I just returned from a powerful and refreshing weekend spent with our GTN staff, who traveled from all across the country to attend our annual staff retreat. The transformative work of God’s Spirit was so evident in the stories that were shared. God is truly doing some amazing things around the world in and through our GTN staff! I am humbled that, by His grace, we get to be a part of this work.

On Saturday morning, I began our time together by sharing an overview of this past year and our vision for the coming year (and decade). Part of the morning was spent “unpacking” one of GTN’s seven key values: the idea of being “grace-oriented” in all that we do.

By “grace-oriented,” we mean…

We desire to be an organization that emphasizes grace, both in salvation and in how we live in relationship with one another. We want to be the type of people who are grace-oriented in both our personal and ministry spheres. We recognize that legalism kills, but grace gives life. We desire to be known as an organization that has an unwavering commitment to the grace of God in salvation (we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone), as well as a grace orientation in how we interact in our personal relationships with one another (Romans 14).

I wrote these seven values (as well as most of the thoughts that are written below) back in the Summer of 2004 when GTN was birthed. These values have guided us as an organization through the years. Each year at our staff retreat I like to reiterate our commitment to these values, especially to the value of living a “grace-oriented” life.

I thought I would share with you a portion of my notes from this past weekend on living “grace-oriented.” For those of you that know me, you will realize quickly that these thoughts are not new – I have been sharing them (and trying to live them personally) for most of my ministry life.

There is nothing I would love more than to have my epitaph read, “Here lies a man who never ceased to be amazed at the grace of God in his own life, and therefore tried to always give the same grace to all he met.” I hope these thoughts will be an encouragement and blessing in your life.

Here are my notes on living “grace-oriented”…

The Environment of GTN

One of the things that I am deeply committed to is creating an environment within GTN that is filled with grace (first and foremost) and secondarily, allowing this grace to overflow with genuine partnership (i.e. unselfishness) in how we relate to the larger body of Christ around the world!

Here is how I see a “grace-orientation” being lived out among our team of fellow leaders (servants).

To live “grace-oriented” means that we…

Choose to “major on the majors and minor on the minors.” Satan loves nothing more than to get Christians to either “major on minors” or “minor on majors.”  Either way, he has won the battle.

To clarify, lest I be misunderstood: In no way am I suggesting that we “throw core doctrines to the wind” and embrace as partners in ministry anyone and everyone who claims the title “Christian” (or even “evangelical Christian” – aka Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, etc.). I’m not downplaying the vital and foundational place that correct “sound” doctrine plays in our lives and ministries. I am simply saying that under the umbrella that I refer to as “conservative evangelical Christianity,” let’s keep the big picture in view and not splinter or divide over secondary (or tertiary) doctrinal issues (or worse, methodological issues).

A long time missionary friend of mine told me years ago (when I was still pastoring), that the one thing that broke his heart more than anything else was how bitterly divisive “missions people” are – and the heated arguments he had experienced out on the field weren’t over doctrinal issues, but rather methodological issues! They were missionaries who had graduated from the same seminary as my friend and who worked for the same mission agency, but who would no longer work with him – or anyone in his group simply because their approaches were different. It wasn’t like my friend was doing something that was harming the work in that particular country, let alone doing irreparable damage (it was actually very good and effective work in my opinion).

To clarify again: I’m also not saying that methodological issues are of no importance. They are. Some methods are better than others. But let’s not throw stones at those that “do ministry” differently than we do. Let’s give grace as they grow and learn – just as we want and need grace as we grow and learn (I’m certainly thankful God didn’t “throw me out of ministry” because of “how” I was doing it – which I later learned was probably not the best way of doing it). If we come across a missionary (or other partner in ministry) that we believe is using a method or strategy that is genuinely harming the long term health and effectiveness of the ministry in that region, graciously sit down with that person and try to share with him (or her) some things that you have learned over the years about the most effective ways of doing ministry. Always approach the person and situation with humility, grace and patience.

Being “grace-oriented” means that we choose to believe the best about one another and give each other the benefit of the doubt, rather than (as some organizations do) live in a constant state of skepticism and cynicism about fellow staff member’s motives, etc. Cultures of skepticism and cynicism are death-inducing, rather than life-giving (1 Cor. 4:5).

Being “grace-oriented” means that we choose to “above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). You can’t live in relationship with another person for very long without hurts and sins occurring. We take Jesus seriously when He said, “By this will all men know that you are my disciples, by your love for one another…” (John 13:34-35). We really believe the Apostle Paul when he said, “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). And the Apostle John where he writes, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

Philippians 2:1-5 should describe how we live in relationship with one another and other ministries…

“If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor:

Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.” (paraphrase of this passage from The Message)

Being “grace-oriented” means that we choose to value and always practice humility in how we treat one another, as well as the pastors and leaders that we serve around the world (Ephesians 4:1-2). Our desire is that we as a staff would be the direct opposite of your average “pastors’ conference” here in the U.S., where there always seems to be a game of “one-ups-manship” going on, with every pastor trying to impress all of the other pastors about how “wonderful” his ministry is.

Over the years, it has always been sad for me to see how (many times) pastors will come to a particular conference and immediately try to determine the “pecking order” (and where they fit in to that order…it’s usually by the size or influence of a pastor’s church or ministry). It’s just like in the business world where an individual enters a room and immediately assesses who the “big dog” is in the room (and how close they are to that “big dog”). Surely this breaks God’s heart!

Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

Our desire is that we would be the kind of staff that models the “humble, servant leadership” that Jesus would if He were on our staff.

We also choose to “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). When another staff member (or ministry) is blessed, we genuinely rejoice with them and don’t allow jealousy to creep into our hearts and minds. When another staff member (or ministry) receives an $80,000 gift and we only receive an $800 one, we genuinely rejoice with them. Also, when another staff member (or ministry) is going through a hard time, we “weep with them.” We put ourselves in their situation and imagine how it would feel if we were facing what they are facing.

Being “grace-oriented” means that we choose to differentiate between personal convictions and God’s clear black-and-white moral and ethical imperatives (Romans 14). We choose to give respect and grace to fellow staff members who approach ministry a bit differently than we do.

