Humbled

Philippians 2:3-11

I learned something while recording the album “Only Jesus.” Even after nearly three decades of teaching Scripture, it never hit me until I was writing the song “Nobody” that we are constantly telling ourselves to stay humble. We memorize humility verses like Philippians 2:3-11 and remind ourselves to consider others more important than ourselves and not to look after our own interests but to look to the interests of others. Have the mind of Christ. Let our attitudes be like that of Jesus.

As I considered the lyrics of the song, it hit me: All these years I’ve been praying for God to help me stay humble, but that prayer is never prayed by anybody who encountered Jesus after the Resurrection. Think about how Mary Magdalene, Peter, Thomas, James, Jude, and Paul responded to the risen Lord. James and Jude were His half-brothers who thought He was crazy during His ministry. Yet after His resurrection, they wrote epistles in which they called themselves His bondservants (slaves). The people who walked around with the risen Jesus never had to humble themselves. They were humbled. They got it. In His presence, they felt His glory and their inadequacy.

When religious leaders walked up to John the Baptist in a huff, the thought of humbling himself never crossed John’s mind. He was already humbled because he knew who had invaded his world. His response couldn’t help but drip humility: “No, no, no, you don’t understand. I am nobody. I have absolutely nothing to offer you. Jesus, though? You need to meet Him. He’s the one. There’s nothing I can give you.”

I hope you listen to “Only Jesus.” I hope you find encouragement and inspiration in it. But it won’t remove one trace of your sin.  When our eyes open to who Jesus is, our eyes then open to who we are, and we’re sinners. Everybody in the Bible who came to that realization hit the ground every time. Their response was, “You, you, you, oh Lord. Only you. I’m so sorry. Don’t even look at me. I don’t even deserve to be in the same room with you.”

Yet even after a humbling event, it’s amazing how quickly we get up after a few days and puff out our chests again and think, “Well all right, what are we going to do today, Jesus?” The more time you spend with Jesus, the less you have to humble yourself because the more you’re just humbled.