“How do I need to become more honest and less impressive, so that the only reason people pay attention to me is the power of Christ resting upon me?”

If I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth.  But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 
2 Corinthians 12:6

Ray Ortlund:

God had given the apostle Paul an amazing spiritual experience — apparently, some kind of guided tour of heaven.  If Paul had wanted to “wow” the rest of us, he easily could have.  But for fourteen years he told no one about it, quietly keeping it to himself, wonderful though it was.  He didn’t exploit his remarkable experience to enhance his ministry. 

Paul was deeply secure in Christ.  He was content for people to perceive him and rate him on the basis of what they themselves could observe in him – not what he could claim, even rightly claim, but the ordinary human realities they could see and hear.  It was the fraudulent “super-apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:5) who trotted out their big-deal-ness.  Moreover, Paul really wasn’t impressive in some ways that typically count in this world.  He deliberately chose not to be.  He did have the power of Christ resting upon him.  But even that came out most clearly in his weaknesses.  And as I said, Paul was okay with people reaching their own conclusions about all this.  He didn’t groom an image.  He wouldn’t stoop to it.  The reality of Christ was too significant. 

I wonder if the apostolic approach to clout satisfies us today.  I hope so.  But sometimes I wonder.  So much of this is down in our motives.  That makes it impossible for anyone to judge.  Who can see another person’s heart?  But whatever looks like self-promotion, even if the claims are true and accurate — it just doesn’t pass the whiff test. 

Rather than justify the accepted patterns of gathering attention to oneself, maybe we should scrutinize more radically the conversation going on in our heads.  Maybe we should be asking, “How do I need to become more honest and less impressive, so that the only reason people pay attention to me is the power of Christ resting upon me?” 

My own thoughts keep returning to our need for revival — an outpouring of divine power to purify the church and compel the attention of the world.  I have to wonder what there is about me right now, the Ray Ortlund who currently exists, that inadvertently counteracts the power of God?  I wonder what changes I need to make, to become “a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21)?  Whatever those changes are, I expect they will decrease, rather than increase, my impulses toward all forms of self-importance.

The Laws of Applause

At Catalyst, Andy Stanley gave a talk on the addictive nature of attention, applause, and being known.  Matt Perman summarizes the message here.  Sounds like it was a much needed word for any Christian leader in today's culture.

Get Andy's new book here.  (Cheap on Kindle)

Jesus Got To Their Feet

Tim Brister:

Imagine what it was like to be used like the disciples after the ascension of Jesus. Imagine how much praise they had to deflect, how much pride they had to mortify, how much power they had to control. How easy must it have been for one to walk away and try to become a re-make of Jesus (Jesus 2.0). But not one of the disciples flaked or fizzled out. And while I certainly believe this was due to the Spirit’s work in their hearts, I also believe this was due to Jesus’ work on their feet.

Those of us who represent the King must always remember that we look most like Jesus, not when we are looking down on others from a platform, but when we are looking up at them from a basin. We are to get dirty and live in the trenches of front line mission work, not quarantine our labors in the laboratory of religious events. Jesus said we are blessed if we follow His example and do likewise, and while that may not always be washing the feet in an upper room, it will always be humbly applying the gospel to broken lives through a servant’s heart of love.

Read the rest.

"We all desperately desire to locate our problems outside ourselves."

Great post here from Tullian.


Books by Tullian:

• Jesus + Nothing = Everything 
• Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels 
• Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different

Real Humility

Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call “humble” nowadays: be will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody.  

Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Shrinking To Your True Size

Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say 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 R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians, 179.

Ode to Tim Duncan

Great sports video.  RSS viewers, click through to view.




(HT: Pure Church)

If You Want More Grace... Here is One Quick Way to Get It

Chris Brauns: 

The Bible says that God gives grace to the humble.  Sometimes, being humble means saying “I am sorry” first. 

Think about it.  Don’t you find it relatively easy to apologize if the other person says, “I am sorry,” first?  Saying it first is sometimes hard to swallow. 

You would never claim perfection in marriage.  You just believe your spouse was more wrong; he or she ought to say “I am sorry first.”  Maybe you clattered your bowl into the kitchen sink and shut the door with a grumpy bang on your way to work this morning and left the milk out for good measure.  What silly games we play. 

Remember Proverbs 3:34 says, “God mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.”  Let your pride go. God mocks mighty mockers, but blesses the broken. 

Do you want a special measure of God’s grace?  Here is what you do.  Flip open your phone and pound speed dial.  Follow this script, “I am sorry, I was wrong, will you please forgive me.”  Do not, I repeat, “do not,” find yourself continuing after the apology with a criticism of the other person. 

You may or may not get a corresponding apology in response.  But, you can be assured of the grace of God at work in your life.  God blesses the broken.

