Humility

Rob Wilkerson at My Miscellanies has a post on humility that takes a passage from thewritings of St. John Chrysostom (see link below).

But as I said before, and on which account I have said all that I have said, let us be humble-minded as we ought, let us be moderate as we ought. Let it not be to us an occasion of being puffed up. Art thou humble, and humbler than all men? Be not high-minded on that account, neither reproach others, lest thou lose thy boast. For this very cause thou art humble, that thou mayest be delivered from the madness of pride; if therefore through thy humility thou fallest into that madness, it were better for thee not to be humble.

CS Lewis observed (and I am paraphrasing) how we should read books from different periods because the characteristic virtues of one era can speak to the characteristic failures of another.

I am amazed. Here is a pastor from the 4th century rebuking false humility. I cannot imagine a mainstream church in this era where false humility is a problem that has to be rebuked. It is hardly conceivable.

My wife grew up in a tradition that has a problem with a type of false humility that results in people, especially women, being “doormats.” But that would not be rebuked, but encouraged. And it is not nearly the same thing that John Chrysostom is rebuking.

Oddly enough, I think that His rebuke throws into highlight a characteristic failure of our age: pride. I try to imagine an era in the church where people are trying to outdo one another in humility. Then I look at the church in our age, and in comparison the church in our age reeks with pride.

What do we talk about? Our size, our outreach, our pastors, our books, our worship. Then we go home and talk about our food, our clothing, our cars, our vacations. We stand talking about our spiritual prosperity and our material wealth (though we never call it wealth).

Oh, how it must grieve Jesus to see His church behave this way. I know that I am convicted.

Of course the question is, what do I talk about now?

How about more about Jesus?