Nothing has shocked me or broken my heart more over the years than the narrow, and at times rabid, divisiveness between mission organizations (and groups of churches) around the world. For some reason, people involved in missions seem to have an even greater propensity to slice and dice (with the tiniest and sharpest razor knife) every aspect of theology and, probably even more so, missions methodology. Everyone seems to think that they know how to do it best and therefore, everyone else is either “wrong” or “unenlightened.” Some of these people seem to wake up in the morning with the express purpose of looking for a new “theological or methodological” fight. All the while, people by the millions are dying without Christ!

It has broken my heart as I have witnessed their unwillingness to work together and be “Kingdom-minded” in their approach. The world looks on and sees these bitter fights and wants no part of this “Jesus.” Surely God’s heart breaks and heaven weeps. Our hearts should break for the things that break the heart of God. Being “grace-oriented” means that we choose to value appropriate diversity, not only in the Body of Christ (as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4), but also with ministry methods and ideas.

We seek to learn from one another in a spirit of humility, respect and grace. We genuinely listen to others who may do ministry differently than we do and seek to learn whatever possible that fits with how God has made us and what He has called us to do, as well as where He has called us to do it.

When we do disagree with another ministry partner (either theologically, philosophically or methodologically), we do so with the utmost of grace and humility.

“…that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

(John 17:21-23)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

(John 13:34-35)

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

(Ephesians 4:29)

Today is my last post (part 3 of 3) discussing the subjects of hell, Rob Bell and his latest book Love Wins.

The above title comes from a sermon given by Dr. Bobby Conway (you can view the full video teaching here).

Why am I taking time to discuss this very difficult and sobering topic?Because we are commanded in Scripture to teach “the whole counsel of God,”(Acts 20:27) and not just “pick and choose” those doctrines that we like and throw out those doctrines that we don’t like. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that “All Scripture is inspired by God” (literally “God-breathed”). From Genesis to Revelation – it’s all “God-breathed.”

In 2 Timothy 4, the Apostle Paul tells us that in the last days people will be drawn away from the faith by teachers that will tell them “what their itching ears want to hear.” In other words, these pastors and bible teachers will only preach and teach subjects that are pleasing to the audience’s ears. These pastors conveniently “skip over” the tough subjects in Scripture.

A word of caution: Always be careful of a pastor, a church or a bible teacher that seems to never talk about certain biblical subjects that are clearly taught in Scripture (and are of importance for people to know). They may talk about Jesus, the gospel, heaven, grace, joy, love, how to have a happy marriage, how to have a happy family, how to be good parents and many other good, biblical subjects. But they may conveniently never mention anything about things like the reality of hell (or other politically incorrect subjects – and there are certainly many more). God commands us to teach, read and study “the whole counsel of God’s Word.” Not just the parts that we like and which make us feel good.

Many people in America today want a God of love, but not of holiness. A God of compassion, but not a God of justice. God is both holy and loving. He is bothcompassionate and just.

I believe it was J.I. Packer who said that if he were to pick a two-word phrase that best describes God, it would be “holy love.” If you only focus on “holiness” and not love, you do not have the God of the Bible. But equally so, if you only focus on “love” and not holiness, you also do not have the God of the Bible.

I think if we were all honest with ourselves, we would agree that hell is a subject that is not particularly enjoyable to talk about, think about, read about or discuss. I certainly do not enjoy preaching and teaching (and writing) on it. But Scripture makes it crystal clear that hell is real and those that do not come to faith in Christ will spend eternity there.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

In Acts it says (referring to Jesus), “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Jesus talked more about hell than heaven.

I’m convinced that one of the main reasons people cannot comprehend a literal eternal hell is because they do not understand the profound holiness of God and the utter sinfulness of mankind (all of us). I think every Christian should be required to read R. C. Sproul’s book The Holiness of God. Until we begin to understand God’s profound holiness and our utter sinfulness, we will (at best) only have a half-hearted appreciation for God’s love, grace and plan of salvation.

As A.W. Tozer said, “A low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils. A high view of God is the solution to ten thousand temporal problems.”

One other reason why people have a hard time comprehending a literal eternal hell is because all they are ever taught is the love of God, the grace of God, the kindness of God. They hear regularly about God’s “immanence,” but rarely ever hear of God’s “transcendence.”

I think it is important to mention here one of Spurgeon’s famous quotes, when he said (I’m paraphrasing): “To preach about hell without a tear in one’s eye is to be inhuman and un-compassionate.”

The truth must be proclaimed, but people must never feel that we are “joyful and happy” that non-believers will spend billions of years in eternal torment with no hope of it ever ending. Just typing that last phrase absolutely breaks my heart (and makes my tiny, finite mind literally hurt).

I know Scripture says that “God does not delight in the death of the wicked” (Ezek. 18:23) and “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

People will often say today (even people within evangelical churches), “I just couldn’t believe in a God like that” (whatever “that” happens to be – usually meaning a God that could allow seemingly ‘good’ people to spend eternity in hell).”The problem with that statement is this: They are placing what they “think” above what Scripture clearly teaches. Scripture is our final authority for faith and practice.

A person’s belief or non-belief doesn’t make something true or not true. I can say, “I just couldn’t believe in a God that allows anyone to go to hell!” The fact is, it doesn’t matter whether I believe it or not – what’s true is true. And what’s false is false. My belief does not make something “true” or “not true.” I can “believe” as hard as I want that there is no hell after death, but that won’t make “hell” disappear.

As Mark Driscoll has pointed out so well in speaking to a non-believer, “If I am wrong in my belief about heaven & hell, I lose nothing. But, if you are wrong, you lose forever…and spend eternity in hell.”

