Christ's humility

If we are Christians, it means we are Christ followers. Our purpose is not to agree to a set of rules or regulations. Rather, it is to imitate a person, the person of Jesus Christ. In Philippians 2:1-11, Paul offers one of the best summarizes of who Christ is and what it looks like when Christians seek to follow him…

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

            Who, being in very nature God,

                        did not consider equality with God

                        something to be used to his own advantage;

            rather, he made himself nothing

                        by taking the very nature of a servant,

                        being made in human likeness.

            And being found in appearance as a man,

                        he humbled himself

                        by becoming obedient to death—

                        even death on a cross!

 

            Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

                        and gave him the name that is above every name,

            that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

                        in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

            and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

                        to the glory of God the Father.

 

Such simple and plain words. So easy to understand. So difficult to live. Our culture often demands that we live in a way that is contrary to the one described in the passage above. Rather than making ourselves nothing, we are told that we are the center of the universe. Rather than humbling ourselves, we are taught that pride is an essential virtue. Rather than becoming obedient, we see all around that one of the highest values is to be your own person.

While the things I mentioned above are not always bad, allowing them to dominate our personality makes it nearly impossible to follow Jesus. The places Jesus leads us to demand sacrifice, humility, and obedience. Without that mindset that Paul describes, we will find it very hard to live up to the calling we have received. But, when we live like the people Paul describes in the passage above, we can learn what it means to truly follow Jesus wherever he leads us.

 

shine!
Jason