Pride vs. Humility - A Helpful Chart

I found this chart to be amazingly helpful.  It's a great means to diagnose my own heart and pray for the Spirit's change in my life.

(HT:  Aaron Armstrong)

Hey Young, Restless, and Reformed Crowd, You Need To Read This...

Josh Harris:

One day two men went to church to pray.

The first man was a shallow, uninformed evangelical. Everything about him shouted of squishy theology. He didn’t know or use big theological words. He watched Christian TV and thought it was deep. He bought books from the inspirational section of the bookstore. He attended one of those megachurches where the sermons are short and the worship leaders look like American Idol contestants.

The second man who went to pray was different. He was a Christian of theological depth and substance--this was obvious by the heavy study Bible he carried with him. He only read books by long-dead theologians. He subscribed to the podcasts of all the solid, gospel-centered expository preachers who didn’t tell funny stories or make jokes in their sermons. He felt cheated if a sermon was less than an hour long.

This second man began to pray. He said, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people--doctrinally ignorant, theologically clueless, superficial in their saccharine-sweet evangelicalism. I thank you that you have made me what I am: true to good doctrine, uncompromising on teaching, orthodox to the core.”

But the first man would not even look up to heaven. Instead he beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

- Josh Harris, Humble Orthodoxy

Convicted?  Yeah, me too.


 (HT: Challies)

The Key to Humility

Michael Kelley:

The elusive characteristic of humility. My college roommate and I used to joke that we would someday co-author a book called Humility and How I Attained It. We would be so proud of this work. Wait… dang it. 

That’s the nature of humility, isn’t it? You seek after it, but as soon as you think you’ve found it, you’ve lost it. No doubt that humility is an essential character trait that can be nurtured and developed; it’s even commanded here in Scripture. We aren’t commanded to sit around and wait for humility to come upon us like a stomach bug; we are directly told to “humble yourselves. 

But Peter also gives us the action step to doing so. Surprisingly, though, it’s not to practice self-abasement. Neither is it to walk around with your shoulders drooped. It’s certainly not to awkwardly deflect compliments when they happen to come our way. Instead, you pursue humility by casting your cares upon the Lord.

Read the rest.

Get Michael's book on suffering here.  

A Good Reminder Towards Ecclesiastical Humility

Dan Darling:

As I survey my own heart, I see three motivations that drive this tendency to constantly reframe and rebrand our faith.

1. We make an idol of cultural acceptance.
2. We think we can do ministry better than our fathers.
3. We put too much weight on our own abilities.

Read the rest for his explanations.

Get Dan's books here.

Humility and Confidence All in One

The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to died for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.

— Tim Keller, The Reason For God,181

(HT:  OFI)

Build a Team of People Better Than You

Bobby Gilles:

In Renegades Write The Rules: How The Digital Royalty Use Social Media To Innovate, social media consultant Amy Jo Martin writes:

“My friend Lucy Danziger, Editor-in-Chief of SELF Magazine, once told me that her secret to success was hiring only people who are smarter than she is. Everyone who works for Lucy knows it’s his or her number one duty to teach her and one another. It’s their job to show up, work hard, teach, and learn. Intuitively, I’ve always understood this concept, but referring to it as ‘hiring a team of teachers’ brought it home for me and offers a refreshing slant to company culture.”

In my own work with pastors, church planters, worship leaders and independent musicians, I stress these same points that Ogilvy, Martin and Danziger make. We become better in community, through community — especially when we carefully choose our collaborators, mentors, proteges. I’ve written songs with co-writers who possess skills I lack. I work on a church communications team with co-workers who possess skills I lack. I work for pastors who possess skills I lack. Because of them I do a better job now, and I become able to do a better job in the future.

Read the rest.  Keep in mind this will require a daily battle against pride.  It's worth the fight and will produce much godliness in your life.

Is Being "The Man" Worth It?

Barnabas Piper writes:

In a superstar-driven league like the National Basketball Association it is a big deal when a star player switches teams. Just before this young NBA season began, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded one of their “big three,” James Harden, to the Houston Rockets. Harden is a burgeoning star and was one of the keys to the Thunder having the most wins in the league last season on their way to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Miami Heat. Harden was also the third wheel on the team, a sub-star instead of thesuperstar. And on an NBA team, only so many stars get paid the big money and gain the most attention. So Oklahoma City traded him to a team willing to shell out the $85 million Harden’s abilities demand. Now he is “the man” in Houston.

But he is the star on a team with a significantly less chance for success. Instead of being in the running for a championship, the Rockets likely will be scrapping just to make the playoffs, unless Harden is truly transcendent. This situation is not unlike what faced Dwight Howard when he played for the Orlando Magic, or LeBron James when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers. While both of them had some success with mediocre surrounding casts, they were ultimately throttled in their efforts to win a championship. And so both of them orchestrated their way to teams with significantly more talent. 

