Misplaced Humility

But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” Galatians 6:14

Christian faith has always denounced pride as the queen of vices, and whether every christian has displayed it or not, the Bible puts a great premium on the virute of humility. It is the only virtue to which God promises His manifest presence - “For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and a humble spirit.” But something strange has happened in modern times. Humility has escaped its rightful place and gone awry. It has been misplaced. As an instance, in a brilliantly written essay in the latest Time magazine, “When Seeing is Not Believing”, Andrew Sullivan argues that the “absolute certainty” of the faith of fundamentalist religions is the problem, and he advocates that the answer is “sincere doubt” and “spiritual humility” in “humble Christians”. And no person of faith would ever disagree that humility is the cornerstone of genuine Christianity. But the problem is where this humility is placed. He suggests that this humble faith entails a “faith that treats the Bible as a moral fable as well as history,” “ a faith that picks and chooses doctrines under the guidance of individual conscience”, a faith that can never “proclaim truth with a capital T.” In essence a “humility” that is never sure of anything, and it doubts everything.

It is very true that a christian must be humble, he must doubt his heart for it is deceitfully wicked, he must approach humbly before God knowing that he is finite, and God is infinite; but this humility must never creep into his conviction. For this humility to be true “spiritual humulity” it must rest on a certainty. He can doubt himself, he may mistrust himself, but he must be absolutely certain of God. In fact, the writer of Hebrews defines faith as being certain that God is, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Borrowing a thought from GK Chesterton, humility must occupy the seat of ambition, but it may not sit in the seat of conviction. If we have no certainty of conviction, we will find that the only thing we are certain of is doubt. If our faith cannot rest in the word of God as infalliable, it will have to rest on our falliable “individual conscience”. God has not revealed to us everything, but He has revealed to us with certainty His nature through His Son at the cross. Jesus proclaimed that He was the Truth. We can know truth with a capital “T”. We find it in a person!

Therefore Paul can confidently say that “God forbid I may boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Paul understood genuine humility very well. Paul was very proud until he met Jesus. He was proud of his accomplishments and of his religiousity. But in that encounter on the road to Damascus, his certainty of self vanished. He later claimed to be the “worst of all sinners”, yet there was one place he would not let humility to reign. And that was his conviction in the redeeming cross of Christ. His humility was cradled in the certainty of the cross, and therefore it was true spiritual humility. Faith that doubts everything is not humble faith at all, it is a faith that will ultimately end up believing anything.
It is sad and true that christians can become proud, act elitist and act as if they have all the answers. May we call on God to humble us, to grant us contrite spirits. May we be ashamed of our unholy ambitions and our ungodly actions, but may we never be ashamed of the cross of Christ. "God forbid that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.."

Danesh Manik

References
1. "When Seeing is not believing" by Andrew Sullivan http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1541466,00.html