|
Humility, Submission,
and Teachability
|
To live well in a created universe, wouldn't it be wise to consider the will of the Creator? What could be more important than understanding his purpose in creating the universe and humanity’s role in creation?
To answer this question, one must look to what the Creator has revealed about his character, nature, and purpose. One text to consider is found in the last chapter of Isaiah.
|
Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:1−2 ESV)
|
The end of this passage reveals three human traits valued by the Creator: humility, submission, and teachability. The implication is that humans who display these traits will enjoy the Creator’s favor, which would be a blessing.
A humble person is someone who is sober regarding themselves. They recognize their origin as a created being and don’t presume the right to be or do anything apart from the Creator’s will. Accordingly, they will be submitted under the Creator’s authority and teachable by the Creator.
Jesus is, perhaps, the greatest example of humility in Scripture. The apostle Paul wrote this admonition for Christians to live in humility following Jesus’ example:
|
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5−8 ESV)
|
This passage is commonly referred to as the kenos (transliteration of the Greek word that means “to empty,” Philippians 2:7) of Jesus. Jesus, who is fully divine, emptied himself in the sense of taking on an additional nature, a human nature. The essence of Jesus’ being was affirmed to be one person with two natures at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. This continues to be the orthodox view today.
To live humbly is to live as Jesus’ servants. Good servants don’t seek to do their own will, they only seek to serve their master’s will. The struggle to live humbly is rooted in humanity’s fallen nature. Every human is born with a bias to rebellion against the Creator; in other words, we are born humanists who want to presume the Creator’s role. Humans presume God’s role independent of God. Innately, we are narcissistic and hedonistic spiritual orphans. The ability to overcome this fallen human condition can only be realized through regeneration by the Holy Spirit as Jesus explained to Nicodemus (John 3:1−8).
Accordingly, success is seeking to do God’s will according to God’s ways in God’s timing and all for God’s glory. If one humbly does this, one will be submitted.
One of the best biblical examples of submission was recorded in a parable that Jesus told to his apostles. Luke’s record of this is as follows:
|
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'" (Luke 17:5–10 ESV)
|
Jesus’ apostles issued a request to him. Part of his response was the above parable of a servant who worked all day in the field. When he came home, he had to meet his master’s needs before he could meet his own. Submission to Jesus is expressed by always sacrificially serving Jesus with an attitude of thankfulness and awareness of our identity as Jesus’ servants. This means that our priority is always Jesus’ will. With this attitude and lifestyle, we will be teachable.
An example of teachability can be seen in the apostle Paul’s letter to his spiritual son Titus. Titus 2 begins with the mandate to teach sound doctrine. This means to teach God’s people how to live according to God’s truth. Paul began by explaining how older men should model and train young men and likewise older women are to model and teach young women. Furthermore, even young men were to be role models of sound doctrine in their deportment. Then Paul addressed the workers who, in the first century, were the slaves. He said to them:
|
Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. (Titus 2:9–10 ESV)
|
To be submissive meant they were taught to live a life that was congruent with sound doctrine. Specifically, Paul noted three attributes:
|
-
Well-pleasing implies showing up for work completely, that is, being totally present (mentally, physically, and emotionally), not just present in body.
-
Not argumentative intimates showing up in fellowship with the heavenly Father, which means a good heart, because the mouth reveals the heart (Luke 6:45).
-
Not pilfering suggests without distractions but rather displaying focused commitment to work for the master.
|
When Christian workers display these traits, their lifestyle reflects positively on God our Savior. This is perhaps one of the most effective ways to be light to others (Matthew 5:14−16). To live this lifestyle requires training. And to receive this training requires teachability on the part of the workers.
There is no substitute for humility, submission, and teachability. These qualities characterize Jesus’ disciples because they facilitate the sanctification process in disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit (Philippians 1:6; 2:12−13).
Christianity is a taught worldview and lifestyle (Colossians 2:6−7). It begins with regeneration (John 3:1−8), which is God’s grace through the Holy Spirit’s sovereign work in a person. The process continues through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling work in the process of sanctification. In this process, believers are charged to synergistically work with the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:12−17). This synergistic work will be efficacious because it is divinely empowered. And perhaps the most compelling marker that someone is in this process is a lifestyle marked by humility, submission, and teachability. May we have the grace to so live.
|
Teaching: Humility, Submission, and Teachability
|
Starts in November 2024: Strategic Life Alignment Seminar
|
Biblical Guidance for Finding Your Life Purpose
|
The Business Roundtable is a monthly gathering of organizational leaders who seek to lead and manage based on a Christian worldview.
|
|
|
|
|
|
