Tag Archives: spirituality

The Importance of Humility in Christian Discipleship | Embody Grace

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Abba Antony, one of the great desert fathers of the 3rd century AD, once said to Abba Poemen, ‘I saw the devil’s snares set all over the earth, and I groaned and said, “What can pass through them?” And I heard a voice saying, “Humility”.’

Near the end of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus issued this stark warning to His listeners: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). So many Christians today take this warning as something to gird us against teachings of false doctrine. But I think Jesus is thinking more about Christian prophets who have no, or very little, humility. Their desires are ravenous because they only think about their self-desires. Much of what they desire does not align with the kingdom of God or the life, words, and actions of Jesus. They desire power, control, and/or the protection of their self-identity.

Jesus spoke in layers of speech and with parables. Why are there always deeper levels to his actions and words, so that one deed or teaching suggests something else altogether? Why does he speak and act in sign and mystery? (Read the Gospel of John)

I believe at least one reason Jesus speaks and acts this way is because wrestling with these sayings and actions, struggling with their meaning, and integrating their meaning into our lives, is one of the major ways we grow up in our discipleship. It is one of the ways we grow a deep spirituality in Christ. 

If the meaning was given to us, plain and simple, we would not need to grapple with the stories and signs, with the meanings and applications, and with how to live out the difficult call of the gospel. But as it is, the meanings are not plain and clear. We are forced to struggle with the questions they raise, and we are given few clear-cut answers. But wrestling with them is part of our growing up in Christ, part of becoming mature Christ-followers.

So we bring them into our prayer . . .  we listen to them with different parts of our being (mind, body, heart, soul, spirit) . . . we struggle to live into them with our lives rather than simply hear them with our ears. We catch a little glimpse of the meaning here and get a taste of it there. We slowly, over time, begin to apprehend more and more of what these signs mean for us and for our world. 

And no matter how much we have understood, there is always more. We never get to the end. We never, on this side of heaven, have perfect understanding, so that we could say that our interpretation or understanding is the only one. I truly believe that wrestling with the obscure aspects of Jesus – his mysterious words and actions – is a very significant part of discipleship. There are no shortcuts, no easy answers clergy or spiritual mentors can give us. We must do this difficult work of wrestling and grappling with these signs for ourselves. It is essential for our growth as disciples of Jesus.

Over the past 10 year serving as pastor of Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas, I learned one recurring lesson – “love is the way of the Christian life, and humility is the key that unlocks it.” Through denominational fights, pandemic, natural disasters, political divisions, culture wars, relationships struggles, and the daily issues of life, family, and friendships…love is the only answer.

And as we aspire to love as Jesus loves, we must seek humility. As another desert father, St. John of the Thebaid, ‘Above all a monk [disciple] must be humble. For this is the Savior’s first commandment, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).’

**I plan to begin posting again through my blog www.embodygrace.org. If you would like to Subscribe to receive weekly thoughts and reflections related to Christian discipleship in our current world and culture. I hope it will challenge us to grow deeper in our spirituality and our relationship with Jesus.

Elevating Disagreement

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I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.

– Romans 12:1-2

Brian McLaren wrote an article in 2018 entiltled, “Anger, Contemplation, and Action”. In it he wrote, “Anger does its work. It prompts us to action, for better or worse. With time and practice, we can let the reflexive reactions of fight/flight/freeze, mirroring, and judging pass by like unwanted items on a conveyor belt. Also, with practice, we can make space for creative actions to be prompted by our anger … actions that are in tune with the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22) … actions that overcome evil with good and bring healing instead of hate….[anger] is a gift that can be abused—or wisely used. Yes, it’s a temptation, but it’s also a resource and an opportunity, as unavoidable and necessary as pain. It’s part of the gift of being human and being alive.“

We Christians are not handling anger well these days. I think in large part it is because we have lost focus on the central aspects of our faith. If we study diligently the words and actions of Jesus, we see a way of dealing with a hostile world that does not descend into anger, fear, and animosity. When we read Paul in Romans 12, he says, “do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so you may discern what is the will of God – what is good, acceptable, and perfect.”

Many American Christians take Paul’s saying to be applied to moral behavior – what is right and what is wrong and take a stand. We are justified to use our anger in any way we choose if the ends demand it. But Paul IS speaking to a church that is intersecting with a pagan world and he is calling them not to pull away or resist what is outside. He doesn’t want us to turn inward in order to discover some ‘pure, unsullied faithful world within’. It isn’t about removing ourselves or purifying ourselves so much as being renewed in the midst of! How we engage in an ever changing, ever threatening world is important.

How do we deal with disagreements? How do we deal with frustration? How do we deal with being wronged? How do we deal with our anger? Are we renewing our minds in Christ to be good, acceptable, perfect examples…do we, “let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one another with mutual affection, outdo one another in showing honor…rejoice in hope, patient in affliction, persevere in prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality”? (Paul’s words in Romans 12:9-13)

The world will change – that is a certainty. And it won’t always change in ways that are good (Paul also said in Romans 1 that the human heart is dark and that applies to those inside and outside the church). Christians are not called to remove ourselves from the world, but to renew our minds in the midst of the world we live in that our behavior reflects Christ. It’s time for all of us to engage in self-examination as disciples and ask ourselves, “How can we elevate conversations in a way that don’t mimic the ways of the world around us? How can we allow our minds to be renewed so that the way we disagree brings as much pleasure to Christ as where we end up in the disagreement?”