The Epitome of Humility

Philippians 2:3-8 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; (4) do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (5) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7) but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (8) Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

A story is told of a missionary team that served in the jungles of South America. After many years the team came back to their home church in the United States in order to give a mission report and introduce the “Tribal Chief” whom they had trained to become the pastor for the tribe. During their visit, while doing some sightseeing, the missionaries took the Chief into a grocery store. As they walked through the store the Chief broke down and began crying. One of the missionaries was alarmed and asked him why he was crying. The Chief responded, “Only now am I realizing how much you gave up in order to bring the message of Christ to my tribe.”

This story reminds me of the documentary, “Beyond the Gates of Splendor”. It is the story of five missionary families who left the creature comforts of the United States, friends, and families to take the “Good News of Christ” to a people that did not know Him. In the process they paid an even greater price. Five of the men were killed after making contact with one of the most violent tribes in Ecuador. These men gave their lives so that someone else might know their Savior.

Even though both of these stories are touching, and we see the sacrifices that these missionaries made for Christ, neither can compare to the sacrifice that Christ made, in humble submission to the Father’s plan, when He left His abode in Heaven, and stooped to Earth in human form, to redeem mankind from the separation and bondage of sin. Jesus made Himself of “no reputation” in order to make atonement for our sins by His death on a cross. Jesus set the standard that these missionaries followed. There was nothing but selfless service in His attitude. He did it all for us to fulfill the plan of the Father.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul encouraged believers to be unified and serve each other in humility by following the example set forth by Jesus Christ. In order to understand Jesus Christ, we must first understand true, unreserved, selfless humility. Jesus Christ is the forerunner and epitome of humility. Before His incarnation, He was with God, was God, and was the creator of everything that was created (John 1:1-3). He then became a man in order to serve and save mankind (John 1:14). That is true humility. C.S. Lewis put it this way, “The Son of God became man in order for men to become sons of God.”

There is very little information in the Bible on Heaven, so it is impossible for our finite minds to comprehend an infinite God leaving Heaven, to become man in order to redeem man. The creator became the created. He left the eternal light of Heaven and came to the ever-increasing darkness of the earth to be the “true light that enlightens all men” (John 1:9). He left a perfect environment where He was worshiped and praised by angels, to live as man in a world infested with sin and death, only to be despised and killed by sinful man. Why? Because the Father’s plan was worth the sacrifice; you were worth the sacrifice.

Paul calls us to this same attitude of humility. Is the Father’s plan worth your sacrifice? Are you willing to submit to service so that Christ can be glorified?

Matthew 9:36-38 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. (38) "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

Are you moved with compassion to seed the fields of men with Gospel of Christ? Can you make yourself “of no reputation” so that the eternity of others becomes more important than your “here and now”? It takes an attitude of humility.

I will close this with a quote from the book Descending into Greatness: “Simply stated, the message of Philippians is this: If you want to be truly great then the direction you must go is down. You must descend into greatness. At the heart of this paradox is still another paradox: Greatness is not a measure of self-will, but rather self-abandonment. The more you lose the more you gain.”

Paul would never ask you to do something that he did not do himself. Paul had the attitude that was in Christ Jesus. An attitude of humility.

Philippians 3:7-10 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (8) More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, (9) and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;”