I leave you with this quote from Spurgeon…

“Meet me in heaven! Do not go down to hell. There is no coming back again from that abode of misery. Why do you wish to enter the way of death when heaven’s gate is open before you? Do not refuse the free pardon, the full salvation which Jesus grants to all who trust him. Do not hesitate and delay. You have had enough of resolving, come to action. Believe in Jesus now, with full and immediate decision. Take with you words and come unto your Lord this day, even this day. Remember, O soul, it may be now or never with you. Let it be now; it would be horrible that it should be never. Farewell. Again I charge you, meet me in heaven.”– C. H. Spurgeon, from his book All of Grace

Here are several links to articles and videos that I have found very worthwhile in dealing with this whole subject…

Rob Bell, Hell and Why I Hope I’m Wrong (by Joshua Harris)

Hell Yes, Hell No: A Conversation about Love Wins, Rob Bell and Why You Should Give a Rip (by Dr. Bobby Conway)

To Hell with Hell? (by Mark Driscoll)

A Chronology of Rob Bell on Hell (from Resurgence website)

Why Hell is Integral to the Gospel (by Greg Gilbert – on 9Marks website)

Lloyd-Jones on the folly of thinking God is only love and ignoring punishment and hell (Adrian Warnock)

How Can a Loving God send anyone to Hell? (from Christianity Explored website)

Gospel Coalition Panel on Rob Bell’s book ‘Love Wins’ and Universalism

Doing Away with Hell? Part 1 (by Albert Mohler, Jr.)

Doing Away with Hell? Part 2 (by Albert Mohler, Jr.)

We Have Seen All This Before: Rob Bell and the (Re)Emergence of Liberal Theology (by Albert Mohler, Jr.)

Love, Holiness, and Eternity: Some Reflections on Rob Bell – Part 1(by Ed Stetzer)

Love, Holiness, and Eternity: Some Reflections on Rob Bell – Part 2 (Ed Stetzer)

Love, Holiness, and Eternity: Some Reflections on Rob Bell – Part 3 (by Ed Stetzer)

Faithfulness Means Full of Faith (by Jared Wilson – from The Gospel-Driven Church blog)

I Hate Hell (by Tim Challies)

Rob Bell and the Controversy over Hell (by Randy Alcorn) (Part 1)

Rob Bell’s “Love Wins,” and the Biblical Doctrine of Hell (by Randy Alcorn) (Part 2)

Follow-up on Rob Bell and the Hell Controversy (by Randy Alcorn) (Part 3)

A Massive Shift Coming in What it Means to Be a Christian? – TIME Magazine considers Rob Bell (by Albert Mohler, Jr.)

The Truth about Hell (by Tommy Clayton of Grace To You radio ministry)

Christ Alone: An Evangelical Response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins (by Michael E. Wittmer). This is a review done by Douglas Phillips on The Gospel Coalition’s website.

Love Wins – A Review of Rob Bell’s New Book (by Tim Challies)

The New Evangelical Virtues (by Tim Challies)

Bell, Hell and What We Did Well (by Tim Challies)

Q&A: Francis Chan on Rob Bell and Hell (from Christianity Today magazine)

Review of Erasing Hell (by Aaron Armstrong – Gospel Coalition website)

The Reality of Hell (by Chuck Swindoll)

Pastor John Caprine of Summit Ridge Church in Las Vegas did a three-part sermon series on hell. The sermon titles were 1) Getting a Grip on Hell, 2) What is Hell? How Long is it? Who Goes? 3) If Hell is Real, now What?

The Hell Controversy (by Greg Laurie)

“There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason.” (C. S. Lewis)

C. S. Lewis went on to say, “I have met no people who fully disbelieved in Hell and also had a living and life-giving belief in Heaven.” Randy Alcorn adds, “The biblical teaching on both destinations [heaven & hell] stands or falls together. If the one is real, so is the other; if the one is a myth, so is the other. The best reason for believing in Hell is that Jesus said it exists.”

“Too many Christians choose to believe whatever makes them feel good, while they ignore, deny, or reinterpret Scripture when it doesn’t fit culture’s current definition of love and tolerance. Hence, culture and the reader of Scripture become the authority, rather than Scripture itself. Faith becomes merely a collection of fleeting opinions, always subject to revision. That is something very different from historic, biblically grounded Christian faith.” (Randy Alcorn)

This week I want to share a few more thoughts and responses to Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins.

Of the numerous concerns that I have with his book, one of my greatest is this:

It would be very easy for a person to read Love Wins and come away believing that people will have a second chance after they die to make a decision to place their faith in Christ, and therefore spend eternity in heaven.

Scripture makes it very clear that “…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 ESV). We see throughout Scripture that after death, there is no second chance. After death, there is no automatic rewind. What’s done is done. There is no turning back. There is no “I was wrong! What do I have to do now to make it right?” Of all the serious things in life, this certainly is one of the most serious and sobering. It is not something to laugh at or joke about. A person’s eternal destiny is at stake.

Someone could read Bell’s book and easily think, “I’ll have a chance to decide if I believe in Christianity and if I want to trust Christ after I die … so in the meantime, I’m going to continue to live life my way.”

After death, they would be shocked to find out that there is no second chance. No “do overs!” And that person will spend eternity separated from God in a place Scripture calls “hell.” Rob Bell could be misleading hundreds, if not thousands of people, into believing these false ideas. Scripture speaks often about the danger of being “misled” by false teaching (Acts 20:29-30; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 Timothy 4:1; Matthew 7:15; Galatians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 11:13).

Last week I shared with you Randy Alcorn’s review of Mark Galli’s book, God Wins.

This week I wanted to share with you Alcorn’s review of Francis Chan’s latest book, Erasing Hell. As I said last week, Randy Alcorn (in my opinion) is one of the best biblical and theological communicators in our day. His writing is easy to understand and yet theologically profound (not an easy balance). I have always found his writings to be solid and firmly rooted in Scripture.

Click here to read Randy’s review of Francis Chan’s new book, Erasing Hell.

I highly recommend both Galli’s book (God Wins) and Chan’s book (Erasing Hell).

This week I’m taking a break from my series (12 Lessons…) and thought I would share with you a very important and highly relevant blog post from Randy Alcorn (www.epm.org). I have always considered Randy to be one of the best writers in evangelical Christianity today. He has a very sharp theological mind and a strong, robust grasp of Scripture.

