Humility... a prerequisite to knowing God and hearing His voice?

In this paper I want to consider that Humility might be a prerequisite to knowing God and being saved. I say this because I see so many examples in Scripture where God requires humility on our part to be able to hear the message sent by Him when he uses a particular messenger. (Humility is not being a door mat or letting people walk on you. Let's get rid of that definition right away. Humility is a wonderful quality that is slow to judge and quick to listen and engage people in relationship, among many other things.)

1. In Mark 9:37 Jesus confronts His disciples who have been having an argument about which of them is the greatest. Jesus puts a child in front of them and says something interesting:

"He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Mark 9:37

Jesus is saying that His messenger, at times, will be a little child. If this child is received then Jesus Himself is received and not Jesus alone but ultimately God Almighty! Isn't it fascinating that God would choose to 'disguise' Himself in a little child.

I realized that it would take humility to interact with a little child. The proud and arrogant could not be bothered. It is interesting that He approaches people like this.

2. I have often thought of the Woman at the Well in John 4 in this same regard. Jesus, tired after a journey, sits by the well and asks a Samaritan woman for a drink. There are a lot of dynamics going on here because Jesus is a Jew and she is a Samaritan. Secondly, he is a man and she a woman. In the end Jesus speaks to her heart and she becomes 1 of only 3 people to whom Jesus directly tells that He is the Messiah (Matthew 16:16,17 and Mark 14:62 are the other two). In the end she goes back to the Samaritan village and tells everyone that she thinks she has found the Christ! Now that is a huge message of epic historical proportions. Now remember that this woman had previously had 4 husbands and the one she was with now was not her husband. Yet God chooses to use her as His messenger to come meet Jesus?

That would require much humility even to listen to her. Would modern day Evangelicals listen to such a woman?

3. Consider God's choice of the man who would be the forerunner of Jesus to prepare the Jewish people for the long awaited Messiah, John the Baptist. He grew up in the desert. He wore clothes made of camel's hair and a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:4) Have you ever thought about biting a locust in half and eating it? Have you ever thought about living in the desert when everyone else lives in town? Camel's hair is not the smoothest or softest skin for clothing. Quite the contrary. John was a wild man! In our nice pre-packaged Western version of Christianity we forget how strange God can be. We are out of touch with how wild He can be. Strange is different from immoral. God is never immoral but He may be very strange! How many of our modern church goers would have responded to a man like John the Baptist? How many people would have gone out to be baptized by him in the local river? It would require a lot of humility to even listen to this wild man.

4. Consider the woman from Syrian Phoenicia who had a daughter that was demon possessed. Jesus goes into a house and didn't want anyone to know about it. This woman searches Him out and asks Him to heal His daughter. Jesus response is difficult to understand. We need to wrestle with it. We need to overcome the offense that arises because of it by understanding what He is saying. But also consider her answer.

"The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. "First let the children have all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she replied, " but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter."

I don't know about you but I have a hard time being called a 'dog.' But lest we get too offended at this use of symbolism let's continue a bit. Consider the amazing humility to by pass that offense and continue asking. Then let's focus on Jesus' answer. "For such a reply....." Jesus is clearly impressed with this woman's reply and immediately releases authority in the spirit and drive the demon out from her daughter instantly! Jesus is praising this woman... in fact it is greater praise than He generally give the Jews (who are the little children in the symbolism. The Jews are the little children that God has been working with all through the Old Testament. They have had many struggles and hardships. But God is coming to them and feeding them the bread of the Kingdom of God for which they have waited so long. And in justice He feeds the Jews first and then he will feed all the gentiles, 'the little dogs', second. The term is really more of an affectionate endearing term like 'puppies,' rather than a derogatory term like 'dog.')

What was required here was humility and persistence.

5. Consider also James 4:6

"God... gives grace to the humble."

And we all know that Grace is a what saves us! Isn't it amazing that God gives this GRACE to the humble? Now let's consider the whole verse:

"God opposes the proud but give grace to the humble." James 4:6

That really puts it into perspective. What does is mean that God resists the proud or arrogant or haughty? I don't fully know. But I do know that He is drawing a comparison. The proud and arrogant, whether they are Christian or not, are being opposed by God but the humble are finding that God is giving them grace. ( A beginning definition of grace may help here: Grace - the empowering presences of God to be who God has called me to be and to do what God has called me to do with him.) This grace is only given to the humble.

6. Consider how Paul came to the Corinthians. He did not come in a powerful way with total self-confidence:

"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God... I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words...." I Corinthians 2:1

How much humility would it have taken to listen to Paul?

7. Remember also that Humility is a fruit of the Spirit. I often think that the fruit of the Spirit is a description of the Character of God... that is why He wants us to receive His Spirit and follow the Jesus... so we grow in this kind of fruit or Character:

"... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22

Conclusion

When you consider the messengers God divinely chooses it is hard to escape from the though that He requires humility in people to listen to the message of salvation and further messages of wisdom and direction.. One of the ways people grow close to God even before they become saved is to enjoy humility and become humble. God will give grace to such a heart. He will lead them to salvation and continue to supply grace after salvation. Many of God's messengers are not what we expect. If we think we "know it all" or "know how God works" we may well miss His messenger. Humility is the guarantee that we won't miss Him approaching... He may even use a little child or a strange preacher like Paul. Figuring out how God works or developing some formula or pattern with God is no guarantee that we will see Him when He approaches.