SERIES
Sojourn: Toward an Enduring City
2017-06-18T11:00:00-05:00
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
In his classic book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes this about pride: “There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves.” Because pride is so hard to detect in ourselves, God regularly uses the Bible like a mirror to reveal our pride. And like a good mirror does, the Bible not only reveals the defect of pride, but it helps us long for the beauty of humility.
It has been said that comparison fuels discontent. That’s true at times, but more often comparison simply fuels pride. In passages such as Luke 18:9-14, the Bible teaches that it is comparison to other people that fuels the sin of pride. Have you ever noticed that as weird, unsuccessful, or immoral as we may be, we can always find a reason we are better than someone else? It’s funny and sad all at once.
The antidote to this is not the pursuit of humility by brute force, but rather a comparison of another kind: the comparison of oneself to God. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, it is not looking within to our own character or looking outward to other people that helps us to flee pride and seek humility. Rather, it is looking outward to God’s character and God’s acts that compels this change. In Isaiah 6:1-6 and in 1 John 1:5-10, it is God’s perfect holiness and purity that exposes our pride, and drives us to repentance. And in Philippians 1:1-11, which we read together on Sunday, it is Jesus’ acts of incarnation and crucifixion that cultivates humility in us. When we get a taste of who God is and what He has done for us in Jesus Christ, our restless pride melts into humble security as the children of God.
Of all the many things the Bible says about humility, perhaps the most repeated is the promise of reward for the humble. Riffing on passages like Psalm 149:4 and Proverbs 22:4, Jesus echoed the promise this way: “For everyone who exalts himself with be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 1:52, 14:11, 18:14).” But Jesus didn't repeat this phrase simply to promote morality, and He certainly was not suggesting that salvation is earned or kept by our humility. Rather, Jesus is proclaiming that it is on the path of humility that we come to know God and ourselves rightly. And it is on the path of humility that we can walk secure as the children of God through the Son of God, who humbled Himself to be made like us that He might die for us.