Humility
One of my best friends gave me some great advice: "You have to take humility wherever you can get it."
A few minutes ago, a really nice woman called the church to let me know that they wanted to be taken off the mailing list because they recently moved away.
I've only been here a couple of months and I didn't recognize their surname, so I asked her if I had "had the chance to meet them" and she replied, "Yes. Once. We were there on your first Sunday. We met you and weren't impressed."
Ouch!
If I'm being completely honest with you--that kind of hurt my feelings. My first reaction was to think, "Well, go ahead then. Who needs you?" and "Not impressed?!? What's not to be impressed with?!?" and "If you gave me a chance, you'd be impressed," but--after a little more reflection--I realized that all of those reactions were sinful pride. It's good for me to hear things like that, because I'm not really as impressive as I think I am. None of us are.
Impressing people is not my goal, anyway. At least, it should not be.
Impacting people--for God--is my goal, but sometimes I struggle with pride and start to worry too much about what people think about me. Sometimes I do try to impress people and that's not a worthy goal and it doesn't impact many--if any--lives for God.
Now, we all know that it's important for us to live lives that bring honor to God. I don't want to be an embarrassment to the ministry, the Gospel, or my God, by failing morally, spiritually, or professionally, so I work hard to be a good steward of the opportunities God has given me. That being said, I need to be careful that I don't become more concerned with impressing men than with impacting people for God as I fulfill my calling.
And, to do that, I'm going to need to take humility--even if I have to get it from the passing comment of a nice lady making an after-hours phone call.
posted by Arron Chambers @ 5:24 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Your encounter with the former church member reminded me of an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Ray and Robert's father thought that both boys were great, but he always criticized them, rather than encourage them. He did not want them to develop pride. Instead, they developed a low sense of their self-worth and problems with confidence as they faced life. Sometimes we need to be criticized, but sometimes we need to be encouraged. I have never heard you speak, but if you are as good at speaking as you are at blogging, I would be impressed:)
Maybe she saw the Superman costume? ;-)
I appreciate her honesty but we love you Aaron, w
arts and all. I feel pretty certain for every 1 person who isn't impressed there are 10 of us whose lives you have impacted and guided to a closer walk with God.
There's an Ingrid Michaelson song with a lyric that goes:
"'Swallow your pride', he said
For pride is anything but rare."
I love that quote because it's so true! Someone once told me that every virtue (humility, courage, patience, etc.) is the mean of two extremes. Meaning that every virtue actually has two, not one, opposites.
For humility, I suppose the two opposites would be either arrogance or timidity. And as Christians, we have to walk the fine line of being confident (neither arrogant nor timid) that God uses us in spite of our weaknesses (walking in humility).
Specifically in regard to public speaking or writing: It's been humbling for me to realize that while the way in which I process and communicate truth may resonate with some people, it might not be "impressive" to others. We just have to diligently pursue excellence and authenticity in how God has gifted us, and sometimes just trust the Spirit to take care of the rest...
He's the only One that truly "impresses" anyway...
You didn't wear that Superman costume your first Sunday in a new church did you?
Well, I may send this to one of my parents. One of them mentioned after a sermon how they were offended by something the preacher said. Ever since, they have only been back for special events or special days... I don't think they have made a phone call or voiced the concern directly. Maybe, by reading this, they'll understand both sides of the issue.
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