FAITH & HUMILITY
[5-minute read]
According to psychologists, we rely on stereotypes or mental shortcuts about people to draw conclusions about their motives, character or behaviour. Thus, we may conclude that people with body tattoos are dangerous, or that older singles and divorcees are difficult people. At the same time, our behaviour is shaped by our imagination of how we appear in people’s minds and the reaction we think they have to their mental image of us (Cooley’s looking glass self). So, among Christian friends, we want to appear godly and austere. To people at work, we want to appear competent and hardworking. Empty-nesters want to be seen as rekindling their marriages when their children fly the coop. Those in leadership position want to be seen as powerful and important.
An anomalous person, on the other hand, is one whose behaviour or character does not fit common perceptions. We are surprised when we hear of a person of higher means than us habitually taking public transport while we are looking to upgrade our vehicles yet again. We notice when the highest-ranking office holder among a lunch group readily gets up to get water for everyone in a very busy restaurant that is understaffed. We feel humbled to see an elderly commuter give up his rightful seat for a person with disability while we remain comfortably seated in ours, busy swiping and tapping on our smartphones.
How about a centurion who cared about a lowly but valued servant among his large household staff? For someone whose position we normally associate with importance and busyness, that seemed highly unusual and a little impractical. What if everyone then expected the same treatment, where would he find the time to attend to such trivial matters? Why get personally involved in staff affairs?
Scripture from Luke 7:1-10 tells us that the centurion was a man in a high military position. Even though he was not a Jewish adherent, he was praised by the Jewish elder who told Jesus, “This man deserves to have You do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” (v4). What they did not know was how much faith and humility the centurion possessed that would later catch Jesus’ attention.
We may be curious to know what humility have to do with faith and why faith requires humility. On the surface, they look like a rather odd pairing. How do these qualities co-exist in one person? What does it look like when a person has both humility and faith?
What is Humility
Dictionaries generally define humility as ‘the quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance’. How did the centurion demonstrate humility? When he realised that the Jewish elders had successfully asked Jesus to go to his home to heal his servant, he immediately felt undeserving of imposing such an inconvenience on the Lord. He then urgently sent some friends to pass along this message to Jesus: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.” (v6c-7).
To be sure, the Jewish leaders made their request to Jesus for a home visit based on what they thought the centurion deserved. In his own mind, however, the centurion did not think he deserved to have the Lord personally step into his house to heal his servant.
Here’s the anomaly: why would a decorated military commander care about losing a lowly domestic servant? Also, why did he, a non-Jew, even build a Jewish synagogue? Now we all know that philanthropy and humility are not the same thing. A generous person is not necessarily a humble person, and vice versa. We can be generous to certain groups of people because of the intrinsic benefits of group membership - be it the family, with people in the workplace or other social groups. According to the influential philosopher, Immanuel Kant, a moral code is one that transcends all conditions. Kant’s categorical imperative posits that a person is kind only if he will demonstrate the same kindness to friends, foes and murderers without hesitation and whatever the outcomes.
A powerful story was told of the renowned evangelist, D L Moody, who demonstrated true humility when he quietly polished all the shoes of a large group of European pastors attending his conference. He had earlier appealed to some ministerial students but no one helped. However, prompted by Moody's initiative, others followed suit and quietly stepped up to shine the delegates’ shoes the rest of the days.
People with true humility like Moody and the centurion inspire others to shine for Jesus when the right opportunities arise. By definition, a person is humble if faith and humility are consistently evident in both their character and behaviour towards all people.
What about you? What is the Lord saying to you about caring for the people He has placed in your life? Are you allowing self-regard and family commitments overshadow your God-given call to reach out and touch lives with His love and compassion?
What is Faith
On top of humility, the centurion also demonstrated true faith in Jesus although he neither knew the Lord nor had met Him before.
Hebrews 11:1 describes true faith this way: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” In the passage from Luke 7, the centurion had tried to stop Jesus from making the trip to his home by passing along this personal message through his friends, “Say the word, and my servant will be healed”. Intuitively, he believed that Jesus’ spoken word had the authority and power to do far more than he could in his position.
Whenever we seek God’s intervention to meet different challenges, our certainty must be anchored in Jesus alone, even when His outcomes are not immediately or readily discernible. We certainly do not rely on positive thinking but on the assurance that comes from growing our trust in the Lord.
The centurion chose to approach the Lord as human to divinity, asking for His intervention without any self-concern. It was an act of selfless faith that focused only on another person’s need and well-being. Only with a heart of humility can we step out in selfless faith to pray, seek justice and restore hope for someone else.
Truly, humility and faith make a lethal and powerful combination for impactful living and meaningful relationships!
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 25 February 2023.
