Humble

 Most people are good at humbling themselves in front of others when needed. Pretending to be humble, especially when their humility may get noticed and remarked upon, people will bow their heads, avert their gaze, and act demure and diffident, but usually, it’s just an act. James instructs us to humble ourselves, not in the sight of others, but rather in the sight of the Lord. If your humility isn’t authentic and sincere in His sight, He’ll know it just as sure as He knows the end from the beginning.

There’s a difference if you know what to look for. Some people see themselves as so humble in the sight of others that they are proud of their humility. It may take a minute, but you'll get it once you get it.

What God is desirous of is not that we make ourselves look humble before others, wearing raggedy clothing and seeming as though we haven’t slept for a week, but that we humble ourselves in His sight, that we humble our hearts and in that humility submit to Him in all things.

God sees beyond faux humility to the heart of man, and if true humility is not found therein, He will know it. It still surprises me after all these years that people still try to trick God, deceive Him, or think so little of His omniscience that they attempt sleight of hand when it comes to their spiritual condition.

Telling others you’re humble doesn’t make you humble. Wearing a shirt or a hat with ‘humble’ stenciled on it doesn’t make you humble, either. Humility is rooted in submission and obedience. When we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, we acknowledge His supremacy, His lordship, and His authority.

The side benefits of humility are numerous and long-reaching. When we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, we see ourselves as we are, warts and all, and are more willing to extend grace to those around us, allowing for the fact that they’re human too, imperfect and flawed, but redeemed by the blood of Christ just as we are.

James 4:11-12, “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?”

The operative word in these two verses is brethren. James instructs believers, the brethren, not to speak evil of one another. It’s an important distinction because some use these two verses to insist that we should not point out faulty doctrine, that we should not point out when someone is in error, and that we should not expose sin when it is found in the camp because that would mean we are judging our brethren.

If someone has abandoned the faith, surrendered to lust, or sinned, and their sin has found them out, to sweep it under the rug, ignore it, or pretend it didn’t happen will only lead to worse down the road. Enough stories of now infamous former leaders who’ve been in ministry for thirty or forty years are going around, and their sin from long ago is being exposed, destroying their entire testimony wholesale.

James never says not to inspect the fruit, not to call out error, and not to expose sin. What he does say is not to speak evil of one another, and by one another, he means the brethren.

The first instruction James gives is not to speak evil of one another. Jesus completes the tableau and details what we must do if a brother sins against you. Rather than go and tell everyone else about it, making sure everyone within earshot knows we’ve been wronged, we are to approach the individual in private and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

Matthew 18:15-17, “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”

This is the right way of dealing with offense. This is the proper way of dealing with a brother who has sinned against you. Even if a brother has sinned against you, if you haven’t gone through these steps, first approaching them privately, then with two or three witnesses, then before the church, you’ve not dealt with the situation Biblically.

It’s easy to lash out when we feel as though someone has sinned against us. It’s easy to pay back with the same measure we were dealt. Most often, but not always, what we thought to be a slight or a sin against us was perceived differently than how it was intended. Because we’ve submitted to God and humbled ourselves in the sight of the Lord, we will proceed judiciously when such situations arise and follow the prescribed instructions laid out by Jesus. We will first approach the brother who has sinned against us privately, then go on from there if the situation calls for it. You have gained a brother if he hears you, and no more need be said. If not, go on to step two, then three if needed.

God alone is the judge. A judge not only hears all the evidence but also passes a sentence. A judge determines whether someone is guilty or innocent of the charges brought against them. Our duty is to walk in humility and obedience, fully aware that not all who name the name of Jesus belong to Him, but also that He will judge one and all in due season. Not speaking evil does not extend to condoning, approving, validating, or celebrating non-biblical pursuits. It is a lesson the modern-day church desperately needs to learn anew.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.