Ladder of Humility

Radical Honesty

If you have not read the first four posts in this series, be sure to read them below:
Ladder of Humility (Part One)
Ladder of Humility (Part Two)
Ladder of Humility (Part Three)
Ladder of Humility (Part Four)

Imagine this scenario: You are sitting in the waiting room of a hospital, looking over a magazine. As you look up, you see a man with a bloody stump where his arm use to be. The medical team rushes out to help him but he acts as if nothing is wrong. The blood is dripping onto the carpet but he hides all signs of pain or worry. He does not want to make others uncomfortable and refuses to seek help because of pride.

Friends, this is a picture of our churches every Sunday morning.

We shroud ourselves in secrecy – even to our own families.

The church is to be a place of radical honesty. A place where people freely confess their sins, weaknesses, and brokenness to one another without fear of judgment. The local church is to be a sanctuary and hospital for sinners.

The fifth step on the Ladder of Humility is, “Radical honesty to others about your weaknesses/faults.” The church is to be counter-cultural. Unfortunately in this area we have been INFECTED by the culture instead of AFFECTING the culture. There needs to be a radical change in our hearts and minds; we must kill our pride and be honest about our shortcomings, sins, and weaknesses with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Paul describes this in Ephesians 4:15:
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

I see two points that Paul makes in this passage –

Radical honesty must begin and end with love. Honesty should characterize our churches and lives because we love one another. Part of this love is accepting others despite their faults and shortcomings. We are to accept one another, even when we screw up, because God has accepted us in Christ Jesus when we DEFINITELY did not deserve it.
Radical honesty will result in spiritual maturity. Many would agree the church in the west is far too shallow. We focus on numbers to the detriment of true spiritual growth. We are content as long the seats are full and the offering is strong each week. Radical honesty challenges our egotistical comfort because it molds us to look more like Jesus.

Remove your mask. I know it will be painful because pride dies hard. Pursue radical honesty in regards to your faults and weaknesses. Extend acceptance to others who are broken.

The Christian life is a journey and the church is to be a hospital where people come to find hope and healing.

You and I do NOT have it all together so let’s quit deceiving ourselves and come to the Great Shepherd with all of our brokenness and sin.

Why do YOU think it is so hard for people to be truly honest with one another? Leave a comment and let me know!

The Ladder of Humility (Part Four)

If you have not read the first three posts in this series, be sure to read them below:
Ladder of Humility (Part One)
Ladder of Humility (Part Two)
Ladder of Humility (Part Three)

The fourth step of humility is Patience to Accept the Difficulty of Others.

Ultimately, this only arises out of a deep sense of love and compassion for people. My guess is that every follower of Jesus would claim to love people but how many of them actually practice the love Jesus speaks about?

This step of humility can only be formed as we meditate on God’s love for humanity.

We NEED to understand that we are only loved by God as a result of sheer grace. God did not save you because you are a good person, you are saved because Jesus is the perfect person. The Gospel is NOT clean yourself up and THEN approach God. The Gospel is that while we were yet sinners, rebelling against a Holy God and deserving eternal condemnation in Hell, Christ died for US! (Romans 5:8)

When I experience myself becoming impatient with the difficulty of others, I am spitting upon the face of the Son of God.

Our patience for others should be a reflection of God’s patience for us. Paul makes this point clear in Romans 15:7 – “Accept one another, just as the Messiah also accepted you, to the glory of God.”

According to this verse, we should be patient with the difficulties of others for the following reasons:

It is a command from Scripture.
Jesus accepted us and we definitely did NOT deserve it.
Ultimately, it brings glory to God.

Let’s paint a beautiful picture of God’s love for us by being patient with the difficulties of others. By so doing, we are being obedient to scripture, reflecting the love of God, and bringing glory to God.

Why do YOU think this fourth step is difficult for so many people? Leave a comment and let me know!

Ladder of Humility (Part Three)

If you have not read the first two parts in this series, you can find them below –
The Ladder of Humility (Part One)
The Ladder of Humility (Part Two)

Step 3: Willing to Subject Ourselves to Direction of Others

As we embark deeper into the journey of humility, the third step deals with our response to authority. In the beginning, when Adam and Eve decided to disregard the authority of God, our nature was seared with rebellion.

