Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Pursuit of Humility
Justin Taylor links to some John Piper material on humility. Taylor titles his post "How To Pursue Humility." Says Piper:
The pursuit of humility is also fraught with pride. Progress against a metric, even if that metric is to measure self-sacrifice, results in a natural giddiness at that progress; a giddiness that quickly becomes pride.
Humility is, in the end, about powerlessness. Piper's guidance, excellent though the individual points are, implies that we have some power in the situation. We don't - we have only the realization of our powerlessness. The very self-examination involved in "the pursuit" of humility, belies genuine humility.
I once made humility a "spiritual goal" for a season. Spent the season in fervent prayer and deep contemplation of my "progress." At the end of what I thought had been a season of "running the good race." God chose to tell me, without reservation, what an unmitigated, prideful jerk I was. He did so in a way that I became a public failure, not just at humility, but at pretty much everything I had endeavored to do that season. In the end, my prayer was answered, but in a way that I never contemplated.
The lesson I learned? Pray for humility, but never pursue it - It finds you.
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How do you remain humble?Interesting thoughts - dangerous game. One does not become humble, one is MADE humble - I think that is what Piper is driving at with that "means" stuff. And being made humble hurts - hurts in ways we simply cannot imagine until we have experienced it.
I don't. What makes you think I'm humble? A lot of people don't think I'm humble.
I'll take the question to mean, "How do you work at it?" And that's a good question. I do try to work at it.
For one, I ask others to pray for me. And I pray to the Lord, "Before I give way to any kind of proud misuse of this influence for my ego, kill me. Take me before I ruin this church, this ministry, and these books. If I have to end on a note that would cast a pall over an entire life of effort, please take me before that happens."
[...]
Secondly, God always uses means, and the means are both providences and truth. The truth is that I'm a sinner. I wasn't only a sinner. I am a sinner. "He who says he has no sin is deceived" (1 John 1:8). So I am a sinner. This does not take any major argument, and it doesn't take much of a mirror. I just see it over and over again.
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A third thing is ask people around you to be honest and tell you when you're blowing it, whether you're blowing it in little ways or big ways.
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Finally, you recognize that everything you do, you do in the strength that God supplies. That can be an empty phrase if you're not really believing it. But Paul said, "By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. But I worked harder than any of them." Now he could stop right here and boast in his work, but he goes on: "Nevertheless, it was not I but the grace of God that was with me."
The pursuit of humility is also fraught with pride. Progress against a metric, even if that metric is to measure self-sacrifice, results in a natural giddiness at that progress; a giddiness that quickly becomes pride.
Humility is, in the end, about powerlessness. Piper's guidance, excellent though the individual points are, implies that we have some power in the situation. We don't - we have only the realization of our powerlessness. The very self-examination involved in "the pursuit" of humility, belies genuine humility.
I once made humility a "spiritual goal" for a season. Spent the season in fervent prayer and deep contemplation of my "progress." At the end of what I thought had been a season of "running the good race." God chose to tell me, without reservation, what an unmitigated, prideful jerk I was. He did so in a way that I became a public failure, not just at humility, but at pretty much everything I had endeavored to do that season. In the end, my prayer was answered, but in a way that I never contemplated.
The lesson I learned? Pray for humility, but never pursue it - It finds you.
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