Many of you are aware of the recent book authored by Rob Bell, entitled Love Wins. In Bell’s book, he promotes a form of Universalism (Bell’s description is that virtually everyone will get into heaven – no matter what they believed here on earth and that people will have a second chance after they die to turn to Christ if they didn’t do so during their lifetime). There were numerous aspects of Bell’s book that were very troubling.

In response to Love Wins, there are two new books being released in the next few weeks. One is by Mark Galli (senior managing editor for Christianity Today magazine) entitled: God Wins: Heaven, Hell and Why the Good News is Better than Love Wins.

The other book is by Francis Chan and is entitled Erasing Hell: What God said about Eternity, and the things we made up.

I highly recommend both Galli’s and Chan’s books.

This subject (eternity, heaven, and hell) is of utmost importance! Satan loves nothing more than to get people distracted away from the seriousness of the question of eternity. As A.W. Tozer wrote…

“The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions. It hushes their fears and allows them to practice all pleasant forms of iniquity while death draws every day nearer and the command to repent goes unheeded.” (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy)

A few days ago, Randy Alcorn posted his thoughts about Mark Galli’s new book, God Wins, on his blog. It was so good that I thought it would be well worth passing along to as many people as possible.

To give you a brief taste of some of what Alcorn writes in this post, here is an excerpt…

“As I read Rob Bell’s book, I kept saying to myself what I’ve said while reading other recent “evangelical” books—that the God revealed in Scripture is not a love-only, single-attribute God. Vital as his love is, the seraphim in his presence do not cry out day and night, “Love, love, love is the Lord God Almighty.”

Love—as moderns narrowly define it, in the sense that everything should turn out well for everyone—certainly does not win in the biblical narrative. Rather, as Galli’s title aptly puts it, God Wins. And not just any God, but the true God. The Father who is both loving and righteous, the Son who is full of both grace and truth, the merciful Spirit who has the word Holy in his very name. God’s attributes aren’t a menu from which we may choose only what we wish. He is all that he is, all the time. The universe exists not for Love’s glory, but for God’s glory.”

Here is Randy’s blog post in its entirety – I believe it’s well worth 2-3 minutes of your time to read.

(If you would like to read more from Randy Alcorn, you can go to his website at www.epm.org, or directly to his blog post at www.epm.org/blog. Randy’s website is filled with hundreds of the best articles and resources available anywhere on the web. You can download virtually all of them for free.)

Today we come to Part 6 (and the final segment) of “A Humble Life.”

As I wrap up “Lesson 7” in this series on “What I Wish (as a Pastor) that I had Known, Understood, Believed and Lived 30 Years Ago,” I want to add seven more characteristics of “Proud People” vs. “Humble People” to the list I shared with you last week. This list has come primarily from Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ excellent book entitled, Brokenness: The Heart God Revives.

Before you read this, could I ask you to do one thing? Promise that you will not focus on how this applies to anyone else except your own heart:

Here they are:

Have you noticed that people typically do not like “proud, arrogant people?” Nor do they enjoy being around them. And yet, even though we know this to be true, we find ourselves (at times) somewhere on the left side of the above list. This is part of maturity and growing in Christ. None of us have “arrived” in our sanctification process (nor will we this side of heaven).

The prayer I would encourage all of us to pray on a regular basis is… “O Lord, I need your grace today! You promise grace to the humble. Help me to avoid looking at everyone else’s life to determine who is proud and who is humble. May I only ever examine my own heart, and choose humility each and every day.”

Tom Hovestol, in his book entitled Extreme Righteousness: Seeing Ourselves in the Pharisees, writes the following:

“The more spiritually alive and mature we are, the more we recognize how far short we fall of the glory of God. The closer we get to a mirror, the more clearly we perceive our imperfections. The mirror for Christians is Christ. Therefore, it should not surprise us that those who have known Him best have been most aware of their imperfections and most appreciative of His love and grace.”

Alan Nelson, in his book Embracing Brokenness: How God Refines Us Through Life’s Disappointments, writes the following about “seven tests of true humility.”

TESTS OF TRUE HUMILITY

There are several ways to detect humility in yourself or in others. Here are seven common ways to spot a humble spirit.

1. Humility does not demand its own way. If you think “It’s my way or the highway,” or if you often feel the need to defend yourself, chances are your humility level is low.
2. Humility exudes an attitude of service. You are there to help people, not to be helped. Jesus said, “I came to serve, not to be served.” It is not a consumer-oriented atmosphere where you shop around for who or what can give you the best deal.
3. Humility does not seek attention or credit. It is not concerned with having its name placed in the program, or on the dedicatory plaque, or even spelled correctly. There is almost a feeling of awkwardness that comes over humble people when the spotlight shines in their direction.
4. Humility forgives when offended, but is hard to offend. Perhaps the best way to avoid being offended by others is to become humble. Humble people do not read into others’ responses. Therefore, they are free to be honest and innocently naïve to the hate generated by others. At the same time, when hate is overt and obvious, they are at liberty to forgive, to release others from a false sense of obligation to love a certain way.
5. Humility does not criticize others. Finger pointing, opinion giving, and condemnation rarely emanate out of a pure, selfless attitude. Most criticism is personally oriented and seeks to punish another. Yet, humble people are not confined by the fear of speaking up for truth. They can be authoritative without being authoritarian because God is their motivation for making suggestions.
6. Humility produces a teachable spirit. Good leaders are learners. That is why leaders need to learn humility. Humble people know that they do not know everything, and recognize the multiple nuances that operate when more than one perception is involved in a situation. Humble people practice one of the most important behaviors of learning—they listen a lot. Beware the proud leader claiming to have all the answers. Humble people ask questions more than they give answers.
7. Humility is gracious and thankful. Perhaps this is a lost quality in our culture. We are all too aware of our rights and demand them even beyond what normal law affords. If you received a coin with humility on one side, thankfulness would be on the other. It is very hard to be truly gracious and proud. Jesus told the parable of the ten lepers, where only one returned to say, “Thanks.” The New Testament reminds us to give thanks, always.

