Clarification

I would like to clarify something: what exactly is humility?

This is an issue that bugs me. Oprah thinks she is humble because she says things like, "This is truth to me..."
and I say, hogwash, that's not humility... that's the height of arrogance.

I say, "THIS is truth, right here in my hands, written on dog-eared pages bound with worn leather, edged with faded gold."

And Oprah and her followers would be rather irrational and say something like, "No, that is just YOUR truth..." or, "No, that can't be true because there are many forms of truth. You wouldn't be so arrogant as to claim to know THE TRUTH, would you?" (this strikes me as irrational because then, of course, they are telling me "the truth" that there is "no truth." Whatever. I digress.)

So who is being arrogant? The one pointing inward, towards herself? Or the one pointing outward, to something outside of herself, away to an objective Being?

Well, now that we have my opinion clarified, I thought I would copy this quote from The Rev. William Harrell of Norfolk, VA. I quote at length because well, it's all good.

"Humility is a precious virtue that is highly commended by the Word of God. It is also a virtue too rarely possessed and practiced as well as too often misunderstood...

Our understanding of humility cannot be formed on the basis of psychoanalysis or sentimental feelings. The Bible makes clear to us that the starting point for humility is not our determination to act with meek gentleness toward all people in all situations. Instead, the starting point for genuine humility is one's subservient attitude before God. Accordingly, if God cries out against sin, so do His humble servants, such as the prophets; but if God is grieved over men's hardness of heart, the humble are grieved. If God stoops to serve and save unworthy sinners, the humble follow the divine example. Therefore, we should expect to find the truly humble acting at times as bold as lions and at other times as meek as lambs. The key to their attitudes and actions is found in their utter communion with, devotion to, and faithfulness toward the God whom they serve with humble gratitude and love.

Such humble devotion to the Lord is without the sort of fawning affection that characterizes counterfeit humility. Genuine humility is an attitude of mindful and loving devotion to God. The humble person is mindful of the Lord and of His will revealed in His Word supremely above his being mindful of his own needs and desires or those of other people.
At its heart, humility is characterized by an adamant determination, on the part of its possessor, to know and obey the will of God, though such obedience should lead to the death of the one obeying.

Through such supreme and loving regard for God, the humble also have higher regard for others than they do themselves. But this does not mean that the humble render themselves uncritical servants to further the godless goals of others. True humility is godly humility, and those acting from such humility will ever seek and serve to move others into increasingly vital and blessed communion with the Lord. Their service may at times include an exhortation to those who are nurturing rather than mortifying their sin; at other times their service may consist of patient and gentle ministry of comfort and encouragement to those who may be growing weary in their course of well-doing.
Whatever form the administration of the humble man's service may take, it always issues from a sense of blessed privilege, holy joy, and deepest gratitude that the humble find when they lie low at the foot of the throne of God's grace and glory.

The service of the humble ever aims to move others to that place of supreme blessedness that only those who walk humbly with their God can enjoy."


Have you ever noticed that generally these days people do not like to be corrected? They don't even much like to be instructed, really. So if you are blessed, as I am, to have a pastor who takes his job SERIOUSLY as a shepherd, you may hear complaints from time to time that he is arrogant. Or maybe he doesn't "act like Jesus would" because he isn't apologetic enough, or gentle enough, or whatever enough. I'm always a little surprised at that response, though: I mean, Jesus acted a lot of different ways with a lot of different people, didn't He? And wasn't He accused of the height of arrogance - blasphemy? And yet in truth, He was the humblest Person ever to walk the earth. His "mistake," when it came to the Pharisees, was to tell them The Truth. Gives one something to think about.

Another person that comes to mind is Moses. The Bible calls him "the most humble man on earth." Wow. And what was he accused of? Lets see...
"They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, 'You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?" (see Num. 11)
Moses' response was incredibly wise and humble:
"...you and your company are gathered together against the Lord..." (and not only that, but then he defended his brother, saying, "and what is Aaron, that you complain against him?") He didn't take it personally - he knew his place. He stood for the Lord. And he knew rebellion when he saw it.

Sometimes what appears as humility is only a wolf in sheep's clothing. And sometimes we ought to thank God that our pastor isn't a pansy.