Humility
In writing about the shallow faith that can be seen all over the place, Kinnaman talks about how faith is lacking one essential ingredient - humility. He says it this way,
"If you already know all there is to know , if you've been told your entire life that you're 'just right' exactly the way you are, if the main job of the god you believe in is to make you feel good about yourself (because you're entitled to great self-esteem along with everything else), then there are not a lot of compelling reasons to sit in the dirt at the feet of Jesus and live the humble life of a disciple." (David Kinnaman in You Lost Me
I struggle with this a little bit because I think there is a difference between self-esteem and humility or lack thereof. Some of the most humble people I have met are quite confident. And some of the least humble people I've met (in terms of their actions) are not confident at all. See I think the truly confident people of this world don't feel any need to attract attention to themselves. They are not just confident in themselves, but they are confident in the God who gives them that confidence. Whereas the people who feel the need to have worldly approval generally need that approval because they don't really believe in themselves.
So how do we teach this kind of humility? The kind of quiet confidence that feels no need to attract attention to itself, that trusts fully in the God through whom anything is possible, the God who works through people? The confidence that good, bad, or ugly, God is a part of our lives and will never leave nor forsake us? How do we instill that in youth? Honestly, the only answer that I have to these questions is to be it. We need to trust that completely in God to show others what it is like. When I think of the people like this that I have met, they definitely inspired me to want to be more like that. In many instances I think our example is the best teacher, and this is one of those situations. So let's live lives that are supremely confident in God's ability to carry us through whatever may come - confident in what God has given us, and confident who God has created us to be.
"If you already know all there is to know , if you've been told your entire life that you're 'just right' exactly the way you are, if the main job of the god you believe in is to make you feel good about yourself (because you're entitled to great self-esteem along with everything else), then there are not a lot of compelling reasons to sit in the dirt at the feet of Jesus and live the humble life of a disciple." (David Kinnaman in You Lost Me
I struggle with this a little bit because I think there is a difference between self-esteem and humility or lack thereof. Some of the most humble people I have met are quite confident. And some of the least humble people I've met (in terms of their actions) are not confident at all. See I think the truly confident people of this world don't feel any need to attract attention to themselves. They are not just confident in themselves, but they are confident in the God who gives them that confidence. Whereas the people who feel the need to have worldly approval generally need that approval because they don't really believe in themselves.
So how do we teach this kind of humility? The kind of quiet confidence that feels no need to attract attention to itself, that trusts fully in the God through whom anything is possible, the God who works through people? The confidence that good, bad, or ugly, God is a part of our lives and will never leave nor forsake us? How do we instill that in youth? Honestly, the only answer that I have to these questions is to be it. We need to trust that completely in God to show others what it is like. When I think of the people like this that I have met, they definitely inspired me to want to be more like that. In many instances I think our example is the best teacher, and this is one of those situations. So let's live lives that are supremely confident in God's ability to carry us through whatever may come - confident in what God has given us, and confident who God has created us to be.
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