The Ingredients of Humble Pie! (Part 3 of 3)

3.) Reminding ourselves that we are simply jars of clay.

2 Corinthians 4 is a truly stunning chapter in the Bible, moving us through the divine work of God in our salvation. Taking us, who were blinded by the god of this world, and through His power removing the veil of darkness, causing the glory of Christ to flood our sight and lead us to faith and repentance. Paul then continues by telling us that this same power of God, which affects our salvation, does not only come into our lives to bring us to salvation and then leaves. This power of God remains within us through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. Paul teaches us what this then means for us as believers in Christ, and how this power works within our lives. It is not my purpose to offer an exposition of this passage, but rather to draw out a simple, but humbling truth and that is the contrast that Paul draws between us, the power of God and then the purpose of this power of God at work in our lives.

We are but jars of clay, we are not appealing to the sight, we are not desirable because of our great value, we will not endure forever and we are fragile, prone to break. One day, as the preacher in Ecclesiastes 12:6 tells us, the pitcher will be broken, the clay jar smashed, life will come to an end.

We are not as great as we think we are, nor are we as strong as we pretend to be. (At this point in time, my three-year-old son believes I am invincible, as in his eyes daddy can do everything, and quite honestly, I am enjoying this “status”. Unfortunately, for me, my son will discover, in the not so distant future, that his daddy is not as strong and clever as initially thought!) We like to think that we are indispensable, that our church needs us, and that they could never survive without us.

The only reason why you and I, have remained in ministry as long as we have, and are still able to stand, is for no other reason, but because of the grace and power of God that is at work in our lives. Think upon all the trials of faith you have endured, the days when you have slumped in your office chair wondering if it is all worth it. The times when you have faced opposition, or when your have been laid low by physical weakness. What is it that has taken you in that hurting, broken and weary state to the pulpit each week and enabled you to preach? Brothers, it is not your own strength that has accomplished it, rather it is the divine power of God that has equipped, strengthened and enabled you to persevere.

For what purpose would God to take a weary minister to the pulpit? For what purpose would God strengthen a minister who is under attack from the workers of evil? For what purpose would God enable a minister who is hurting, and bind up his heart in the presence of the church?

Paul tells us, so that all may know that we are the men that we are, and we are able to do what we do week after week, after week, not because our wisdom, strength and ability, but because of the divine power of the one who is at work within us. All this is done so that people will not bow before us, or proclaim our excellencies, but rather they will fall in worship before the throne of God Almighty, praising and adoring Him for His grace and goodness.

We are fragile jars of clay, but jars that are filled with a divine power, all for the glory of God. We are live before our people as jars of clay, revealing to them our dependence upon this all-surpassing power of God, setting the example for them to follow.

4.) God works through us and blesses our preaching and teaching, not because of the eloquence and wisdom of our words and ability as preachers, but because it is His eternal, powerful, living Word.

I was a victim of the notorious preaching prize at Bible College. Now think of the wisdom of a preaching prize whereby you award a student, most likely in his early twenties, a prize, which publicly proclaims him to be the best preacher in the college! (I believe that my hero Charles Spurgeon would be turning in his grave hearing of such an invention!) Furthermore, I am not so sure that it is a good way to enter into the ministry, I feel sorry for the church that calls the young man! Come to think of it, I feel sorry for that young man, because he will come to the ground with a sharp thump! I still have the scar that marks my plummet from “best preacher” to my weekly blunders in the pulpit that left me wanting to crawl out of the church on my belly with the hope that no one would notice, or even dare to comment on the preaching!

Truthfully, we all want to excellent preachers, in fact if any of you were to say to me I do not want to be an excellent preacher, I would ask you what you were then doing in the pulpit. Paul’s instructions to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 should be the hallmark of our preaching ministries. We should work long and hard at our sermons, seeking to refine, and then re-refine them. We should like the Puritans of old seek to be wordsmiths, finding the best words, examples, illustrations and forms of application to further improve our preaching. As preachers we, I believe, should regularly make available recordings of our sermons to men who are more experienced, and better preachers than ourselves so that they can review us and help us to grow in our preaching. Our preaching should be on a constant upward learning curve, aspiring after excellence.

