Humility

When I consider how much there is to know versus how much I actually know, it seems obvious that I don’t know much. When I recognize that God is infinitely smarter than I am, it seems equally obvious that I don’t know a lot about Him or His plan for the world–and there is also a high probability that much of what I do know is wrong. 

 I don’t know much about God, but what I know has been key to living a wonderful life. I know that God loves me, that He sent Jesus to die in my place, that Jesus was raised from the dead, that He has big plans for my life, and that His will for my life is revealed in the Bible. It is not a lot, but it is very important.

Because I know so little, I want to know more. This week I am reading Humilitas: A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadership by John Dickson, a senior research fellow of the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University in Australia. The book includes a fascinating history of humility as a virtue, an in-depth analysis of the nature of humility, and, as the title suggests, why it is an important virtue for anyone wanting to be successful in life, love, and leadership. He includes a lot of interesting and obscure stories which illustrate his thesis and makes for delightful reading. 

However, the reading is disruptive. As I read, I am reminded of specific times where my arrogance has kept me from living the life I have always desired to live. I am also learning how I might develop humility in my life so that I will be more successful in life, love, and leadership. The book has also led me to reflect on all the leaders and mentors I have had in my life. I feel blessed that for most of my adult life I have had teachers and leaders who have modeled humility. I have also thought about a few arrogant leaders I have had to follow and how difficult they made my life. 

Recently I read, “We can get very good at what we’re paid to do, or adept at a hobby we wish we could be paid to do. Yet our own lives, habits, and tendencies might be a mystery to us.” * Reading Humilitas has me thinking about how few people seem to be interested in increasing their knowledge so that they can live better lives. I am thinking a lot about my Christian colleagues and friends who seem so sure they know all they need to know about God, or about what He desires from them. If they read at all it is only to confirm what they already believe. So few Christians talk like God is mysterious or that His ways are difficult to discern. 

I get it. When I was in Bible school, without anyone saying it explicitly, we were taught that if you learned the original language (either Greek for the New Testament or Hebrew for the Old), did sentence diagrams, word studies, and understood the historical context, you could understand the mysteries of God. I took three years of Greek, diagrammed sentences, did careful word studies and read technical books on the historical context of biblical authors. This kind of careful study was very profitable and I still use all these tools. This kind of Bible study gives me insight into who God is, what He has done, and the life He invites me to. However, no matter how much I study or understand, God will always be a mystery and there will always be more that I don’t understand than what I do. Therefore, it seems to me that when I speak of God or His ways, I should always speak with humility.

I pray that you desire to become an expert at how to live well and are doing things which help you think about the good life and how to obtain it. I pray that you study your Bible and are always growing in your knowledge of God and His will for your life. And I pray that as you grow in your understanding of God and this world, you would always be reminded that there is more that you don’t know than what you do know. 

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*Holiday, Ryan; Hanselman, Stephen; Daily Stoic, Penguin 2016, p. 116.