Humility

“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, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” - Philippians 2:1-2

If I were to summarize this paragraph with one word, it would be this: humility. It is a word that has popped up in my ministry time and time again, for some reason; even more so over the past few months. Sometimes we Christians like to run rather roughshod over people, especially when we disagree with them.

There is a debate going on in a nearby community over a concrete rendition of the Ten Commandments that has stood at a Middle School for over fifty years. The School board is really being forced into a corner by one parent (apparently) and a law firm who want the monument moved.

Do I want to see the monument stay? Well, yes I do. I do find it incredulous that a minority of one can force their will upon the apparently majority. Whether you are a believer or not, the Ten Commandments are the moral bedrock of two (maybe three) major world faiths, and the springboard of the history of morality, ethics and law in our nation. Maybe the removal of the monument is the price we have to pay to have a free society, although I remain unconvinced. And I do mourn the direction our country is going.

What has disturbed me more, however, is the seemingly lack of Christ-like demeanor in the debate. By some (not all) Christians. I, all too frequently have not seen “tenderness and compassion” in the debate, or even the expectation of being comforted by “his love” no matter what the outcome winds up being. And I aim this thought at myself first and foremost. For my actions that lack Christ’s humility, I’m sorry and I repent.

This does not mean that Christians do not have the right to very publicly stand on their beliefs. Not only do they have the right in this great land of ours, I believe it is a call of Christ to do so (visit Matthew 10:33). We have to be able to speak truth (and there is ultimate truth in Jesus).

But can we do so “with gentleness and respect?” (visit 1 Peter 3:15)

That is my goal. Give it some prayerful consideration this morning. And may we find “encouragement from being united with Christ….”