In the pursuit of excellence, we must be very careful to guard against pride and pursue after humility. (I believe it was Spurgeon (at least I think it was), who after having preached a sermon was greeted by an elderly woman who told him, “That is the best sermon I ever heard.” To which Spurgeon replied, “Yes ma’m, the devil already to me that!”) We need to guard against the pursuit of excellence that causes us to eagerly seek after the praise of men. Our aim in preaching should not be to have our sermons published in every Christian Theological journal as the very standard of excellence. We should not preach to impress others, a battle every preacher faces when he knows that there are other preachers in the congregation!

We need to hold ever before ourselves, both in the preparation process and in the delivery of the sermon, the following questions, “Upon whose authority do I depend as I preach these words?”, “What assurance do I have of the success of my preaching?”

If the answers to those two questions are, “I am depending upon my own ability, my own efforts in the week, my own understanding of the text, on the eloquence of my words and the clarity with which I preach.” Well, it goes without saying, we are in dangerous territory. I believe that none of us wish to ever find ourselves in such a place, but, and this perhaps is the more revealing the question, have you ever found yourself in a position whereby you think that God should bless your preaching because of all the work and effort you have put in over the week? Do you feel that your work of preaching is deserving of God’s blessing? Ask yourself those questions honestly.

The only authority we have when we preach is God’s authority, and the only assurance of our success in preaching is because God has promised that HIS WORD will always accomplish His purposes.

Gentlemen, the only reason why our preaching is successful, the only reason why people come to faith in Christ, or grow in their salvation, is because God has promised to work through the preaching of His Word. Its success does not depend upon our eloquence or personal brilliance, and we should be extremely grateful for this, for what man among us could say that such is the standard of his preaching, that his words alone can change lives bringing people to God?

Yes, we should by all means strive after excellence in preaching, but we should never forget that we preach God’s Word, in God’s name and authority, trusting, resting and rejoicing, that He in His power uses our limited and finite abilities to accomplish His purposes, for the expansion of His kingdom and the glory of His name.

5.) Consider the worth of Him who handed the “keys” of church to us, and our unworthiness for this task.

I am currently in transition, I will be leaving my present church and by God’s grace entering into ministry on the other side of the world in England, although the exact place and church is yet to be determined. As a result of this, the church has begun the call process, and for me it has been a very challenging and humbling time, in which my ego and pride has been exposed. As the candidates have sent in application forms and responded to the extensive questionnaire, and they have preached and been interviewed, I have found myself standing with a magnifying glass over the man, and over the various forms and questionnaires.

At the very first call committee meeting I urged the committee to not fall into the trap of seeking to find the perfect pastor, as such a man does not exist. I, have not heeded my own warning! I love this church dearly, tears come to my eyes when I contemplate my departure at the end of the year. I do not doubt the fact that God has clearly called me to move on, but I desire with all my heart to hand the church over to a man who is capable for the task. The truth is, there is no such man, no, not even me!

As I wrestled with this, so my ego and pride was exposed, and as so often happens in these moments the sword of God’s Word pierced my selfish heart, sticking its blade into my sin. Consider Christ’s words in Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” and Acts 1:8, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” To whom did Christ issue these words? The disciples, to Peter, who suffered from foot-in-mouth disease, to James and John the proud brothers who tried to secure their position of prestige, to Thomas the doubter and so we could continue. A total stranger to Scripture and Church history would be baffled by the actions of Christ. “Are you seriously handing over the continuation of your work to these men, these uneducated, weak-willed, faithless, fools? Surely no one in their right mind would entrust to men such as these, their life work, a work for which they died to secure?” Yet Christ demonstrates His humility, and trust in the Father (as he gives evidence of in John 17), as well as His knowledge of the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, by handing over the continuation of his earthly work and ministry to the disciples.

I found myself immediately convicted, for my failure to trust God, and my sinfulness in wanting to “play God” in the determining who was capable or incapable. When it comes down to it, not one of us is worthy for the task, not one of us is sufficient for the work, not one of us is capable. We do not deserve to hold the keys, or to be entrusted with this great and high calling. It is only Christ that causes and enables us to be counted worthy, it is only through receiving his abundant grace and mercy, through outpouring and equipping work of the Holy Spirit, that we can do the work to which we have been called.

Brothers, consider Him and His infinite worth, who laid down His life for the sake of us who believe. Consider those to whom He has entrusted to work in His blood bought Church. Consider yourself, in the light of Christ, and allow that to produce in you a deeper humility, and a greater thankfulness to Him who has counted your worthy, called you to the work and equipped you for the task.

