Christlike Humility

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Good morning Chapel family. We’re taking this fall to explore what Jesus meant when he said, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” He said those words to people who were feeling worried and anxious, because there was a lot of uncertainty in their lives. And today he speaks those words to us, because many of us are worried and anxious, because there’s a lot of uncertainty in our lives. Political uncertainty. Financial uncertainty. Probably five or ten other areas of uncertainty in your personal life. And Jesus says, “Okay—I get that. But instead of fixating and obsessing on all those uncertain things, seek God’s kingdom first, and everything you need will be added to you. Your Father will take care of it.” 

So every week we’re looking at a different New Testament teaching that shows a fresh angle of what it means to seek God’s kingdom first. And today we’re going to see the connection between seeking God’s kingdom and humility.  

Look with me at Philippians chapter 2, starting in verse 1. Let’s hear God’s Word… 

1 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, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

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

6 Who, being in very nature God, 
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 
7 rather, he made himself nothing 
    by taking the very nature of a servant, 
    being made in human likeness. 
8 And being found in appearance as a man, 
    he humbled himself 
    by becoming obedient to death— 
        even death on a cross! 

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place 
    and gave him the name that is above every name, 
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
    to the glory of God the Father. This is the Word of the Lord. 

Let’s talk first about The Need for Humility. Paul was writing from prison to a community of believers in the city of Philippi. And in verse 3 he tells them Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. That term “vain conceit” is so rich. The Greek word can be translated, literally, “empty glory.” Because all through your life, there is a battle for who’s going to get the glory. Who’s going to get the fame and the attention? And when I’m motivated to seek my own glory—like, if the reason I’m standing here right now giving this sermon is so that you’ll think I’m great; if the reason you post on social media about your preferred political candidate is so people will think you’re clever and that you’re on the right side—if the thing that motivates us how we look to others, that is an empty glory. It won’t last. It won’t bring fulfillment. And we all struggle with it. 

That other term, “selfish ambition,” speaks for itself. We were looking at this passage last week in my men’s group, and one of the guys said, “I don’t know what it is, but lately more and more people in my industry are doing shady things; they’re stabbing other people in the back; for their own gain. And their rationale is, ‘I have to do what’s best for me and my family’” (they always throw in the family thing to make it seem unselfish). And he said, “It’s just pure selfish ambition.” And you could see heads nodding around the room, like, “Yeah—it’s like that in my business too.”  

Selfish ambition and vain conceit always cause relational damage. Mistrust. Suspicion. Everyone watching their back. Does it ever feel like that at your job? In your family? By the way, in my family, when there’s lack of peace, it usually doesn’t come out in yelling and screaming. I know in some families, everything gets vomited out. Maybe your family? That’s not the way it works in our family. We’re Scandinavians. So when we’re mad, our instinct is to withdraw. Disengage. Show your anger by silence. Anybody have that strategy in your family? That’s called passive aggression. Some people say, “We never raise our voices in our house.” Oh, you don’t have to. Sometimes silence and avoidance are just as violent. Are you with me? 

But either way, that’s the result of selfish ambition and vain conceit.  

Why are people like that? Well, for one thing, we are hard-wired with a sin nature. So it’s always been like this. But I believe we’re at a moment in history when self-centeredness is at an all-time high. And that’s fueled by social media; it’s fueled by celebrity culture. People are prioritizing personal happiness over just about everything else. A few weeks ago I talked about the increase in adult children cutting their parents out of their lives: “If I don’t feel like you’re a healthy person, I don’t want anything to do with you.” In other words, it’s not about what might be best for you, or any responsibility I might have toward you; if it’s not good for me, then you’re gone. We’ve reached a stunning level of self-centeredness.  

Paul says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,” because we so often do the things we do out of selfish ambition and vain conceit. And it causes chaos. And that’s why we need humility.  

Back in the 1980s, there was a football coach named Chan Gailey at a little college called Troy State. They were having a great season, and right before the final game, he was headed out to the practice field. And his assistant said, “Wait a minute—you have a phone call.” And he said, “I’m going to practice. Take a message.” And she said, Ahh—its Sports Illustrated.” He said, “I’ll be right there.”  

So as he was walking to his office, he started thinking about what they would write about him in Sports Illustrated. He was thinking about what he would wear for the photo shoot. He was wondering whether they’d make it the cover story. He realized this could be the turning point in his career. So he got the office and picked up the phone. The person asked, “Is this Coach Gailey?” He said, “Yes it is.” And they said, “This is Sports Illustrated, and we’re calling to let you know that your subscription is running out. Would you like to renew?” 

And Coach Gailey concludes this story by saying: “You are either humble or you will be humbled.” 

That is so wise. Either we learn how to be humble, or God will intervene and humble us. So how do we learn humility before God has to force it on us? That’s what the heart of this passage is all about. 

