Dr. Peter Masters

‘Serving the Lord with all humility of mind’ (Acts 20.19).

THESE WORDS are from the parting speech of Paul to the Ephesian church elders, when they met with him at Miletus. They knew him well as he had been the founder of their church and its pastor for three years. How they loved him, especially for his total engagement with the work of Christ.

Paul described himself as one ‘serving the Lord’, the Greek being ‘slaving’ for the Lord, just as a bond-slave would serve his master. But we must consider the whole phrase – ‘serving the Lord with all humility of mind’. The apostle’s slaving and humility stand as an example and challenge to us all.

Paul was now an old man, according to the wear and tear of those days, but he never mellowed or stopped to waste time in excessive nostalgia. He never retired or settled back, but fulfilled his commission from the Lord to his last hour. It is, however, his humility which we wish to learn from here.

‘Humility of mind’ – what a term! We do not always see this on the evangelical scene today. We see ministers revelling in what they call authority and power and gifts, endlessly expressing their opinions and devising new methods of worship and outreach. There is an overflow of self-confidence and self-reliance. But the motto of Paul is ‘all humility of mind’.

We can understand Paul having physical humility because he was old, and could well have envied the energy and strength of younger people. He was also a sick man and tells us so. So we can well imagine that he would have humility when it came to his physical capabilities. But Paul had ‘all humility’, including humility of mind: intellectual humility.

From the reasoning deployed in his letters, we believe that Paul was a genius. It is true that his letters were inspired, reflecting divine genius, rather than that of the human penman. But inspired Scripture wonderfully accommodates itself to the natural style of the writer, and so we have the impression that Paul was himself a great intellectual. Yet he possessed tremendous intellectual humility.

If we read through Romans with an eye on the marginal references, we see the sentences are rich with Old Testament supporting texts, both direct and oblique quotations. Paul’s normal practice was to go by the book. He was not carried away by his great intellect but constantly proved his teaching from prior Scripture.

Dependence upon the Spirit

Paul’s deep humility is also seen in his total dependence upon the Holy Spirit of God for spiritual power, unlike some today who behave as though power is their own innate and natural gift, available to be exercised at will. The apostle, by contrast, acknowledges that he is held in contempt and criticised for his failure to exhibit a powerful presence. He never showed off, but looked to God for spiritual enabling. Evidently he was not one of those aggressive or over-loud preachers, whose sermons are a protracted harangue, and who march up and down their platforms bellowing. On the contrary, he was derided for the relative gentleness of his preaching.

Nor was Paul one of those people who demand blessings from God in prayer, claiming this and claiming that. Although we have great promises, encouraging us to pray, we should, like the apostle, come before God with reverence and humility, as needy supplicants. All the apostle’s recorded prayers are so humble. They are the prayers of one who asks and pleads, but never demands or claims.

The apostle’s humility is specially seen in the light burdens that he placed on his supporters, for they were so modest. No one was ever so prepared to work with inadequate facilities and small provision as Paul was. He never stopped to protest, ‘Look here, as an apostle I have a right to this or that.’ Even when people let him down and failed to help him, he carried on as one in the service of the Lord and submitted to him. That is humility in holiness.

We may also note the small gatherings of people the apostle was ready to serve. He never said, ‘Do you not know that I have founded many very large churches, and have great responsibilities, and will only speak if you can assemble a thousand people?’ On the contrary, at Ephesus he went from house to house, driven by his concern for souls.

Consider also Paul’s humility in the acceptance of trials, as recorded in Acts 20.22-24:–

‘And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord ­Jesus.’

If only we could be as the apostle was in humility of mind and in the humility that accepts trials and needs, but pride so easily gets in the way. Pride is a terrible thing. It has so many forms; so many identities.

‘Never-wrong’ pride

There is inflexible or impenitent pride found in the person who cannot accept that he or she is wrong, and cannot sincerely apologise. People who once repented before the Lord for the saving of the soul, may, as Christians, become too self-­important to regret and repent. They may lose any continuing sense of their inadequacy before the Lord.

