he was good enough even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he pounded his chest and prayed, “God, have pity on me! I am such a sinner.”

Then Jesus said, “When the two men went home, it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who was pleasing to God. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.”

Reclaiming Humility

I think the value we place on humility is one of the biggest changes I’ve seen within our society during my lifetime. While it was once a quality possessed by every hero, now we seem to reward and support the most arrogant people we can find. For example, when I was a kid, I remember my dad and I would watch Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling on television every Saturday afternoon. And back then, you could always separate the heroes from the heels by the interviews they gave after their matches. I mean, guys like Rip Hawk and Ollie Anderson would boast and brag about their enormous skill and general greatness, while Johnny Weaver and Paul Jones would talk about how lucky and grateful they were to have the fans cheering for them. Now, that’s what they would say, and back in the day, there was no question which wrestlers got cheered by this ten-year-old boy as they stepped into the square circle and which got booed and jeered. You see, humility was like a white hat in an old western; it was something that reflected on the quality of the person.

Of course, that’s not the case anymore. Even men and women in occupations a whole lot more refined than professional wrestling sound more full of themselves than Rip Hawk on his worst day. And frankly, I find this very disappointing. It’s as though people have started to confuse arrogance with confidence and to believe that words can be a substitute for action. And so those who seek to lead have no problem telling us how great they are and how any mistake made should be blamed on someone else. Now this is what they say, because a lot of good and sincere people seem happy to consume their rhetoric like children eating cotton candy. 

But even though that appears to be a fact of life at the beginning of the twenty-first century, that isn’t true in our relationship with God. You see, God isn’t moved by our spiritual-sounding words. And he’s not impressed by claims that we’re better than others and that, if something goes wrong, you should look at them, not us. Of course, why would he? He already knows who we are and what we do, and he has a better understanding of our character than we do ourselves, much less those whose opinion we can manipulate through a few well-placed “amens.” No, arrogance isn’t what God wants to hear from us. Instead, he wants us to approach him with humility, recognizing our weaknesses and accepting our mistakes. In other words, God wants us to see ourselves as we really are, warts included, because only then will we be able to move from what we were and to become the men and women we were created to be. You see, spiritual growth is only possible when we recognize that we still have room to grow. And for that reason, I think it’s time for us to reclaim some humility.