Point number two: The Model of Humility. Philippians 2, verse 5 says In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset...and I’m going to pause there for a minute. Why does he bring up our mindset? Because that’s what drives us to do the things we do. If my mindset is, “The most important thing in life is my own personal happiness and fulfillment,” that will drive me to act a certain way. If my mindset is, “It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and the only way to survive in North Jersey is to be ruthless and cutthroat,” that will drive me to act a certain way. If my mindset is, “I’m a victim, and I need to get back at the people who’ve hurt me,” that will drive me to act a certain way. Actions follow thoughts. 

So look what Paul says: In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. And in the next six verses, he lays out what’s really a poem or a hymn. It’s sometimes called The Hymn of Christ. And it’s breathtaking. Let’s walk through it and point out a few things… 

Verse 6—Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. This is taking us back before Jesus even showed up on earth. He was in heaven with God the Father, and he was, in very nature, God. But here’s the first clue about his mindset: he didn’t consider his divine status something to be exploited for person gain. He didn’t cling to the rights and privileges that he had as God. 

Verse 7—rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. He allowed himself to be conceived as a human fetus in the womb of a girl named Mary. Think about it: the eternal God, who’s always existed, now had fingers and toes and had to blow his nose and trim his toenails. The timeless one entered into time. The omnipresent one now limited himself to a particular place. The one seated on a throne in heaven chose to be born in a barn. The one surrounded by angels chose to wash feet, and then to be disrespected and mocked and misunderstood and abused. Listen: that was his mindset. He made himself nothing. His choice, right? And if you take on this mindset, this is your choice.  

Verse 8—And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Somebody in my group pointed out that Jesus didn’t come when they were using the relatively humane method of lethal injection. He came when they were using the most painful, embarrassing, detestable, criminal death possible. The ESV Study Bible describes it like this: “Crucifixion was not simply a convenient way of executing prisoners. It was the ultimate indignity, a public statement by Rome that the crucified one was beyond contempt. The excruciating physical pain was magnified by the degradation and humiliation. No other form of death, no matter how prolonged or physically agonizing, could match crucifixion as an absolute destruction of the person.” The One who has existed for all of eternity past said “I will allow every shred of dignity to be stripped away from me.” That’s humility. 

Before we go on to the happy part in the next verse, let’s pause here for a minute. At the time this was written, the Emperor of Rome was Nero. He had unlimited power, and he was using it ruthlessly—assassinating anyone who opposed him. Soon after this, when Rome burned, Nero shrewdly blamed the Christians, which unleashed a vicious persecution. That’s how Nero used his power, and Paul reminds us that Jesus used his in a radically different way. What’s your mindset toward the power that you have? More like Nero, or Jesus? 

There’s a researcher at U.C. Irvine named Paul Piff, who’s done a lot of research on how wealth affects people’s personalities. He’s tested how wealth is correlated with the following things—you ready? Your willingness to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks. Your willingness to cheat in a game. How likely you are to share a monetary gift with strangers. Even how willing you are to take candy from a jar that’s clearly labeled “For children only.” You know what he found? In literally every experiment, higher incomes were correlated with what he calls “mean behavior.” To quote Dr. Piff, “What we’ve been finding…is that as a person’s level of wealth increases, their feelings of compassion and empathy go down, and their feelings of entitlement and self-interest increase.” Isn’t that fascinating?  

And it’s not just correlated with money, it’s correlated with power. In a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, one business professor said this: "It's an incredibly consistent effect. When you give people power, they basically start acting like fools. They flirt inappropriately, tease in a hostile fashion, and become totally impulsive." You talk about a mindset? That’s a mindset. 

Are you seeing the radical difference between how people normally use their power, and how Jesus used his power? Jesus had all the power in the universe, and he gave it up to serve. 2 Corinthians 8:9—though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich.  

Nabeel Qureshi was a Muslim convert to Christ. He wrote about a devout Muslim friend—a woman named Sahar—who was attracted to parts of Christianity, but she could not accept the idea of God becoming human. She once asked him, "How can you believe Jesus is God if he was born through the birth canal of a woman and that he had to use the bathroom? Aren't these things beneath God?"  

Qureshi responded by asking her a question: "Sahar, let's say that you are on your way to a very important ceremony and are dressed in your finest clothes. You are about to arrive just on time, but then you see your daughter drowning in a pool of mud. What would you do? Let her drown and arrive looking dignified, or rescue her but arrive at the ceremony covered in mud? 

Sahar said, "Of course, I would jump in the mud and save her." Qureshi said, "Okay, let’s say there were others with you. Would you send someone else to save her, or would you save her yourself?" 

She said, "If she is my daughter, how could I send anyone else? They would not care for her like I do. I would go myself, definitely." 

Qureshi said, "If you, being human, love your daughter so much that you are willing to lay aside your dignity to save her, how much more can we expect God, if he is our loving Father, to lay aside his majesty to save us?" And that reality of the God who gave up his dignity for the love of his children eventually won Sahar’s heart. Qureshi wrote, "The message of God's selfless love had overpowered her, and she could no longer remain a Muslim. She had accepted Jesus as her Savior." 

And therefore, it says in verse 9, God exalted him to the highest place—it’s talking about his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven…and God 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.  

