Authentic Humility
This muse could well be called
“Spiritual Formation on the Basis of the Word, Part One.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
reminds us that it is only the Word that transforms and shapes our lives.
There are many phases and layers to our
spiritual shaping and formation. Without question we are declared complete in
Christ simply by grace through faith. But at the same time, the church member,
the missionary, the pastor, and the commissioned minister are continually being
formed and shaped in Christ. There are many issues in play concerning this
development.
With this, it may be helpful to see a
skeletal structure for spiritual formation upon which you may freely hang your
God-given personality and calling in life. The content of this structure
contains issues for which you may pray when it comes to your own spiritual
formation. You may also apply this structural content in your prayers for the
individual workers in the harvest field.
The first piece of structure is
suggested by Andrew Murray in his book, With Christ in the School of Prayer. It
is the call for authentic humility.
False humility is something that cannot
stand for long. False humility will reveal itself in the unwillingness to learn
and to follow. When the ministry becomes unbearable and difficult, false
humility will run away.
Authentic humility, on the other hand,
embraces the reality that someone, other than yourself, is to be submitted to.
In the case of one’s spiritual formation, that someone else is the Living God
in all His holiness. Jesus, in his Redemptive work, humbled Himself. He could
have run from the task of receiving the undeserved payment for our sin, but He
didn’t. He humbled (submitted) Himself to death on a cross. So says Paul in
Philippians chapter two.
As you pray for the evangelism of the
world, you can only begin at the foot of the cross, submitting to the One who
humbled Himself on our behalf. There we see the servant’s Servant. Authentic
humility to our Savior is the beginning of proper spiritual formation.
