Humility

This photo captures a memorable moment at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing as Great Britain’s Tim Brabants congratulates Ken Wallace of Australia who won gold in the K1 500m kayak race. In so doing, Brabants honored Wallace who had surpassed him in this particular event.

In 1 Samuel 18, we see that David continued to enjoy great success as a military leader. In fact, the women of Israel began to sing, “Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7). How did Saul respond? A congratulatory pat on the shoulder perhaps? Saul became jealous, which turned into a fear that he would lose his throne to David (1 Sam. 18:12-15). In a frantic attempt to protect his throne, Saul even tried to kill David.

Unlike Saul, servant leaders do all that they can to recruit outstanding people, make them as successful as possible, and then celebrate their success with them. It takes courage and humility to sincerely honor those who surpass us. Who are the people in our circles who we can help succeed today (and celebrate their progress with them)?

Jordy and I were best buds until that fateful day when Mrs. Snodgrass stepped into our grade two class. She was a rather big and imposing substitute teacher. All was going reasonably well until she bent over to help the student sitting in front of me. Jordy, who was sitting behind me, took out his ruler and gave Mrs. Snodgrass a slap on her backside. Now, you need to realize that Jordy was extremely quick and was able to get back into his desk and assume an air of innocence before Mrs. Snodgrass could turn around. For some strange reason, I couldn’t stop laughing. As Mrs. Snodgrass glared at the class, her eyes fell on the one person who thought this was the most hilarious event to ever occur at Caronport Elementary School. In her eyes, I was obviously the guilty party. She accused me, yelled at me and threatened to give me a strap. The only thing that saved me was that she didn’t see the ruler-wielding culprit in action and she couldn’t force a confession out of me (I did manage, between guffaws, to deny all wrongdoing).

As I reflect on this memorable experience, I am mindful that that we are sometimes wrongly accused or people misinterpret our motives. Obviously, there are times when we need to defend our innocence or explain our motives. Yet, I am mindful of the counter-cultural example of Jesus who “did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly” (1 Pet. 2:23 NLT). I would like to have more of Jesus’ grace and humility in my heart as I interact with those who may think that I’m the culprit.

Have you ever spent time with people who love to talk about themselves and their accomplishments? The expression, “tooting one’s own horn,” describes this self-aggrandizing practice of drawing attention to oneself.

King Saul was already in trouble. He had disobeyed the Lord after a great victory against the Amalekites by not killing all of the people and livestock (see “Partial Obedience” post). Samuel tried to track him down only to find that he had gone to Carmel to “set up a monument in his own honor” (1 Sam. 15:12). In fact, it was Jonathan’s act of courage (which I describe in my “One Act of Courage” post) that set the stage for God to send a wave of panic through the Amalekite camp. Instead of building a monument to God or Jonathan (the true heroes of the story), Saul “toots his own horn” in an attempt to exalt himself.

As a leader, I sometimes follow Saul’s example by positioning myself so that others notice my accomplishments and give credit to me. “Lord. Deliver us from this kind of pride that seeks to exalt oneself and minimize others. Help us to be humble servants who seek your honor above all else. Amen.”