Tenacious Humility

This is a phrase I have been thinking about for a couple of days so I thought I would put a few words to my thoughts.

First, I wrote last week about Unsettledness.  I think a contributing factor to that low, grumbling turmoil in the air is the general lack of humility we see in the space of public discourse these days.  It feels as though we have become a people, a nation even, of being so completely convinced of our positions that we are not just right, we are totally right.  And if someone would fein to disagree with us, clearly they are wrong - completely wrong.  We have decided that our postion is the moral high ground on everything, and therefore their position must be inferior.

Second, I believe this mentality has subtly and unfortunately wormed its way into the life of the church.  We believe we are competely right, and therefore that makes everyone else wrong.  

Here's the problem.  While we may be right about many things, there is a subtle dark side that results when we care more about our postion than we do the other person.  We make our lives more about "defending the right" than we do about loving the person we are attempting to win over with our argument.  And in the process we dehumanize them.  Instead of being a person, a fellow traveller on this journey of life, they become "them" or "one of those."

It is for this reason I believe one of the primary callings of God for His people, especially in these days, is to live with a tenacious humility.  

Those words may seem like they don't fit together, but I believe (because I'm right) that as we engage with people around us, and especially when we find ourselves perhaps at odds with someone on a particular issue or life choice, that we must remain tenaciously committed to embracing that relationship with a deeep sense of humility.

Around the circles of my denomination (The Church of the Nazarene) we often attribute Phineas Bresee, the founder of our tribe, with the following quote:

In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; but in all things, charity (love).

While it is clear Phineas was not the originator of that phrase, the depth of meaning behind it is still, and perhaps even more, valid for followers of Jesus today than it has ever been.

We must, to quote another one of our heroes:

Be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16)