This article appeared in our March 2005 newsletter.
I have a confession to make. Even with all this talk of the goodness of humility and the sin of pride, I don’t like being humbled. Actually, I hate it! There is something in me (maybe even all of me) that recoils at the idea of being humiliated. I want to be respected and honored. I want to be appreciated and valued for all that I am. I want others to speak of me with glad admiration. How about you? Well if you’re anything like me, the Bible has good news for us. Though pride is a sin and is outright condemned, our desire to be valued, even exalted, is not sinful in itself. In fact, God appeals to these desires as the primary reason we should strive for humility. Huh? Well, take a look for yourself:
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
(1 Peter 5:6)
And Jesus confirms this principle on numerous occasions:
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:4)
If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all. (Mark 9:35)
Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11)
So, the reason we want to be humble now is so that we will be exalted later not by ourselves but by God Himself. In fact, God’s desire to properly exalt us is seen in His willingness to first humble us. But why is this the case? If God has given us the longing to be exalted and He is willing to satisfy this longing, then why does He insist that we first humble ourselves and become the least of servants? Because there is one thing that is far more important to God than our glory…and that is, His glory.
THE LIFTER AND THE LIFTED
To understand why God hates pride but loves to exalt us, we need to make a fine but important distinction between the Lifter and the Lifted. By the Lifted we mean those who have been placed in a high and honored position. But this is done not by their own strength, but rather by the will of another. The Lifter is the one who has the power and authority to place the Lifted in this high position. In the end, who is greater? As great as the Lifted may seem, clearly, it is the Lifter who is greater.
Let me try an analogy. After winning the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots take the Lombardi Trophy and put it in the place of greatest honor in their locker room above everything else in the Stadium. Truly, this trophy is great and is highly valued. But who is greater: the relatively inexpensive metal (or is it plastic now?) trophy or the multimillion dollar franchise that defeated all contenders to win this prize?
The Lifter is the greatest and God is the Ultimate Lifter. Furthermore, He intends to be recognized as the Only Lifter (See Isaiah 45). Thus, it is not a sin to be exalted, it is a sin to exalt yourself. (Matthew 23:12) That is, there is no problem in wanting to be lifted, so long as we do not presume to be the Lifter. Pride is when we seek to be the one who lifts…that is, the one who does the work and gets the credit.
THE PERFECT EXAMPLE
God gives us the perfect example of this principle in our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Philippians 2:5-11. First notice how Jesus makes Himself nothing…and then how God the Father exalts him to the highest place. In the end, the only One greater than Jesus is God the Father who is the One who lifts His Son above all else. (See also 1 Corinthians 15:27-28) Jesus is properly honored by all, but it is God the Father who gets the ultimate glory. This is our model. We make ourselves the least and, in time, God makes us the greatest. Our heart’s desires are fully satisfied and God is fully glorified. Sounds like a good deal to me.