John MacArthur, in commenting on 2 Corinthians 4:7, writes…

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, in order that [a purpose clause in the Greek] the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.”

That is why God puts the priceless treasure in clay pots, so that no one has to ask where the power comes from! In comparison to the glory of the eternal God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, in comparison to the magnificence of the New Covenant expressed all through chapter 3 of 2 Corinthians, in comparison to Christ’s shining glory, the preacher is nothing!…

A clay pot is a clay pot. It is without value, but it is useful. Clay pots in ancient times were used for a number of things. Sometimes something important was in a clay pot, like the Dead Sea Scrolls…But in the home they…were used for garbage and waste, to carry out what was unmentionable…

So we can better understand 2 Corinthians where Paul says, “We have this treasure in a garbage can, a waste bucket.”

We are common containers for the most humble and dirty uses; never, ever fit in ourselves to be brought into public. That’s how it is in the ministry.

Our only value is as containers. It’s the treasure that we bring that has the value. That’s why the Lord didn’t choose many mighty or noble.

He has chosen the humble, the base, the common. This is the essence of spiritual service. They accused Paul: “You’re weak; you’re unimpressive; you’re not a good communicator…” His response was this: “I know; I know. I’m just a pot – but do I have a treasure!”

The New Testament was not written by the elite of Egypt. It was not written by the elite of Greece, or Rome, or even Israel. . . . The most distinguished philosophers were at Athens; the most powerful leaders . . . of men were at Rome; and the religious geniuses were in Israel’s temple – and God never used any of them! He just used clay pots. . . .

We have peasants and fishermen, smelly guys, and tax collectors, clay pots, who were chosen to hold and to proclaim and to write the priceless treasure of gospel truth.

God is still doing it that way. He is still passing by the elite… God is finding the humble who will carry the treasure of saving truth…

If you want to be used mightily by God, get yourself out of it. Learn to see yourself as a garbage pail, or, in the words of Peter, clothe yourself with humility.

It’s not you; it’s not your personality; it’s the Word of God. He doesn’t need the intellectuals. He doesn’t need great people, fancy people, or famous people. Because the people aren’t the power. The power is the message!…

We ministers are weak, common, plain, fragile, breakable, dishonorable, and disposable clay pots who should be taking the garbage out – but instead we’re bringing the glory of God to our people.

The amazing thing is that such weakness does not prove fatal to the gospel, because the gospel is not out of us. The great reality is, this is essential to the gospel, because it makes crystal clear where the power really lies.

We are unworthy servants, but God has given us the treasure of the gospel. What a privilege!

(John MacArthur, “A Reminder to Shepherds,” in Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching, edited by Don Kistler (Soli Deo Gloria, 2002), p. 279-285.)

I leave you as I close out this “lesson” on humility with the following Scripture verses…

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom!” (Proverbs 11:2)

“The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor!” (Proverbs 15:33)

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted!” (Matthew 23:12)

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land!” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word!” (Isaiah 66:2)

“The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5)

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

And finally…

Augustine once made this statement:

“If you ask me what is the #1, #2, #3 most important quality of a Christian, I will answer by saying: Humility, Humility, Humility!”

The more I study humility…

• the more I realize how far I need to go to be a truly humble person.

• the more I understand why pride is considered the “chief” of all sins.

• the more I realize that Jesus is the perfect and complete embodiment of what “true humility” looks like.

• the more humbled I am at my own pride.

In a recent article in Christianity Today, Gordon MacDonald wrote about the biography of Samuel Logan Brengle, a commissioner in the Salvation Army. In the article MacDonald writes…

“If Brengle lived today, I wonder how he would have coped with the celebrity status that often adorns gifted communicators and clever authors who are packaged by marketing, development and publicity strategies. Toward the end of his ministry, Brengle wrote:

“If I appear great in their eyes, the Lord is most graciously helping me to see how absolutely nothing I am without Him, and helping me to keep little in my own eyes. He does use me. But I am so concerned that He uses me that it is not of me the work is done. The axe cannot boast of the trees it has cut down. It could do nothing but for the woodman. He made it; he sharpened it; and he used it. The moment he throws it aside, it becomes only old iron. O that I may never lose sight of this.”

And then MacDonald goes on to write: “Brengle’s view of himself (humility comes to mind) as God’s servant might not make it in the celebrity-driven venues today. But I believe that we could use a dose of his humble spirituality in our contemporary Christian world.”

One of the most helpful tools that I have come across that helps to clearly distinguish between Proud, Unbroken People and Humble, Broken People is a list that Nancy Leigh DeMoss (from her book Brokenness: The Heart God Revives) put together from her study of Scripture and her experience in both life and ministry.

There are dozens of items on both the “Proud” side and the “Humble” side. Today I want to share with you just six of them. Here they are:

Have you ever noticed the link between “wisdom” and “humility?” In James 3:13 it says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

Has it ever occurred to you the way that Jesus described himself in Matthew 11:28-30? It’s the famous passage we love to quote, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden…” But did you ever notice what Jesus says in the next verse? “…for I am gentle and humble in heart.” The very Son of God, who flung the stars into space (Colossians 1) and created everything there is, modeled for us what “humble in heart” looks like.

Max Anders, in his book The Good Life, clarifies some common misconceptions about humility:

“Humility does not mean you must see yourself as a pitiful excuse, a lowlife, a piece of refuse at the bottom of the human pile.

“Rather, it means you see yourself as God sees you: you have infinite and inherent value (given by God), but no more value than anyone else. It means being willing to accept God as the authority over your life, rather than insisting on being your own supreme authority. And since you accept God as the supreme authority over your life, and because you are of equal value but no greater value than everyone else, you are willing to order your life in such a way as to be a servant to others.

“When Christians do this, we meet each other’s needs in a context of harmony and love. When we fail to subordinate ourselves to others and are concerned only with meeting our own needs, we live a life of individualism and isolation — a state in which the Christian cannot be satisfied. We are not created to be loners. We are part of a family!”

