Pride and Humility

One of the ideas that surfaces frequently in Jesus' ministry is that of not "exalting" ourselves.

For example, while eating with a Pharisee on one occasion, Jesus noticed the way in which guests invited to the dinner typically seated themselves in the most promient place available (Luke 14:7ff.). No one wanted to take the lowest seat - that furtherst from the host or guest of honour. Instead, everyone clamoured for the highest position.

Seeing this, Jesus told a parable about a wedding feast. "When someone invites you to a wedding feast," he said, "do not take the place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place'. Then you will be honoured in the presence of all your fellow guests" (vv. 8-10).

So that his hearer's wouldn't miss the point of this story, Jesus adds, "Everyone who exalts hismelf will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (v. 11). That's the lesson: exalt yourself - that is, promote yourself before others - and you will be humbled. Humble yourself - take a genuinely lowly view of yourself - and you will be exalted or honoured before others. That's a law of the kingdom of God.

Self-promotion doesn't fit well with our true place in God's scheme of things. It smacks of a spirit of self-importance, self-satisfaction, self-achievement. All of these are elements of human pride, something abominable to God. The truth is that there is nothing that we have or are in ourselves that is not ultimately a gift of God. To boast in our achievements, good looks, intelligence or the like robs God of his honour. That's what makes a self-assertive spirit so repugnant to him.

Much better is the attitude that recognises that all we have comes from him. When that - the true fear of God - permeates our being, it puts another complexion on our achievements. Not only does it recognise their true source, but it makes them appear for what they are - the imperfect works of an unprofitable servant (Luke 17:10).

This truth applies to farmers as much it does to anyone else. The temptation to be self-promoting haunts the modern farmer just as it does others. We've got a marvellous paddock of wheat or barely, and we want others to know about it. Our sheep have performed well this lambing, and we make our lambing percentages a common talking point. Our cows have milked well this year, and so we broadcast our butterfat yields.

Outstanding achievements are to be enjoyed. A humble spirit receives them with gratitude, giving credit to God. A self-promoting attitude, however, broadcasts perfromance and basks in the glory. People who do this set themselves up for a fall.

The Spirit and the Letter of the Law

This past weekend I was staying with a farmer whose property is a certified organic farm. I was intrigued at one point in our discussion on fertilisers by his reference to certain fertilisers "not being approved." It was an illustration of one way in which farming today is regulated. There are many other "do's" and "do not's" as well.

How should we as Christians approach "law-keeping" in such instances? Jesus' frequent altercations with the Jewish leaders of his day over Sabbath-observance help us here. In Luke 14:1-6, for example, he responds to those who are "carefully watching" him while in the home of a Pharisee. There was a sick man in the house, and Jesus' observers were waiting to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Knowing their thoughts Jesus asked the Pharisees and law experts present if it was "lawful" (that is, in accord with the law of Moses) to heal on the Sabbath? When they remained silent he took the sick man, healed him, and then sent him on his way.

Turning to his audience he then asked, "If one of you has a son [or perhaps, donkey] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" His question was met by silence. No one had anything to say. They all knew that if such a fate were to befall one of their animals or family members, of course they would help them - and do so "immediately". They wouldn't dare let one of their precious children or oxen lie injured in and threat of drowning in a well - even if the accident occurred on the Sabbath. The value of a life took precedence over the law demanding "rest" in such instances.

What Jesus was doing when he asked this question was revealing his understanding of the spirit or intent of the Sabbath law. Was he a Sabbath-keeper? Of course he was. He was a Jew who kept the law of Moses at every point (Galatians 4:4). What made him different to the legalistic law-keepers he so often encountered was his understanding of the true intent, and consequently, demand of the law. He highlighted this on another occasion of Sabbath dispute when  he declared, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). He wasn't weakening the Sabbath ordinance, merely expounding its true intent. A proper observance of the Sabbath recognized it as a gift for the good of man, and consequently, allowed room for acts of necessity and mercy as well as those of "piety." His opponents only saw the letter of the law; Jesus saw its inner intent, and was able to act with practical wisdom and grace in its observance.

Christian farmers ought to reflect that in the way they approach the laws that regulate their industry. On the one hand they ought to be law-abiding. But at the same time, they ought to be intelligent law-keepers, understanding the intent and benefits of the law. If, in their view, a law is wrong, then it ought to be changed, and they should be in the vanguard of seeking its change. But if it is good and valid, they ought not only be scrupulous observers but active promoters of the value of the law. One thing they shouldn't be - wooden law-keepers who begrudging give what they owe and chafe all the while they do so. Worse still, they shouldn't be legalistic nit-pickers, intent on being law-detail specialists. Jesus shows us a better way.