I close by restating the five ingredients:

1.) Cultivate an ever-decreasing view and opinion of yourself, and an ever-increasing view and understanding of God.

2.) A daily realisation that it is not because of who you are, but because of who God is.

3.) Reminding ourselves that we are simply jars of clay.

4.) God works through us and blesses our preaching and teaching, not because of the eloquence and wisdom of our words and ability as preachers, but because it is His eternal, powerful, living Word.

5.) Consider the worth of Him who handed the “keys” of church to us, and our unworthiness for this task.

Those then are my five ingredients to humble pie! (Although there are many more that could still be added.) Let us seek to keep these truths of Scripture ever before us, constantly praying the words of John the Baptist, "He must increase and I must decrease". Let us strive after humility with a renewed zeal, being ever more vigilant in our battle against pride, so that all the glory may go to Him, who has saved us and called us into His glorious work. 

The Ingredients of Humble Pie! (Part 2 of 3)

Pride is subtle, it seldom, if ever, comes to us waving its hands in the air shouting, “Look out! Look out! Here comes pride!” Two weeks ago, I spoke of how even we as pastors run the risk of slipping into pride without even knowing, sometimes to such an extreme that we mistake our pride for humility. The only cure to pride is a healthy dose of humility, and yet like a small child, we intensely dislike that taste of the medicine we so desperately need. To the point that we stubbornly refuse to take it, until our mouths are pried open and the medicine swiftly sent down our throats. We are slow to humble ourselves, and fail to make it a daily practice. I speak here from personal experience, when I wake in the mornings, my first action should be to get out of bed and immediately go to my knees praying for God to keep my heart from pride and bathe it in humility. Yet, truthfully, I have never done this. God, however, is gracious, long-suffering and patient, there is forgiveness, and the new opportunity to change my ways.

The question then is what can we do at the start of every day, and especially on Sundays, to ward off pride and humble ourselves? What ingredients do we need to make ourselves a slice of humble pie, which should be eaten each morning?

1.) Cultivate an ever-decreasing view and opinion of yourself, and an ever-increasing view and understanding of God.

Your morning starts as per usual, standing in front of the basin, razor in hand, removing yesterday’s stubble. The shaving process completed you rinse your face, look in the mirror, and for a brief moment allow yourself to bask in your own magnificence. (The degree of magnificence seems to decrease with age!)

Stop, be careful, for you were created not to bask in your own magnificence every morning, but rather to bow before the One who is Magnificent. Don’t forget that the day will come when your existence upon the earth shall come to an end as swiftly as yesterday’s stubble, and then you shall truly see just how much your opinion of yourself stacks up against the God of all glory!

One of pride’s chief weapons is to cause us to think of ourselves as greater, higher and better than what we really are. It will seek to fool us into thinking that we are only a few rungs lower on the ladder from God. This pride, if left unchecked will cause us to have an inflated view of ourselves. This increasing view, this over-estimation of ourselves comes at a cost, for as we inflate ourselves to being greater than what we truly are, we decrease and demote God, to being lesser than what He truly is. The result, we promote ourselves to God, and demote God to our errand-boy, personal servant and genie, who is there to satisfy our every desire, whim and wish.

I have been reading through the book of Isaiah, and found myself laid-low, cut down like a tree, by one simple verse: “Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?” (Isaiah 2:22)

This passage is preceded by a lengthy section speaking about the terror and judgement that God shall bring against the proud, of God’s infinite glory and splendour, and man’s worthlessness in comparison. It concludes with that soul piercing, pride crushing verse. It is a verse that haunts my thoughts for it is saying to me, “Of what account are you, how great is your splendour and majesty, how mighty is your power, how great is your magnificence, when you cannot even provide for yourself the very simplest of things, your next breath! Take away one thing, one simple thing, oxygen and that is it, there you lie gasping for breath, after a few moments your body will be lying there, blue, limp, dead. Oh, how great you are!”

