Humility In Learning

In the first years of my professional life in the classroom I did not detect the largeness of genuine humility.  I believed it to be something that belonged to spiritual life, but it gradually dawned on me that much of what occurred in life both personally and professionally was often related to a personal pride bordering on arrogance, sometimes spilling over.  I found humble persons were different than those who were not.  This came through when I differentiated between various factors of life and personality.  At first it seemed that shy persons were humble.  Then I found some shy persons quite proud using their recognized shyness as reason to avoid relationships and leadership.  Some persons used cleverness in seeming to be humble so to avoid the hard work of becoming competent to express self well.  Students lacking appropriate humility would often argue that they should be given higher grades than they received.  They seemed not to understand that there was a humility that sometimes would serve in fulfilling the goals of the lectures and discussions to accent some direction, some truth, some insight they did not formerly permit to their thinking or conduct.  Humility causes us to ask questions before we make judgments.  Humble persons prepare themselves and are sincere to counsel.  Once proving ourselves with hard work we may make assertions, and they are accepted because the receivers sense reason to trust what they are given.  I wanted to know what the great thinkers and creative persons of history believed and acted upon because they had done the humble work to earn the authority status given to them.  Their work helped me in my performance. 

I would have to live more decades to gain even a portion of my education without sitting at the feet of teachers who introduced them to me, and helped me analyze what was proclaimed and followed.  The Apostle Paul was found humble not only because God afforded him some special gifts to launch the missionary enterprise for Christ, but that he also gave some attention to the parchments and followed the lead of his mentor, Barnabas, in breaking out of the desert for apostolic ministry.  (2 Timothy 4:13)  Barnabas, mentor and leader for Paul, gave an example of his humility when he yielded the chief place to Paul along the missionary journey. (Act 14:12)  Later, a bit of pride and disagreement broke them up.

Many persons miss God in their lives for the lack of humility.  They feel that if mankind can’t do it, it won’t be done.  We can work our way out of the troubles of life and nature.  Scientists will, they say, find substitutes for declining resources.  The marvels of mankind’s creativity will get us through the depletion of land, air and water and will create substitutes for metals, fuels, – and the list of factors grows very long relative to the necessities for earth life.  Concern is becoming major about climate change, depletion of fish in the waters, excess of pollution and trash, collapsing infra-structure – and the list grows long for world tragedy even including decline in the bee population needed for spring pollination.  All the while some nations are engaging in scorched earth warfare and terrorism leaving whole cities in rubble to vie for limited materials to rebuild.  We know the arrogant of the world have no concern about the necessity for peace, humility and responsibility.  Apparently human beings will continue not only in warfare and consumption without responsible conduct so to destroy even the malefactors of it all, but the irresponsibility becomes larger in that there is no serious relationship to God, our helper.  We are responsible to our own generation.  Keeping that responsibility we postpone judgment, if judgment is to come.  We can follow the point in God’s judgment on the Canaanites when the Israelites were held back an extra forty years, or the experience missed even by Jonah, a prophet, in the respite given to Nineveh.  National experience, both in wins and losses, is common to history’s story.  Sometimes the golden ages are followed by silver ages as recovery and renaissance appears, only to fall away to decay.  The golden age of Rome began its decline. The coming of the Christians in the first century after Christ gave impetus to a silver age, that, on the rejection of Christianity (until Constantine) meant some malaise for historic Rome.  Humanity needs not only love, competence, resources and the like, but humility works together for good, at least for those who love God.  Romans 8:28 – All things work together for good to them that love God.  Humility invites faith.