Clothe yourself in humility

I’m sure you’ll agree that the types of outfits you sometimes see on the runways of the high fashion shows are…let’s face it… a bit freaky. You end up doubting whether anyone would wear such a thing. And you’d be right. Those are not clothes displayed for you to buy, you won’t find them at your local store. No, these outfits represent an art form.

By contrast, prêt-à-porter, or “ready to wear” clothes, refers to the branch of the fashion industry that puts on display the clothing that can be bought off the rack to wear.

In the same way, Christians often speak of the virtue of humility as if it’s something that is unattainable. As if it were an artistic garment Christ modeled for us so that we could marvel at its beauty, but then move on to the practical clothing of virtues one can actually attain. But Christ didn’t model humility for art’s sake. He intended the garment of humility to be ready to wear by all Christians. And Peter tells us the same thing in 1 Peter 5.

REQUEST FOR HUMILITY

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

What is humility? Jesus said John the Baptist was the greatest man that had ever lived (Matt 11:11), but John said he wasn’t worthy to untie the strap of his cousin’s sandal (John 1:27). That’s humility.

Here Peter’s use of the word younger (or new ones) may be referring to younger in age, but more likely refers to spiritual maturity, the newbies to the faith – anyone who still has much to learn from those who have been in the faith longer.

Peter says that the starting point to maturity is to recognize that we are “under-dressed” in the experience department, which of course calls for an appropriate suit of clothes, namely the garment of humility. No one ever outgrows this garment, but it is especially needed in those younger in the faith, otherwise they will never learn.

With the phrase “clothe yourselves”, Peter is alluding to an image I’m sure would remain burned in his memory forever – the night Jesus washed his feet (John 13:4-16).

Jesus said to Peter “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” (verse 7). I think he understood by the time he was writing this epistle. Jesus was modeling the style which would never go out of fashion in the church: humility.

Jesus concluded in verse 16: Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Whenever you think a job in the church is beneath you, you are saying Jesus is beneath you. You are saying you are greater than your Master, who took the form and the job of a servant.

We come to church week after week wanting to know how to be more like our Savior: We are never more like Jesus than when we are humble.

Humility is not self-effacement. Jesus didn’t leave Heaven and come to earth because he thought he was worthless. He didn’t come and die because he thought he was just a lowly servant, and death is what he deserved. He did what he did because he was thinking about us. He wasn’t considering himself at all. He was considering you!

Do you consider yourself or others?

Here are some questions to determine whether you meet the Christian dress code:

• When you talk about someone, do you consider how your speech makes them feel?
• Wearing humility means considering others in your speech to them and about them.
• When you hear of the promotion of a colleague, or the success of an in-law, or the financial windfall of a friend, do you feel that the blessing was more deserved by you?
• Wearing humility means being genuinely happy for others, not thinking of yourself.
• Do you get moody and irritable when others don’t notice the circumstances of your day? when you are hungry, tired, or have an ‘excuse’ for sinning.
• Wearing humility means considering how your behavior affects others, irrespective of your mood.
• Do you talk too much? When you are with people, do you spend most of the time listening to others’ views, or are you always edging your opinion in?
• Wearing humility means you take a genuine interest in what others say.
• Do you admit that you are wrong without making excuses? “I’m sorry but I was having a bad day. I’m not really a jerk, I just looked like one, it was my day’s fault, not mine.”
• Wearing humility means being okay with saying you are wrong. Period.
• Do you get easily offended?

It’s okay to find sin against God offensive, but a person clothed in the slave’s apron of humility does not get offended when someone insults them because a humble person isn’t concerned about themselves at all. What people think, what people say, how people forget to show you courtesy and honor, is only important to proud people.