. . .

When the move for individual status and acclaim requires forsaking the very thing the game is played for—a championship—is it worth it?

Read the rest.  

Arrogance and Theology

John Starke:

I remember having lunch with an old professor when he mentioned the danger of arrogance in theological studies. It shows up everywhere, he said. He went on to say that ignoring theology all together doesn't help either. The Bible never tells us ignorance is the remedy for pride. He suggested that whatever field you're in, whether biblical, theological, or historical studies, always maintain a robust doctrine of God. He said it guards against two forms of pride. It consistently reminds us of how small we are. And it reminds us that we need help from more thoughtful and holier men and women and stops us short of fearing authority and snubbing Christians whose shoulders we should be standing on.

Read the rest.

Christians should be the most humble people on earth

Mark Altrogge:

We should be so because we have come to know something of God’s infinite greatness and our own unworthiness before him. Here are some reasons why we should humble ourselves before God and some suggestions on how to do it.

Why we should humble ourselves

– Because Christ was humble and we should imitate him.
– So that God can exalt us as he sees fit. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:10
– Because “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). We shouldn’t need any more reasons than this. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want God resisting me and I need all the grace I can get.
– Because there is safety in humility. Pride comes before a fall – the humble are less likely to fall, and if they do they don’t have as far to fall.

How to humble ourselves

– Contemplate the infinite greatness of God
– Consider your innumerable sins against God and the unbelievable mercy he’s poured out on you
– Contemplate your human frailty. Your every breath and heartbeat, your eyes, ears, strength, and mental health are all from God. He could remove them at any time.
– Contemplate your complete inability to control a single thing in this life.
– Realize that every good thing, talent and gift you have is a gift from God which he could remove at any time.
– Contemplate that if God did not keep you from sin you’d plunge headlong into it
– Confess your sins and temptations to God and others
– Ask forgiveness of those you sin against, even if they sinned against you first. Even if they don’t ask your forgiveness in return.
– Be quick to listen and slow to share your own opinions
– Don’t be so sure you’re right all the time
– Consider that there are multitudes far more gifted and godly than you are
– Cultivate thankfulness
– Contemplate your many areas of weakness – share them with others
– Realize you’re dispensable. If you died today, things would go on just fine without you.
– Realize that the things that bother you about others may be things you do as well
– Invite constructive criticism.
– Serve others. Wash others’ feet. Take on lowly jobs in your church.
– Take an interest in others. Consider others more important than yourself.
– Pray. Prayer is an act of dependence and humility.
– Ask for help, wisdom and prayer from others.
– When others compliment you, thank them, then give all the glory to God in silent prayer.
– Rejoice when others are promoted, praised or honored.

What would you add?

Recommended reading:

• Humility by C.J. Mahaney
• Humilitas by John Dickson

58 Yards in the Wrong Direction

I love how he gets up and he is all like... "Yeah!!! King Kong ain't got nothin' on me!!!"

And then he is like... "What?!?!?"

Pride before fall. We can all relate I'm sure.

Pride is Defeated by Knowledge of God

Joe Thorn:

The enemy of pride is not humility, but faith. Humility is wrapped up in faith, emanating from our dependence on Christ for ”wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30) It is saving faith that sees things rightly. It sees God as he has revealed himself, and one’s self as he truly is. Faith does not believe “I am better,” but “I am ruined.” It recognizes that all of us have broken God’s law, and is grieved most severely for one’s own transgressions. Faith knows a man does not “deserve better,” but confesses that whatever he has is grace undeserved, and finds that all the Christian has in Jesus is supremely satisfying. Faith cannot believe “I am sufficient,” for faith itself is a kind of dependence. Faith confesses, “I am poor, blind, naked, and miserable” and can only look to God for what one lacks.

Pride (and the lies it believes) is only overcome by faith. If you want to kill pride and grow in humility you must give yourself to the knowledge of God.

Read the rest.


Recommended reading:

• Humility by C.J. Mahaney
• Humilitas by John Dickson

The Root and Spring of Humility

Do you want to know the root and spring of humility? One word describes it. The root of humility is right knowledge. The person who really knows himself and his own heart, who knows God and his infinite majesty and holiness, who knows Christ and the price at which he was redeemed, that person will never be a proud person. He will count himself, like Jacob, unworthy of the least of all God’s mercies. He will say of himself, like Job, ”I am unworthy.” He will cry, like Paul, “I am the worst of sinners” He will consider others better than himself (Philippians 2:3).

- JC Ryle, Commentary on Luke

(HT:  Joe Thorn)