Here’s the irony: Paul was chained up in a prison, because Nero didn’t like people who said that Jesus was their king. The people in Philippi were reading this letter, and they lived in constant awareness that Nero was in charge, because at every public sporting event, every political meeting—every time citizens gathered, they would bend their knee and they would raise their voices to declare that Nero was Lord and King, and his name was to be praised above all other names. 

And Paul says, “There is a name above that name.” I don’t care what names are on the ballot on November 5; there’s a name way above all those names. And a day is coming when all of creation will behold the risen Christ—who came the first time in weakness and suffering—but who will come the second time in power and glory—and on that day Caesar himself will take his place with the rest of creation—on his knees, acknowledging that Jesus is Lord.” And since that’s true—since Nero himself will be dethroned!—you and I are invited and called to dethrone ourselves. To let go of our rights, and humble ourselves, and live like Jesus. 

Which brings us to the final point: The Practice of Humility. As powerful as pride is to destroy relationships, humility is every bit as strong to heal relationships. When you understand what biblical humility is, it is the most appealing, attractive, beautiful thing. When you meet a new person, and you walk away going, “I really liked that guy,” or, “She was a great person,” it’s probably because they were humble.  

Let’s go back up to verse 1: 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. Do you notice what all those things have in common? None of them are things we achieve or work for; they’re all freely received from Christ. So he’s saying, “When you realize how much you’ve been blessed by what Jesus has done for you, here’s the logical thing to do: take on his mindset! And verses 3 and 4 define that mindset—you ready? In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. That’s what it looks like to walk in humility like Jesus did: value other people above yourselves.  

I’m quoting my small group a lot today, because we had such a rich discussion about this passage. One guy in my group used to work in major donor relations for a Christian non-profit. And he said one of the donors he worked with was this brilliant guy who would get called in to failing companies, and turn them around. And my friend said to him, “When you’re at all these secular companies, how do you show Christ to the people around that table?” His friend said, “I just care about the people in the room.” It’s so simple, isn’t it? He didn’t look at them primarily as employees of this struggling company; he saw them first as people to be listened to and served. That’s what it means to look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 

C.S. Lewis has a famous explanation of humility—listen to this: 

Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all. 

You want to hear the best part about humility? It frees you. It frees you. It takes all the energy that you were using to focus on yourself, and it frees that up so you can focus on God and others.  

Humility also frees you to do the jobs no one else wants to do. Another guy in my group told us about the first job he ever had, as a teenager. He showed up at work on the first day, and the boss said, “Do you clean toilets?” My friend had never cleaned a toilet, but he said, “Yes I do.” And he cleaned toilets that day. Today he’s the leader of his organization, but he said, “That lesson never left me. And to this day, if I notice a dirty toilet, I clean it.” I’m pretty sure Jesus would do the same.  

During my sabbatical this spring I re-read a classic business book by Jim Collins called Good to Great. In that book, he talks about his research on the kind of leaders that lead truly great organizations. So he talks about Level 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 leaders. And he says great companies always have a Level 5 leader. Level four leaders are good, but Level 5 leaders are great—they produce amazing results. So you know what sets Level 5 leaders apart? (Some of you have read the book). Level 5 leaders are characterized by fierce resolve combined with—you ready?—deep humility. They aren’t the loud, charismatic leaders you would expect; they’re much more quiet and humble. Here’s what Jim Collins said: 

Indeed, throughout our interviews with such executives, we were struck by the way they talked about themselves—or rather, didn’t talk about themselves. They’d go on and on about the company and the contributions of other executives, but they would instinctively deflect discussion about their own role. When pressed to talk about themselves, they’d say things like, “I hope I’m not sounding like a big shot,” or “I don’t think I can take much credit for what happened. We were blessed with marvelous people.” One Level 5 leader even asserted, “There are lot of people in this company who could do my job better than I do.”  

Isn’t that surprising? Deep humility. Now, you have to have a strong resolve! But you live it out with a deep humility, like Jesus. And I’m telling you that doesn’t just create healthy companies. It creates healthy churches and schools and families. Humility is powerful. 

Listen, so much of this world runs on selfish ambition and vain conceit. It’s in the cultural air that we breathe to prioritize your own happiness above everything else. Ironically, that’s why we’re so unhappy. And Jesus has a better way.  

There’s a great British Bible scholar named N.T. Wright. Somebody asked him, When you’re on your deathbed, what’s the last thing you’ll tell your children?” He answered with three words, “Look at Jesus.” Look at Jesus. And then he explained why, and I’ll close with this. He said… 

The [Person] who walks out of [the pages of the Gospels] to meet us is just central and irreplaceable. He is always a surprise. We never have Jesus in our pockets. He is always coming at us from different angles … If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus. If you want to know what it means to be human, look at Jesus. If you want to know what love is, look at Jesus. And go on looking until you're not just a spectator, but part of the drama that has him as the central character. 

That’s what I want to leave you with today. What this world needs, and what you need, is humility. And the only way to really get it is to look at Jesus.