All those who are IN authority should be UNDER authority.

Specifically, as you ascend the ladder of humility, you should subject yourself to the following three authorities:

Be subject to God.

“Submit yourselves to God.” – James 4:7

First and foremost, you must live a life of active submission to the Living God. All other submission is an overflow and application of submission to God. The vast majority of Christians today would CLAIM they are living obedient lives – they go to Church, read the Bible, and pray often.

Unfortunately, many of us have followed in the steps of Eve and been deceived by the Serpent.

Below are some symptoms that will be evident if you are NOT submitting yourself to God:

You talk yourself out of obedience.
If the Holy Spirit nudges you to take a specific action and you rationalize yourself out of doing so, you are living in rebellion to God. OBEY IMMEDIATELY!

You do not allow the Word of God to DWELL in you richly.
Reading the Bible does not cause transformation; allowing the Living Word to shape, mold, and transform your entire being does. Practically, this means filling your life with the study, meditation, and memorization of Scripture so that it overflows into the rest of your life.

You rebel against the other authorities in your life.
If you have trouble obeying authority, it is more than likely a spiritual issue. Ask God what you need to deal with in your submission to HIM so that you are able to obey the other authorities in your life.

Be subject to Spiritual Leaders.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief.” – Hebrews 13:17

The second authority in your life you must submit to is spiritual leadership. This would be people such as pastors, elders, deacons, and the various other leaders in your local church. (On a side note, this presumes you are part of a local church – No, meeting for coffee with your Christian friends or watching a sermon at home is NOT a local church, I will explain why in a future post.)

First of all, we need to remember that there is a difference between Godly obedience and blind following. Those who shepherd the flock of God are NOT above accountability. Pastors are part of the community of believers – they may be in a place of leadership but they need the nurturing love and care of the Body as much as everyone else!

Below are some symptoms that will be evident if you are NOT submitting to your spiritual leaders:

You are constantly speaking negative about your leaders.
If your Sunday routine consists of critiquing the message and bashing the leadership of the church, YOU need to quit being arrogant and work towards humility in this area.

You are regularly gossiping about other members in your church.
One of Satan’s schemes is to get the church to expense all its energy on one another so that it is no longer effective in storming the gates of Hell.

Friends, we are not ignorant of Satan’s schemes.

Be subject to Civil Leaders.

“Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God.” – Romans 13:1

Unfortunately, it seems that many Christians are ignorant of Romans 13 – especially in the United States. We wield our freedom as a weapon to wage a war of rebellion against our government.

The ONLY time it is okay to blatantly disobey civil authority is when it is calling you to commit an action that is in direct contradiction to the Word of God. This happens far less often than the hyper-conservative Christians would like you to believe.

Below are some symptoms that will be evident if you are NOT submitting to the civil leaders in your life:

You never pray for those in authority.
When was the last time you asked God to grant salvation, peace, and rest to those in leadership (both nationally and locally) And Yes, President Obama fits into this group.

You demonize and/or deify political parties.
Friends, I can promise you that a new president will not bring lasting change to this country. If you put more hope in your political party than in the Church, you are living in grave ignorance of the Word of God.

A life of submission will speak volumes to the community around you and enable you to progress further up the Ladder of Humility.

Why do YOU think it is hard for people to submit to authority? Leave a comment and let me know!

The Ladder of Humility (Part Two)

This is part two of a series on the Ladder of Humility by Saint Benedict. If you have not read the first post, be sure to read it first by clicking below:

Ladder of Humility (Part One)

Step 2: Doing God’s Will (Not Our Own or Other People’s)

This second step of humility holds three assumptions we need to understand:

God has a Will.

This is a basic teaching with radical implications. We live in the midst of a post-modern world. Essentially, there is no such thing as right or wrong. As long as it works for you, it is true for you. What is true for you is not necessarily true for me.

God has a will and your fruitfulness in your Christian life depends on obedience to it.

You do not need to have a mystical experience or visit a psychic (or even a pastor!) to understand God’s will. This subject is far more in-depth then I am going to take the time to explain here, and I highly recommend THIS POST from Pastor Jon Sanders. In essence, we can discover God’s will through seven different mediums:

God’s Word
Prayer
Your spouse
Seeking Godly council from others
Circumstances (Open/Closed Doors)
The viewpoints of others
Feeling of peace
(CREDIT: “How Can I Know God’s Will for My Life” @ www.jonsanders.org – Be sure to go there and read more in-depth how these seven mediums enable you to find God’s will)

We can be led astray by our own will.

