Christ Like Humility
Minister Joaquin
Humility in our thoughts and actions
Humility in how we think and act.
Philippians 2:1-4
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Principle: Humility Is not just doing actions to help people in need. Humility is changing the way we think so we can be united and represent Christ well.
Complete my joy by:
1. Being of the same mind, same love, same accord, and of one mind.
2. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit (excessive pride in oneself)
3. Count others more significant than yourself
Definition of terms
2:1 if there is any Paul is not questioning whether the Philippians have these things; he is using a rhetorical expression to say that, since the believers do in fact have these things, they should complete his joy by demonstrating unity.
2:2 you are in agreement If believers cannot live in unity, the transformative power of the gospel comes into question. As a result, the gospel message may lose credibility among unbelievers.
united in spirit The Greek word used here, sympsychos, describes sharing the same attitude or mindset—namely, the mindset of Jesus Christ (vv. 5–8). This points back to the letter’s main purpose of encouraging the Philippians to stand firm together (1:27).
2:3 empty conceit Refers to arrogance, pride, or an inflated ego.
2:4 each of you for the interests of others This attitude is reflected throughout the chapter in the examples of Christ (vv. 6–8), Timothy (vv. 19–20), and Epaphroditus (v. 26).
A. Same mind, love, and direction
- Our way can’t be the only way.
- Our way isn’t always the best way.
- We are not the only one trying to follow God’s direction.
- We have to find a way to make it win-win for everyone.
- God has the final answer on how to move forward.
B. Pride is the enemy of humility.
- We must acknowledge we can be wrong.
- We must acknowledge someone may know better than us, no matter how much experience we have.
- We must acknowledge that we do not have the strength to do everything alone.
- We must be willing to get help.
- We must be willing to share our struggles.
- Not speaking up shows you don’t believe someone can change and do right. Only you do that.
C. Leaning on others helps you grow.
- If you never ask for help, you are saying you are better than everyone else around you.
- When you don’t want to follow other people’s ideas, you are saying you don’t need to learn anymore because you know all the answers.
- When you turn down help, you are saying someone else’s strength is not good enough for you.
- If you never reach out for help, you will never create a community that leans on each other.
The Good Samaritan- as he was walking, he found the injured man and spent his time getting him help, shared his resources to cover the immediate need, then offered to follow up in case there were any extra expenses.
Rahab- as she found the spies, she risked her life to save them from being killed.
Ananias- Heard God in a vision to heal Saul, was willing to risk his safety going to help a “former enemy of God” Acts 9:10-19
James (brother of Jesus)- When Paul was brought before the leadership council of the early church, his ideas and ways of reaching the Gentiles were different than the traditional methods followed by the 12 Apostles. James was willing to accept their differences and leave it to God to bless Paul’s ministry and not stop him from doing things they thought were questionable. Acts 15:6-29
Barnabas- Stands by John Mark after he had a failure. Even if this meant having to lose his partnership with Paul. He did not want to see John Mark fall away and stood by him to continue his development. This encouragement paid off as John Mark would get a chance to study with Peter and write the first Gospel. Also, would help lead reconciliation with Paul and see both being able to encourage other in the future trials they would face. Acts 15:36-41
Jesus always sought the Father on what to do for people-
- Studied the scriptures to ensure he could give people godly advice.
- Waited to start his work when God said it was the right time.
- Helped people while he waited as a carpenter. Job was all about serving people. Also, helped to build up his earthly father’s business.
- Honored his mother based on God’s commandments and turned water into wine.
- Did not pick his 12 people to pour into based on his wisdom or people he liked. Instead prayed all night to hear the answer from God.
- Sent people away so he and the disciples could rest and spend time with God.
- Honored peoples sacrifice to hear God and went the extra mile to help them when he was tired.
- Did not help people when they requested but waited on God’s timing to do it.
- Ate with people in their homes so he could meet their friends and share the gospel with them.
- Fed people on the Sabbath who were hungry.
- Developed people even though some followers objected to his choices.
- Was willing to answer people’s questions to clarify tough topics for them.
- Did his best to show our heavenly father’s love to people.
- Showed great empathy and didn’t judge people for their sins. Forgave them and encouraged them to live better.
- Prayed for people intently.
- Prayed even for his enemies and persecutors.
- Sacrificed his life so we could live.
5 (Potentially Inconvenient) Steps to Serving Others Well
1. Change Your Position
We can serve others well when we actively decide to take on the role of a servant. This seems obvious, but missing this step can lead to doing more harm than good. When we study the life of Jesus, we find countless examples where he took on the role of the servant. From choosing to wash the feet of his disciples to the very decision of coming to earth and living as an ordinary human, Christ continually humbled himself for the sake of others and switched places with people in the lowliest of positions.