The first step, the first ingredient needed to humble ourselves is that we must seek to cultivate an ever-increasing view of God and an ever-decreasing view of ourselves. Let us make it our daily ambition to gain an accurate view of who God truly is, and who we are by comparison. We must allow the sheer majesty, glory, splendour, power and magnificence of God, to cause us have our faces buried in the dust like Isaiah, Daniel and John, fearing for our very lives, but rejoicing that we have found favour in His sight. To speak to our hearts as we stand in front of that mirror in the morning, “I was created to worship, not before the throne of self, but before the one who is enthroned between the cherubim, the God of Glory. How shall I worship Him today?”

2.) A daily realisation that it is not because of who you are, but because of who God is.

Aaron is one of those characters in the Bible that is somewhat of a mystery to me, he is a misfit, a troublemaker, a man easily swayed by the influence of others and an idolater. Yet God uses him powerfully, he is the first High Priest, and his family line becomes the priestly line. A man who made, fashioned with his own hand the golden calf, who led the nation in idolatry, whilst standing next to mountain with the presence of God upon it, is exalted by God to just about the highest office in all of Israel!

Aaron, is in many respects the Old Testament version of Saul, for Saul too is a misfit, a violent opponent of the Christian Church, seeking to silence Christians, and in the process mislead others, turning them away from the true Messiah, back to the Law of bondage, sin and death. Yet, God radically changes both of these men, and we can clearly say that God could not have chosen these men based on who they were, or what they had done.

Think back to what happens shortly after the golden calf debacle. Moses makes that very brave request to see the glory of God, and God graciously provides Moses with that glimpse. As God does this so He declares to Moses, who He, God is, and as God declares this so we hear the reason for which Aaron is still alive, in fact the reason as to why any of us are still alive and have not been utterly consumed in God’s wrath.

“The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5-7)

It is because of who God is that Aaron is still standing, it is because of who God is that Aaron is then made High Priest. It is because of the fact that God is mercy and grace, because He is slow to anger, a God of patience, because He is love and is faithful and forgiving.

Consider who you are today as a believer in Christ, consider who you are today as a messenger of God, called to serve in His church as a shepherd. You are who you are, where you are and what you are, not because of who you are, or what you have done, but rather because of who God is, and what God has done.

We are all Aarons, faithless misfits who hearts are quick to run after idols. Daily giving God more than sufficient reason for Him to justly consume us in His wrath, and yet because of who He is, He relents, shows grace, and uses us to the glory of His name! We must, also, be careful. Just as the declaration of who God is contains so much hope and joy for us, it also comes with a warning, God will not tolerate sin forever, He will punish it, and He will discipline us should we fail to deal with it, rooting it out of our lives. God will not contend with man forever.

The second step, the second ingredient in humility, is to constantly remind ourselves of who we are, of who He is and how it is that we have become to be who and what we are. This alone should give us sufficient cause each and every morning to be filled with praise and adoration of Him who called us to Himself, made us His own, and entrusted us with His Gospel. As we prasie and adore Him, let us then also pray that He may, through His Spirit, help us to root out sin and pride so that we can live in greater obedience to Him.

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:12-17)




More ingredients to follow later in the week.....

A Slice of Humble Pie! (Part 1 of 3)

No one likes to be told that they are proud, or at times have an air of arrogance about them. We do not like being told this because at the very core of our hearts we are proud and arrogant!

As pastors we are constantly cautioned against pride and arrogance, we are eager to root it out of our lives and become increasingly humble men. We are, however, also experts at feigning humility, adopting an attitude and response of humility that is external, but does not originate from a truly humble heart. This often comes to the fore when people praise our preaching, speak in admiration of our apparently great wisdom and deep insight into the Word of God. When they marvel at our ability to handle, what is in their mind a profoundly difficult theological question, with apparent ease.

By God’s grace, He has enabled us to study His Word for a period three or more years as we completed our theological degrees. The majority of us came out of seminary with a good foundation, and even the ability to read the Bible in the original languages, some with a greater ability than others. We have been in ministry for numerous years, notching up more and more experience, we, hopefully, read and study constantly, always seeking to increase our knowledge. We want to keep our theological pencils sharp, so that we can serve well in the ministry. It is the constant desire of our hearts that our preaching and our work as a pastor is one that is consistently improving, becoming increasingly better and clearer. We desire to be seen as strong, decisive leaders, who are marked by integrity and discernment. At the same time, we always want to be approachable, open, and ready to help those who are in need, or in distress. Few things cause us more pain as pastors than to discover that a member has been in great spiritual distress, but has been too afraid to come and speak to us. Why do I mention all this? Have you ever considered the fact that in your desire to become theological astute, an excellent preacher of God’s Word and a wise shepherd, it could have led you to a subtle form of pride and arrogance?