Solomon, one of the wisest people that has ever lived, wrote profound advice for us in Proverbs 14:12 – “There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.”

An obsession with our will clouds our vision, ruins our future, and ultimately does not satisfy.

This debased desire has plunged even our spiritual lives into destruction. Our prayer times are filled with wish lists we want God to grant. Essentially, He has become the servant and we have become gods, expecting Him to bow down to our every whim and desire.

Instead of conforming our will to the Father in Heaven, we have attempted to manipulate and command God to adhere to our man-made plans.

We can be led astray by the will of others.

By nature, we are slaves languishing under the cold chains of people-pleasing. We have allowed subtle contamination by the desires of other people to dictate how we live our lives.

I promise that you will not give an account before God on how you lived your life in light of the expectations of those around you. No, you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and have to explain how you were too much of a coward to boldly stand for God’s will.

Why is it that we are terrified of displeasing mere mortals but flippantly disobey and ignore God’s Spirit when it comes to decisions in our lives?

Friends, seek God’s will and do not allow yourself to be led astray by “the way that seems right to man” because its end is death and destruction.

The Ladder of Humility (Part One)

As I shared in my last post, one of the books I am reading is Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. The goal of this book is to help believers to not only be spiritually mature but emotionally healthy – and yes those are two different things.

Scazzero, the author, goes into detail on how the great trials, tribulations, and even tragedies in our lives are used by God as a refining fire to strengthen and sustain our faith. Part of this process is allowing God to guide us into greater depths of humility.

Saint Benedict, a monk from the sixth century, created a “Ladder of Humility”. I want to invite you to join me over the next several days as we study the different levels of humility. In each post, we will break down each step and look at the practical implications it has for us today.

Step 1: Fear of God and Mindfulness of Him

Tragically, we have a tendency to forget that God is in our midst. This is evident in the first book of the Bible – Genesis – When Adam and Eve attempt to play hide-and-seek with the God of the universe. It is far more comfortable to laugh at their futile attempts to hide from God; it is far less comfortable to examine our own lives and see the many ways we conceal ourselves from Him.

The first step to humility and spiritual growth is a renewed understanding that God is ALWAYS in our midst.

Not only do we need to be mindful of him but we must have a healthy fear of who He is. The writer of Hebrews says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) Yes, we do serve an all-loving God but for love to be pure, there must be judgment. We do not define God by our ignorant definition of love; we define love by who God has revealed himself to be.

God looks upon sin with anger and disgust and promises to eradicate it from existence (which includes eternal damnation for those who live in unrepentant sin).

Practically, how do we go about cultivating this first step of humility? Here is one practical application you can begin today:

Set apart time every day to meditate, pray, and study the Word of God.

It is not possible to stress the sheer importance of this single discipline enough. First of all, allowing yourself time to rest and soak in God’s presence will enable you to be sensitive to his voice and presence the rest of the day. I highly recommend this as part of your morning routine, it will center you on the purposes and plans God has for you before you begin your work day.

If you have never spent time in prayer and study, it can be intimidating. I cannot urge you enough to watch this series of teachings by David Platt – Secret Church: How To Study The Bible – Yes, I know they are long but remember Jesus’ admonition:

“To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” (Matt. 13:12)

A second reason this is important is because it is impossible to think much of yourself in light of the Eternal God. After pondering on the greatness and grandeur of God, you will say with the Psalmist, “What is man that You are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4) Each day, the key to walking in humility is realizing that you are not God. You need to embrace your limitations and weaknesses and rest in the Alpha and Omega – The Unchanging One – Who will strengthen and sustain you in your life’s journey.

Your life is far too short to approach God recklessly and forgetfully. Friends, fear God and be mindful of Him this week.

What do YOU think of the ladder of humility? Do you agree with Saint Benedict? Would you add something? Leave a comment and let me know!

Go here to read Part 2: The Ladder of Humility (Part Two)

Tyler Ramsbey

Act justly. Love faithfulness. Walk humbly with your God.