Humility is one of those strange characteristics, in that when you know you have it — you’ve lost it! It is one of those virtues to be highly sought after but never claimed; because once you’ve claimed it — it’s forfeited!

I leave you this week with these very profound, but very sobering verses on humility:

The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1-2, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility…”

Jesus said in Luke 14:11, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:5, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

“Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth!” (Numbers 12:3)

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.” (Titus 3:1-2)

Subtitle: A Humble Life, Lesson 4

This week, I wanted to share some “quotable quotes” on humility…

“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God… as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29, 31)

“Since God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, what could be more important than understanding and developing true humility as a lightning rod for grace?… We need less egomania and more humility and servanthood in our churches today.” (Randy Alcorn)

“A proud Christian is an oxymoron.” (J. Ligon Duncan III)

“No matter our age or vocation, humility is our greatest friend and pride our greatest enemy.” (C. J. Mahaney)

“Jim Collins, in his well known book Good to Great, identifies two specific character qualities shared by the CEOs of these good-to-great companies. The first quality was no surprise: These men and women possessed incredible professional will – they were driven, willing to endure anything to make their company a success.

“But the second trait that these leaders had in common wasn’t something the researchers expected to find: These driven leaders were self-effacing and modest. They consistently pointed to the contribution of others and didn’t like drawing attention to themselves. ‘The good-to-great leaders never wanted to become larger-than-life heroes,’ Collins writes. “They never aspired to be put on a pedestal or become unreachable icons. They were seemingly ordinary people quietly producing extraordinary results.’ When Collins interviewed people who worked for these leaders, he says they ‘continually used words like quiet, humble, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, understated, did not believe his own clippings, and so forth’ to describe them.” (C. J. Mahaney)

“Yes, amazingly, humility sometimes attracts the world’s notice. But here’s something even more astonishing: Humility gets God’s attention. In Isaiah 66:2 we read these words from the Lord:

‘This is the one to whom I will look:

He who is humble and contrite in spirit

And trembles at my word.’

“This profound passage points us to an altogether different motivation and purpose for humility than we will ever find in the pages of a secular business manual. Here we find motivation and purpose rooted in this amazing fact: Humility draws the gaze of our Sovereign God.” (C. J. Mahaney)

“The person who is humble is the one who draws God’s attention, and in this sense, drawing His attention means also attracting His grace – His unmerited kindness.

Think about that: There’s something you can do to attract more of God’s gracious, undeserved supernatural strength and assistance! … Contrary to popular and false belief, it’s not ‘those who help themselves’ whom God helps; it’s those who humble themselves.” (C. J. Mahaney)

So what is “humility” according to Scripture?

“Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.

That’s the twin reality that all genuine humility is rooted in: God’s holiness and our sinfulness. Without an honest awareness of both these realities, all self-evaluation will be skewed and we’ll fail to either understand or practice true humility. We’ll miss out on experiencing the promise and the pleasures that humility offers.” (C. J. Mahaney)

“There is only one thing I know of that crushes me to the ground and humiliates me to the dust, and that is to look at the Son of God, and especially contemplate the cross.

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of Glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss

And pour contempt on all my pride.

Nothing else can do it. When I see that I am a sinner… that nothing but the Son of God on the cross can save me, I’m humbled to the dust… Nothing but the cross can give us this spirit of humility.”

(D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

“Fill your affections with the cross of Christ that there may be no room for sin [which includes pride].” (John Owen)

“Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to be saying to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.” (John Stott)

“How can anyone be arrogant when he stands beside the cross?” (Carl F. H. Henry)

“Far from offering us flattery, the cross undermines our self-righteousness, and we can stand before it only with a bowed head and a broken spirit.” (John Stott)

“Pride is more than the first of the seven deadly sins; it is itself the essence of all sin.” (John Stott)

In Proverbs 6:16-17, God lists those things “that the Lord hates” and “that are an abomination to him.” What’s at the top of that list? “Haughty eyes (i.e. pride).”

“I hate pride and arrogance.” (Proverbs 8:13 NIV)

“Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5) Think about the above verse: Stronger language for sin simply cannot be found in Scripture.

“The grand difference between a human being and a supreme being is precisely this: Apart from God, I cannot exist. Apart from me, God does exist. God does not need me in order for Him to be; I do need God in order for me to be. This is the difference between what we call self-existent being and dependent being. We are dependent. We are fragile. We cannot live without air, without water, without food. No human being has the power of being within himself. Life is lived between two hospitals. We need a support system from birth to death to sustain life. We are like flowers that bloom and then wither and then fade. This is how we differ from God. God does not wither, God does not fade, God is not fragile.” (R. C. Sproul)

“Charles Bridges once noted how pride lifts up one’s heart against God and ‘contends for supremacy’ with Him. That’s a keenly insightful and biblical definition of pride’s essence: contending for supremacy with God, and lifting up our hearts against Him.” (C.J. Mahaney)

“Jonathan Edwards called pride ‘the worst viper that is in the heart’ and ‘the greatest disturber of the soul’s peace and sweet communion with Christ’; he ranked pride as the most difficult sin to root out, and ‘the most hidden, secret and deceitful of all lusts.’

“God intentionally designed salvation so that no man can boast of it. He didn’t merely arrange it so that boasting would be discouraged, or kept to a minimum – He planned it so that boasting would be absolutely excluded!” As it says in Jonah 2:9, “Salvation is of the Lord.” (Mark Webb)

“The greatest and best man in the world must say, By the grace of God I am what I am, but God says absolutely … I am that I am.” (Matthew Henry)

“…God cannot bear with arrogance. He reveals Himself in Scripture as actively opposed to pride. Actively. ‘God opposes the proud (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). ‘Opposes’ in this statement is an active, present-tense verb, showing us that God’s opposition to pride is an immediate and constant activity. The proud will not indefinitely escape discipline.” (C.J. Mahaney)

“God cannot bear with seeing his glory appropriated by the creature in even the smallest degree, so intolerable to him is the sacrilegious arrogance of those who, by praising themselves, obscure his glory as far as they can.” (John Calvin)

(You will probably notice that there were several quotes from C.J. Mahaney. All of these have been taken from his book, Humility: True Greatness. This book was published in 2005 (Multnomah Publishers) and I read it soon after. It would certainly be at the top of my list of books on this grand, but very slippery and hard to apply subject. I would encourage you to pick up a copy and read it if you want to grow more in this area of your life (it’s a small book and a fairly quick read – only 170 [small] pages).

