HUMILITY, COWERING, OR CONFIDENCE

In The Church in Babylon, Pastor Emeritus, Erwin W. Lutzer, argues that “we must see our own failures more clearly than the failures of the world.” To make his point, he quotes a well-known Christian philosopher:

·       Christian should be humbled before the new pagan pluralistic situation. Just as with the [Israelite] exiles, the situation is due in large part to our own failings. The Church did not lose its position of privilege simply because of evil enemies of the faith. We lost our position as part of God’s judgment on our pride, our hypocrisy, our love of power, our prejudice, our bigotry and failure to hold onto the truth. This is the way in which God gets people’s attention…We must be far harder on ourselves in gracious, humble repentance, than we are on the unbelieving culture around us…We should be very understanding toward people who have failed to believe in Christ because of the weakness of the Church’s testimony. (pgs. 96-97)

There is much truth in this. Judgment has to begin with us (1 Peter 4:17). Jesus had warned that we first have to remove the log (blindness) from our own eye before we can remove the splinter from our brother’s eye. We have to judge ourselves. Paul warned that correcting a brother requires us to be spiritual. We have to first correct ourselves (Galatians 6:3). To not judge ourselves would bring upon us the judgment of God:

·       But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:31-3 ESV)

However, once we examine ourselves and humbly confess our sin, we are both forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1:9). I fear that this philosopher might be stopping short of the full implications of this truth. Once we do humbly confess our sins, we should be confident that we can remove the splinter for our brother’s eye, by the grace of God. However, the philosopher seems to suggest that being “humbled before the new pagan pluralistic situation” is sackcloth to be continually worn.

This message might prevent the Christian from walking in the boldness of the Lord, which is our inheritance:

·       So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6)

I am concerned that this philosopher’s portrayal might not deliver us from the “mea culpa” thing. Humility should be accompanied by the boldness to speak confidently for our Lord and to shine forth His light.

I am sure that David wasn’t a perfect man either. He too could have done the “mea culpa” thing in view of the hundreds of years of Israel’s rebellion against God. If David had had this philosophical bent, he might have concluded, “We Israelites have to humble ourselves to remain the slaves of the Philistines, by virtue of our sins.” However, he moved with great boldness and assurance as he approached the enemy of God and Israel, Goliath:

·       Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.” (1 Samuel 17:45-47)

It was David’s boldness in the Lord that had energized Israel to a great victory. The Church also needs to be encouraged to fight the good fight of faith and to be a shining light to the world. However, this is hard to do if we are always attired in the rags of sackcloth.

Truly, we need to be humbled before our Lord and also before those against whom we have sinned. However, after we have confessed our sin, we are then free from our burden of guilt and can re-clothe ourselves with His boldness, rather to remain humbled before this pagan culture:

·       In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. Proverbs 14:26 (ESV)

·       The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1)

Boldness is our inheritance as Paul had encouraged Timothy:

·       for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Besides, our courage is richly rewarded. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had put their lives on the line when they refused to worship the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. However, they didn’t surrender to the humility of their debased condition in Babylon and Israel’s sins, which had caused God to send His people into captivity:

·       Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)

If anyone should have remained in humble mourning over their sins, it was the Israelites. Their God had failed to protect them and even rejected them, because of their sins. However, these Hebrew young men knew their God and His forgiveness. Therefore, they knew that they shouldn’t humble themselves before the King’s edict. Instead of sackcloth, they clothed themselves with courage.

The quotation from the philosopher concludes: “We should be very understanding toward people who have failed to believe in Christ because of the weakness of the Church’s testimony.” Yes, we should understand that the Church has never been perfect. It always has had its schisms and its failures to love. However, this never gave the skeptic a free-pass. Despite our many failures, the world lies in irremediable darkness apart from the grace of God. Therefore, Paul asserts, as Jesus had, that there remains an impassable chasm between the children of the light and those of the darkness:

·       Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2 Corinthians 6:14-16)

I have to admit something to you lest you punish yourself for not having this kind of confidence in the Lord. Often, our Lord will grant it gradually over time as we meditate on the Scriptures and endeavor to follow Him. I have followed Jesus for 43 years. However, before the last 20 years, I had experienced little boldness or confidence but a lot of cowering before our pagan culture. However, our Lord is faithful.