How to Become Humble Part 2

Jas 4:6-7 ... God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit to God...

1Pe 5:5-6 ¶ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time

Over the years, I have met  Christian rebels who claim that God has told them to continue in a sinful path. Writers on Christian hate sites sometimes claim that God has called them to warn people against certain Godly men or Godly institutions. And despite their failures in obeying the Great Commission, they claim success, because they are obeying God's will for their lives....But they're not.

The two previous passages show us that submission to God includes submission to the human authority that God has ordained. Many sincere Christians will object that these authorities are often evil. Are you willing to submit to God? He told you to obey those authorities. There is no such thing as a humble Christian rebel. And a Christian who objects to the idea of God speaking to him or her through God-ordained authority is not submitting to God.

The second part of obtaining humility is this: Abandon the idea of  being  a Christian Lone Ranger, too good to answer to anybody but God. God has established leaders for you to obey. Which brings up a problem: How do you recognize the leaders whom God has called you to obey?

How to Become Humble Part 1

Lu 14:11 "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

I know of three Scriptural ways to become humble. The first is given in Luke 14: do not seek high positions for yourself at church. Seek low positions, and then trust God to elevate you if it is His will. 

One meagachurch has successfully started over a dozen other churches. A group of men were cleaning up after the morning service in one of them when a stranger walked in. He enthusiastically told them that he liked what they were doing, and he wanted to be a part of it. They agreed. Then he explained that he wanted to be a leader. The assistant pastor agreed, and told him to get a vacuum cleaner out of a closet and to start on the main auditorium. Afterwards, they would need his help cleaning the rest rooms.

Surprised, the man explained that God had called him to take a leadership position in their church. The assistant pastor then explained that if that were true, then God had called him to start working as a servant, because that's where their leaders came from. The man refused, and the church grew and succeeded without him.

Did God call him to be a leader there? If He did, then the man failed; he didn't follow the teachings of Luke 14. And if God has called you to be a leader, He has called you to seek positions of service as well.