Subtitle: A Humble Life, Lesson 3

J.I. Packer writes these incredibly profound and comforting words (I urge you to allow these words to take root deep within your soul)…

“There is unspeakable comfort, the sort of comfort that energizes, in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me.

“There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that He sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow men do not see, and that He sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself.  There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that for some unfathomable reason He wants me as His friend and desires to be my friend and has given His Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose.”

It’s only when we understand our utter sinfulness and God’s profound holiness that we will begin to fully appreciate God’s phenomenal love for us! When we understand these truths, the natural response is humility! This God who is perfectly holy in every way, and we who are utterly sinful through and through – this God, this Lord, this Jesus – loves us immensely and promises to always work all things for His glory and for our good.

Randy Alcorn gives us perspective on humility…

“If we see God as He really is, and ourselves as we really are, there’s only one appropriate response: to worship Him. Humility isn’t pretending we’re unworthy because it’s spiritual—it’s recognizing we are unworthy because it’s true.”

As A.W. Tozer said, “Only the humble are sane.”

If someone were to ask me, “Paul, what do you consider to be one of the most important character traits required in order to be used by God, to have a happy, healthy marriage and maintain long-term successful relationships with friends and family?”

My answer would be: Humility.

No one has helped me more in understanding what a “prideful, arrogant” life looks like as opposed to a “humble, broken” life than Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Her superb book entitled, Brokenness: The Heart God Revives, would certainly be among the best and most personally impacting books that I have ever read.

The Apostle Peter, probably known as the most naturally arrogant of the disciples in his early years of ministry with Jesus, writes in his later years (after learning many lessons the hard way), the following:

“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

And then he goes on to say: “Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”

The force of the Greek text in verse 5 could accurately be translated as, “God stiff-arms the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

How would you like to be “stiff-armed” by God? Not me! I want and need all of the grace from God that I can get.

Notice also in v. 5 “who” is the One that does the “exalting.” God!

As a matter of fact, Jesus said in Luke 14:11, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Over the years, I’ve had dozens of men approach me about wanting to go into full-time ministry. Many times they tried the “self-promotion” route and came up empty. In many of these situations, no doors opened for them and no one seemed to be asking.

When asked for my opinion, my counsel has always been: Faithfully and humbly serve Christ where you are, with the opportunities that are in front of you. He promises to do the ‘exalting’ when and how He wants. He will open those doors if, when and how He desires. Trust His sovereign hand.

I’ve learned over the years that there are two ways to end up humble:

Either choose to humble yourself before God and others or let God do it for you! Trust me, I’ve been in the second category too many times to count (it’s painful).

Notice that Peter’s command in v. 6 is “humble yourself…” We’re commanded to choose humility each and every day, in all of our relationships and conversations. Humility in our relationships with others begins with humbling ourselves before God.

I leave you this week with a quote from Andrew Murray on humility…

“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me. It is to be at rest when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble. The humble person is not one who thinks lowly of himself, he simply does not think of himself at all.”

Subtitle: A Humble Life (Part 2). This week, we continue with Lesson #7 in the series “What I Wish (as a Pastor) that I had Known, Understood, Believed and Lived 30 Years Ago.”

Lesson Number 7: Humility is always the right choice! Humility is “foundational” to the Christian faith, as well as effective, God-honoring ministry. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. God always honors the humble – either sooner (on earth) or later (in heaven)! (1 Peter 5:5-6; Proverbs 18:12)

(Con’t from Part 1)

Augustine, once made this statement:

“If you ask me what is the #1, #2, #3 most important quality of a Christian, I will answer by saying: Humility, Humility, Humility!”

I believe one of the most dangerous and debilitating people in all of ministry is a pride-filled, insecure pastor who must always be the center of attention and receive all the praise. These pastors get really uncomfortable when one of their colleagues seems to be garnering more success, attention or blessing from the Lord than them. Usually this flows from being insecure as an individual. They are not locating their identity in Christ (refer back to “Lesson #3 in this series), but rather in how their ministry is going (or at least “appears” to be going).

Pride-filled, insecure pastors are typically jealous when another pastor or leader within their church (or organization or surrounding community) gets more attention than they do. This person’s natural tendency is to be critical of the person (usually behind their back) who is being praised because of the blessing or apparent success of their ministry.

I’m convinced that one of the greatest marks of a humble, mature, and secure person is the genuine ability to “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15). In other words, to rejoice and celebrate the Lord’s blessing and success of another person’s ministry.

Insecurity and pride go hand in hand. Humble people are so secure in their own identity (because of their deep trust in the Lord and fear of the Lord) that they can freely compliment and encourage fellow brothers and sisters in Christ – even when those people are more “blessed” or are experiencing greater “success” than what they are.

One of the first things I look for whenever I want to hire someone on my staff (both in the past when I was a pastor and now leading a missions organization) is:

How often and how well does this person genuinely compliment and rejoice in the blessings of another brother or sister in Christ? Especially when it is another person who is in the same type of ministry as what they are involved in – and especially when that other person is more successful, more blessed, and getting more attention than them.

How do they respond? Are they jealous? Are they hesitant to “rejoice with those who rejoice”? Or do they freely “join in” on the joy of what God is doing in and through this person and their ministry? It’s not about praising another individual. It’s about praising and honoring God by rejoicing with what He (God) has done in and through this person.

I also pay special attention to how this person talks about people in their past: are they quick to be critical of and point out the faults of the people in their past? Or do they make it a practice to always speak well of others?

