To save humanity, we must return to humility!

Jesus says: "The meek shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5). But how realistic is this Sermon on the Mount prediction for the contemporary scene?

The stage-boards of world power creak under the hefty tread of “strong men” (Donald Trump AI-imaged himself as Jesus on Truth Social and later eschewed messianic similarities as fake news); the tech industry is supine to Elon Musk who is the richest person on earth with possibly a genius IQ and certainly a hedonistic outlook; while primary school children in the UK are taught the three “s's” of western success: self-interest, self-reliance, and self-promotion.

What place is there for the humble pilgrim in this “mega-sphere”?

'Describe the humblest person you know'

Harvard Business School is a good place to start. Clayton M. Christensen asked his students to describe the humblest person they knew. One cohesive attribute emerged: “They had a high level of self-esteem. They knew who they were, and they felt good about who they were... We also decided that humility was defined not by self-deprecating behaviour or attitudes but by the esteem with which we regard others..." ^[1]

Humility is a strength of character and not a moral weakness, according to Christensen.

Humility and self-esteem are co-enjoined – if one goes, the other warps out of shape.

Ironically, pride is wrapped up with insecurities and personal hang-ups that motivate two personality twists – either an over-compensating voice (boasting, bragging and competing) or a counterfeit meekness (cowering, self-unacceptance and self-doubt).

For Christians, self-esteem is built upon the rock of Jesus’ love and salvation.

The humble are strong because they know who they are, and the strong are gentle because they do not need to damage other people to prove they are strong.

Matthew 12v18 picks up Isaiah’s prophecy: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out" (Isaiah 42v3). Jesus is gentle because He is strong, Jesus is humble because He knows who He is (God’s Son) and Jesus is a servant because He loves humanity. Jesus is powerful (Philippians 2v6) and He "did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage" (to remain in heaven and aloof from human suffering). Rather, He "made himself nothing" (v7) by limiting Himself; gentle enough to touch lives without unfencing His full strength which would break fragile, reed-like people (Exodus 19v24).

The verisimilitudes of humility in popular culture (weak, limp and feckless) do not compare with the strength of Jesus’ humility in the incarnation. This is what it means to be strong, and for male readers, this is what it means to be masculine.

A Christian without humility...

A Christian without humility is like scuba tanks without air; as deep-sea divers do not survive long without oxygen, Christians without humility cannot realistically thrive in the spiritual environment.

The 19th century South African writer Andrew Murray wrote fabulously on Christian spirituality, and his little book Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness is a treasure trove. He writes: “If humility is the first, the all-inclusive grace of the life of Jesus – if humility is the secret of His atonement – then the health and strength of our spiritual life will depend entirely upon our putting this grace first and making humility the chief quality we admire in Him, the chief attribute we ask of Him, the one thing for which we sacrifice all else" (p. 26).

The entire fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, Gal. 5v22-23), can be basketed up and categorised under “humility”.

Returning to humility to save humanity

During the Second World War, Paul Gallico’s novella The Snow Goose (1941) captured the spirit of the nation. It tells the story of a disabled man called Rhayader who sails across the English Channel in a thinly hulled and narrowly drafted sailing boat as part of the Dunkirk rescue: “Physical deformity often breeds hatred of humanity in men. Rhayader did not hate; he loved very greatly, man, the animal kingdom, and all nature. His heart was filled with pity and understanding. He had mastered his handicap, but he could not master the rebuffs he suffered, due to his appearance" (p. 11).

Heroic in humility, Rhayader sets sail using his one functioning hand to tiller through the convulsing seas and his jawline to wind in or unspool the sails’ sheets.

The Snow Goose was celebrated across Britain during war years when ideas of a master race, eugenics and racial superiority wreaked havoc on God’s creation. A story about a humble man, a disabled man and therefore an inferior man according to Nazi ideology.

Rhayader, a person who chooses love over hatred.

Rhayader, a person who loves enough to risk his own life for the sake of others. (Read Romans 5v7-8.)

Today’s world needs new Rhayaders. They ought to be in Jesus’ church.

1. How Will You Measure Your Life? (Harvard Business Review: On Managing Yourself, 2010), p. 11