The world promotes self-confidence as the vital quality for success in life, but we turn to Scripture and see that this is the very last thing we need. Rather we need a realistic sense of our inadequacies. Let us fear self-confidence, self-reliance and self-importance. There is much repenting to do when pride breaks into the house of the soul.

‘Be-noticed’ pride

Then there is a form of pride which looks for notice, for praise, for reputation, or for superiority and power and special office. Does this creep into us? It is a form of pride that does not speak its name as it enters, but comes silently. Vigilance and self-examination must be on duty to recognise and repudiate it.

Related to this is the pride that wants expensive and unique things, or things that are different from what most Christians have, because possessing these things is like having a chain of office round your neck which declares: ‘I am special; I am better; I am superior.’ It is a terrible fall to be drawn into self-advertising, covetous pride.

Unsubmissive pride

Then there is the form of pride which dislikes rules and hates to be governed. It must always have its own way, saying, ‘My judgement is best and I will do what I want to do.’ It can come to Christians. It may have been a person’s way of life before conversion, and the devil will attempt to revive it, stirring up proud self-government, arrogant individualism, or distaste for any kind of humble compliance.

How is humility lost?

When we are saved we are given humility by the Lord. This is one of the sure evidences of salvation, when the ugly impediment of pride is replaced by precious, beautiful humility, a spirit of dependence upon God, a desire to learn, and a readiness to be corrected. What happens to that humility? How is it lost?

Sometimes it is lost because we have abilities which go to our head. O friends, don’t be foolish; don’t dwell on your abilities. Don’t think too much about them, or let them elevate you above others. Remember that the gifts of God are spread throughout the body and you only possess two or three of them, at most. Other believers have different gifts, and we need each other, and a multiplicity of people are needed for the service of each church. God is fair in these matters, and distributes gifts to all. Do not let the devil lie to you, and tell you that you are more important than others.

Retaining humility

Here is some advice about how to deal with gifts when they go to our head. First, give some time every day, or frequently, to consider your weaknesses and your mistakes. This always humbles us. Consider the other side of the coin. And then challenge yourself by reflecting not on your gifts, but on your usefulness. Think of what you have done with your gifts, and how much more you should have done with them, and should be doing even now. Think of the years in which you received far more than you ever gave in service to the Lord, and you will be humbled by indebtedness and even shame. This is how we keep ourselves in hand and hold on to our conversion humility. Remember that we are useless without God’s blessing, and God hates pride. So what is the good of our gifts if the Lord finds us unacceptable?

Instrumentality needs humility
Why was the apostle Paul so blessed, no matter what difficulties he passed through? Because he aspired to – ‘all humility of mind’. He jealously preserved humility. We have known of people in the ministry who were immensely gifted and able, but who were never much blessed, because they allowed humility to slip away.

Pride like Satan’s

Sometimes, as though to teach us, God turns matters on their head and chooses a person with no ­apparent abilities, and uses that person mightily. This does not seem to be his normal way of working but sometimes he does this, perhaps to warn those who are more gifted not to be proud. And so he makes fools of the more gifted. In the annals of Christian service we have famous examples of greatly used people who possessed no obvious gift, and we think, ‘How did they ever have such success in their work and ministry?’ Was it God warning the gifted ones that he does not bless if giftedness puffs up?

Sometimes we can be proud because we lack an ability, and we become envious of others, refusing to acknowledge God’s distribution of gifts, and campaigning to climb above those we envy. This is what happened to Satan. This is very profound, and I can only put it in a sentence or two – but Satan became so intensely jealous of God that he refused to believe God was distinctively God. It seems that Satan began to think that God was like him, a mighty angel with whom he could compete. And so Satan took a course of action which, with his great intelligence, he would never have taken if he had continued to realise that God was God. He began to fight against God and to thwart and destroy his work, in order to be higher than God. This is what Scripture tells us in Isaiah 14.12-17, the analysis of the root of Satan’s horrific crime – the root of pride. Could this be the case with us, that we begin to despise people whom we secretly envy, and that we boost our pride, denigrating them in our mind? Our pride acts in bitterness and in competing self-elevation. Only repentance and the recovery of humility will lead us to the discovery of God’s intended service for us.

Used with permission.