Several years ago, I met with a pastor in another state and it wasn’t more than 10 minutes into our almost two-hour conversation that he began to verbally shred the previous pastor who came before him. And then he proceeded to tell me about the faults and failures of several pastors throughout his surrounding community. He was so quick to point out others’ failures, but found it seemingly impossible to speak well of anyone else in ministry. I couldn’t help but think, “This poor man is so insecure that the only way he can feel better about himself and his ministry is if he tears other pastors down.”

I remember asking myself: “Why does he feel the need to “gloat” in the faults and failures of others in ministry? Why does he find it so hard to speak well of others – as imperfect as they might have been” (of course as if he was the model of perfection)? I believe that Scripture shows that this is a characteristic of someone who lacks humility and maturity as a person and a pastor (again, going back to Lesson #3 in this series).

This kind of person is best described in the following illustration called “Competition or Cooperation?”

What if we replaced competition with cooperation?

Fishermen say you never need a top for a crab basket. If one crab starts to climb up the sides of the basket, the other crabs will reach up and pull it back down. There are people who act a lot like crabs.

In a competitive world it is easier to weep with those who weep than it is to rejoice with those who rejoice. We can sympathize with failure better than we can congratulate success. We are jealous of those who rise too high and succeed too quickly. We want to pull them back in the bucket where they belong.

What if we replaced the spirit of competition with the spirit of cooperation? What if people helped each other climb as high as they can without yielding to the temptation to cut them down? What if service became our motto instead of selfishness? What kind of world would we have? So the next time you see someone doing well, cheer them on instead of holding them back. After all, people were not made to live like crabs.

The late Dr. Joseph C. Aldrich, former president of Multnomah School of the Bible (now Multnomah University) used to always say, “My job is to make you as successful as possible!” He would say this often in the context of Sr. Pastors and their associate staff. Imagine if we all lived like that toward one another? Imagine the impact upon our world if they saw us genuinely living like that? Imagine if our focus was truly on helping to make those around us the best, most effective leaders possible?

The Apostle Paul says it this way:

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)

Or as Jesus said so clearly…

“But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)

And finally, let me wrap up with some great wisdom from A. W. Tozer (this is the second half of the quote I began in Part 1)…

“If you are too big for a little place, you are too little for a big place.

It is an odd rule of the kingdom of God that when we try to get big, we always get smaller by the moment. God is jealous of His glory and will not allow anyone to share it with Him. The effort to appear great will bring the displeasure of God upon us and effectively prevent us from achieving the greatness after which we pant.

Lord, help me never to be too big for a little place. In humility let me serve and revel in You as my ‘friend and helper always.’”

Subtitle: A Humble Life (Part 1). This week I’ve come to lesson #7a in my “What I Wish…” series.  I will be spending a few weeks on this particular point because I feel it is one of the most important of all the lessons that I am sharing in this series. I wrote briefly about this subject (humility vs. pride) last summer in a short three-part sequence of blog posts, and today I’ll be expanding significantly upon that content.

Lesson Number 7a: Humility is always the right choice! Humility is “foundational” to the Christian faith, as well as effective, God-honoring ministry. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. God always honors the humble – either sooner (on earth) or later (in heaven)! (1 Peter 5:5-6; Proverbs 18:12)

Demonstrating genuine humility and vulnerability will engender greater trust and deeper relationships between yourself and the people you are leading. On the other hand, pride and egotism will most certainly cause people to be repelled by you and your leadership. Humility is not only the right thing, it is the best thing – both for yourself and your ministry.

As Randy Alcorn has said, “Pride is delusional and it is never in our best interests!”

Allow me to say right up front: I have a long way to go in my understanding of and application of what it means to be a truly “humble person.” Humility is one of those slippery character traits – once you think you have it, you’ve lost it! Having said that, I do believe that I have learned a few things (by no means all) about the importance of humility – both personally and in ministry leadership.

My desire in sharing this is to (especially) help younger pastors avoid the potential pitfalls and spiritual potholes of ministry leadership. As a matter of fact, that is the primary reason for this entire series of “What I Wish…” blog posts. It is to help younger pastors learn some of these lessons from those of us who are further down the road (and who have made some of these mistakes themselves and have the bruises to show for it) – rather than having to make these mistakes on their own and therefore, learn the hard way.

For the past 20+ years I have begun my personal prayer time with the following words (this is what I have written at the very top of my Prayer List):

“Lord, today I humble myself under Your mighty and sovereign hand. I acknowledge that You are God and I am not! I acknowledge that apart from You I can do nothing! May You pour out, in abundance, Your grace and mercy upon me today!”

Do you want God to honor your life and ministry? Then make sure to always take humility seriously and run from all forms of pride, egotism and stubbornness toward the Lord! God chastened the people of Israel over and over throughout the Old Testament because they were a “stiff-necked people.” They weren’t teachable. They were arrogant and filled with pride. They were stubborn and wanted to do things “their way.”

A.W. Tozer wrote…

“Humility pleases God wherever it is found, and the humble person will have God for his or her friend and helper always. Only the humble are completely sane, for they are the only ones who see clearly their own size and limitations. Egotists see things out of focus. To themselves they are large and God is correspondingly small, and that is a kind of moral insanity.”

This week I introduced this lesson on humility. Next week I will be sharing some very practical and difficult lessons on humility that I have learned through the years that I pray will be of great benefit to you and your ministry.

Also, an important side note: Rather than make one really long blog post, I am going to try and keep them a bit shorter (easy to read within 1-3 minutes at most). Because of this, each lesson may have more “parts,” but I think it will be easier for everyone to digest and find the time (and take the time) to read in the midst of their hectic lives. As always, I pray these posts will be an encouragement to your heart and spiritual stimulation to your soul – all for the glory of God!

I leave you this week with the following Scripture verses on the importance of humility. I would encourage you to allow these verses to soak deep within your soul.

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” (James 3:13 NIV)

“Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” (1 Peter 5:5-6 ESV)

“…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:2-3 ESV)

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews.” (Acts 20:18b-19 ESV)

“Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.” (Proverbs 18:12 ESV)