Allow me to suggest that what lies at the heart of this pride and arrogance that we as pastors struggle so much with, is the fact that we are over-familiar with the truth, we have allowed knowledge to dull our hearts and minds, we have become too comfortable with the One who is infinite, and beyond our comprehension. We have become increasingly critical, and have turned our calling into a profession that must be executed according to our standards and knowledge.

Take the following test to diagnose the condition of your mind and heart in this regard:

When you read the Bible, especially the very familiar passages, do you find yourself skimming over them, thinking to yourself, “I know this passage, I know how the story goes and I know what comes next”?

Can you remember the last time you read the Bible and after reading a certain verse or passage, found yourself amazed, stunned, speechless, driven to worship, adoration and prayer?

When asked a question by a church member, that in your sight is a basic Sunday school question, do you find yourself thinking, “How can you not know the answer to that, how can you claim to be a ‘mature’ Christian and ask questions like this?”

At a Bible study when Mrs. Jones prays, and of course, she prays every week, do you find yourself analysing and critiquing her prayer, cringing as she uses all the clichés in the book, and following the same formula and phrases week after week?

Do you ever find yourself wishing that you could play the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of certain church members, who just never seem to change, nor do they appear to take to heart God’s Word?

On a Sunday, during the time of singing, do you find it difficult to focus on the songs, because so often your mind is distracted by what certain members are or are not doing? “Why is Phil wildly waving his hands in the air? Oh boy, Mary is crying again, what is it this time?” Do you find yourself examining the congregation to see who is not at church and wondering why they are not here today, thinking "today’s sermon would be especially relevant to them"?

When you are in prayer, in the privacy of your study or office, how proportionate is the time you spend lamenting the lack of growth in the lives of the church members, praying and pleading that God would change them, as opposed to the time spent thanking God for evidences of His grace and work in the lives of the church members? When was the last time you prayed and thanked God for the church in which He has placed you, thanked Him for each of the members, and the work that He is performing but which is hidden from our sight?

How often do you encourage individual church members, commenting on how you have seen God at work in their life, mentioning to them how you are thankful to God for their progress in the Gospel?

How did you do?

I failed, miserably!

As I reflected upon those questions, I had to search my heart for at first sight my pride and arrogance was not evident, I do genuinely desire to serve God to the best of my ability. I desire for the members of the church to grow in maturity, to pray better, to be quicker to heed God’s Word and for the Sunday services to be excellent; my desire for this is so that God’s people, church and glory might grow.

This pride and arrogance is a very subtle one, it is not a public or an easily discernable one. This pride creeps slowly into our hearts and minds. It seeks to control our inner thoughts, and many of those thoughts will never be outwardly spoken, as our members would be horrified if they heard them. The problem is that so often what we think in our minds, then seeks to control the inclinations and attitudes of our hearts, which, if left unchecked, can begin to influence our behaviour and outward actions. A sigh of disapproval, a shaking of the head, a frown, a look of displeasure, or condescension, a sarcastic remark, or words of jest, are the ways and means that this pride and arrogance works its way through our hearts and minds, to our outward behaviour. Such behaviour can cause people to hold us at a distance, to see us as a super-spiritual guru with their own hotline to God and some hidden exclusive knowledge into the Bible that they will never gain. It can cause our members to become afraid of us, not in terms of being fearful, but afraid of us thinking them foolish or immature should they ask us a question. Worse still, it can cause our members to be hesitant to come and share their struggles with sin and seek out our counsel, for we give off the impression that we do not struggle with sin. Our behaviour and conduct, could hinder their worship of God, for they feel as though they are being watched, and their prayers are being analysed and critiqued.

As pastors, we would not want the above paragraph to be true of us, it would reduce us to a heap of desperate tears and destroy us, for we never, ever wish to be perceived as such a person. We therefore need to be diligent so as to guard our hearts against this subtle pride. The big question is how then can we guard against this pride? The answer is simple; we need to eat a healthy slice of humble pie, on a daily basis!

What are the ingredients needed to make a humble pie? In God’s grace I will seek to answer that question later this week with another post. Until then, brothers, keep a close watch upon your heart, your mind and your conduct.