“By Jove! I’m Being Humble"
In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis imagines a correspondence between Screwtape, a senior demon, to his nephew Wormwood, a demon-in-training. Screwtape writes to his nephew,
Your patient [whom Wormwood has been assigned to tempt] has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is especially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, “By jove! I’m being humble,” and almost immediately pride – pride at his own humility – will appear. If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely gone through this ridiculous cycle. It’s forced me to accept that I can never just be humble through sheer willpower. I can perform an act of kindness or force myself to be patient, but there’s nothing I can do to impose humility upon myself, and it’s impossible to fake. Humility is a fruit of the Spirit that only He can cultivate in us.
It's also an important virtue to have in Jewish ministry. At Life in Messiah’s quadrennial all-staff conference over the summer, I heard a lot of stories from people with decades of experience on the field. I was familiar with the fact that, especially among the ultra-Orthodox, there is opposition to those attempting to share the gospel with Jewish people (much like any other people group). But as I listened to the stories of experienced Life in Messiah staff, I was amazed by their calmness as they recalled having stones thrown at them while doing outreach in Israel or their bus being surrounded by an angry crowd who knew the group of Americans were no ordinary tourists.
These are extreme cases, of course. Being in Jewish ministry isn’t usually a dangerous calling. Still, after hearing the kinds of outrage or hostility field staff sometimes encounter when reaching out to the Jewish people, I had to ask myself if I would be willing to face the same things for the sake of the gospel.
It’s not just fear of man that gives me pause; it’s the thought of being unjustly belittled or threatened because of what I believe. I don’t want to be treated poorly or dismissed out of hand; I want others to give me the respect and dignity that all human beings are entitled to.
C.S. Lewis must have given a lot of thought to humility. In Mere Christianity he wrote, “A really humble man…will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.”
My Life in Messiah colleagues know how to let go of thoughts of self and focus on God and the people He loves who don’t yet know Him. They can face ridicule, anger, or simply amused curiosity, because they know there’s something worth looking like a fool for.
In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth,
For I think, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all as men condemned to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to mankind. We are fools on account of Christ, but you are prudent in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are without honor! Up to this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless; and we labor, working with our own hands; when we are verbally abused, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we reply as friends; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even now…Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me. (1 Corinthians 4:9-13, 16)
Perhaps the key to humility is understanding that everything Paul suffered on behalf of the gospel was worth it, because it was in service to God and for His glory.
Written by Miriam, Life in Messiah Communications Assistant
Are you willing to endure ridicule, hostility, or even persecution for the sake of the gospel should the Lord ask you to?
What step could you take to focus less on yourself in 2023?
What Scripture have you committed to memory that would encourage you to have the mind of Messiah (e.g., Philippians 2:3-5) and a proper view of self (Romans 12:3)?