Stephen Cherry, dean of King’s College in Cambridge,
England, and an Anglican priest, is the author of several books, including Barefoot Disciple, which unpacks what it
means to embrace humility today. Cherry talks about humility as the behaviors,
attitudes, values, and practices we incorporate into our being that lead us to
live more like Jesus. Humble followers of Jesus make God real to others.[i]
Of course the irony of “humility” is that once you claim to
have it, you don’t have it. It is a most difficult subject to write or talk
about. Cherry contends, “We cannot make ourselves humble . . . we should aspire to humility.”[ii] It seldom
comes to those who seek it. Rather, it flows from one’s character.
Church leaders who have a
missionary mindset and want to reach their communities for Christ give honor to
the gospel when they aspire to
humility. We live in the age of “the selfie,” when so much attention is
directed to ourselves. Moreover, our culture broadcasts the braggadocio
behavior of celebrities and politicians as if that were something to aspire to.
Why not aspire to humility?
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