"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:5-8)
This is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. It's Paul exhorting the Philippian church to emulate the humility of Christ--a countercultural concept especially within the intense honor/status culture of Philippi, a Roman colony. But it's also a passage that speaks clearly to all Christians today. Christ-like humility is the way we should live. It all comes back to this.
In a culture that beckons us to broadcast ourselves, pose for the Selfie, maneuver for maximum online exposure and obsess about our social media followings… It all comes back to this. Amidst our impulses to privilege our success, our security and our every whim and inkling in the direction of the great idol of happiness, it all comes back to this.
Humility. Pouring ourselves out for others rather than pontificating on Twitter or posturing on Facebook. Serving the needs of others before sulking about what we don't have. Seeing ourselves rightly and privileging the Other in a culture that worships the sovereign self. As Spurgeon once said, "Humility is to make a right estimate of oneself."
It's simple, and yet it's always a struggle.
If the most fundamental and original sin of mankind is pride, the most fundamental virtue is humility. It's Christ-likeness in microcosm. It's not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought. It's giving ourselves away for Christ and his gospel, which is also to say giving ourselves away for others.
Life is short. The universe is huge. I am but a tiny particle in a millisecond of God's ongoing epic. No matter how great I think I am, my life is but a vapor in the wind. Humility isn't just a virtue I'm called to; it's reality.
On this Good Friday, I think John Wesley's "Covenant Prayer" offers a beautiful articulation of what it means to humbly serve our Servant King:
I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.