It’s easy to unconsciously view ourselves as the saviors of those that we serve. But, to truly model service after Jesus, we really have to believe that, in God’s eyes, everyone else in the room is just as important as us. By positioning ourselves in this way, we force ourselves to leave our personal agenda behind and elevate the importance of each person we are serving. Changing our position naturally leads to doing more to dignify those we serve and puts us a lot more in line with the example of Jesus.
2. Take Time to Listen
It’s easy to assume we know what’s best for others and to simply give them that material thing. But, if we seek to serve others well, the best thing we can do is take the time to get to know people and honor them with a listening ear. If we skip this step, we make it a lot more about the good feeling we get from helping than we do about actually serving someone else.
3. Care, Even When It Costs You Something
When we listen to others, their needs might surprise us. By simply making the statement, “Let me know how I can help,” we’re opening ourselves up to a world of needs, not just the ones that are convenient or fit nicely into the time we’ve allotted to help. This often requires us to drop our own agendas, and it may cause us to serve in ways that stretch us beyond simply where we see ourselves “gifted.”
But the act of caring might not always require big, dramatic action. Caring for another person might mean going against what’s on the planned agenda or going back to the store for a specific shade of paint a homeowner has her heart set on. It might mean grabbing the rubber gloves and cleaning out moldy cupboards, or letting the mess be for now and sharing a cup of coffee. Caring for someone might mean spotting them a dollar for a slice of pizza, or dropping everything and sharing a slice of pizza on the sidewalk in the middle of New York City.
4. Recognize You Might Not Be the Whole Solution
When we’ve listened to the full magnitude of someone’s brokenness, it can often be incredibly discouraging. We all have a natural inclination to want to either fix everything or create distance from what we can’t fix. But when we seek to serve others in light of how Christ served us, we can take comfort in knowing we are rarely the whole solution, that we may be one small part of a much grander plan, and that’s okay.
To serve others well, we need to have faith that we are ultimately serving someone greater.
God is the one who will bring true change to people's lives and circumstances. It is our job to love people where they’re at. But this is not an excuse to wait for someone else to step in and help. The realization that we’re not the whole solution should give us the freedom to share our time and attention without fear.
5. Allow Yourself to Be Served
At EM, we follow our specific approach to missions which allows us to be influenced and changed by the people we seek to serve. This creates avenues for mutual respect and, ultimately, mutual change. In the same way, allowing yourself to be served (accepting a meal or coffee, or letting someone pray for you) is often an incredibly meaningful way to serve someone else. It levels the playing field and communicates to the person you’re serving that they have value, that they matter.
Even Jesus (the actual savior of the world) allowed others to serve him when it was done for the right reasons. He may have quieted Martha’s frets when she was too caught up in the act of serving rather than the heart of it, but he also defended a woman who spent a year’s wages on perfume to wash his feet. This defense wasn’t because he viewed himself as requiring of such a gift, but rather because this very act of service would mark this woman’s life and leave a legacy for all of eternity.
When I think about what it really means to live out a life of service, I wish I would have eaten a slice of pizza with the man in Harlem that day. I would have done it not because I was this man’s only hope for a meal, but rather because it’s what I believe Jesus would have done. The more time we spend examining what it means to serve others well, it comes down to allowing our lives to be interrupted. Serving others means making space for their existence and seeing them as valuable and worthy to serve and be served, simply because God views them that way.
When we’re struggling to make sense of how we could ever live out a life of service to others, I hope we’ll remember the words of Jesus:
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
- Matthew 10:39
https://experiencemission.org/blog/5-steps-serving-others-well
Applications:
1. Read the entire four pages to help you grow in your ability to be humbler. Pray to God afterwards for help in trying to be humbler.
2. Ask loved ones, trusted friends, mentors, how well you listen to other people. If they think you need to get better and be humbler, listen to them and work on it.
3. Rate how much unity you feel here at the church from 1-10 for your personal group, English Ministry, and whole congregation. Come up with a personal action that you can do to help bring more unity to the group.
4. Commit to always doing whatever is necessary to get out of your comfort zone when the opportunities come up to help others do the same in the future.
Questions
1. Why do we let personal discomfort stop us from doing things to help/serve others?
2. What would our lives be like if Jesus did not put us first and face all the discomfort, he would face to help us with our greatest needs?
3. How can letting others help us/serve us create a more loving and unified community?