Aloha and happy weekend. I hope this blog finds you encouraged and resilient wherever you may find yourself today.
We continued our study of Paul’s Letters this week with Ch.2 of Philippians. Paul began this chapter with a powerful description of Jesus' perspective and humility, ultimately challenging us to reevaluate our own egos and how we approach those around us. Attitude, a recurring topic throughout these letters, is expertly highlighted with an immediate practical application. Paul closes out the chapter with well-wishes to those he would send back to the Philippians. In all, this study challenged the perception I held of myself and reenergized my self-improvement efforts. I hope you find it equally applicable and thought provoking.
“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.”
Life in the 21st Century, not unlike those before, is ripe with status symbols: Our phones, cars, houses, clothes, jobs, relationships, and so on to infinity. These symbols as our cues, we constantly assess where we fall into the hierarchy. Based on our perception, we then act in accordance with our perceived role and subjugate or serve those below or above us respectively. This past week I caught myself getting frustrated with someone at work who falls beneath me in the corporate structure simply because they questioned me. I later recognized my error and was struck by the thought: Who am I that I should live unquestioned?
However, Jesus disregards this social construct and simply lives with consistent humility. If anyone had the right to be lauded and revered in this life it was Him. As the verse above beautifully captures, Jesus was God, but humbled himself to suffer and die as a human, taking no advantage of his status. I find this to be phenomenal inspiration. Our posture, regardless of current position, should be that of humility, lifting others above ourselves. How incredibly simple and incredibly challenging at the same time. I know personally this will be a task not easily achieved, but what a zenith to aspire to.
And how practical a way to live as well. We are flawed and error frequently, especially when it comes to who we lift up and who we break down. Living humbly removes the step of evaluating myself against the other person before I act and simply puts them first. Who doesn't want to work with, live with, or be friends with someone who is always lifting up those around them? We can be this refreshing change for those around us and begin to perpetuate the kind of culture we all desire to be a part of.
“Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night”
This verse harkens back to our study several weeks ago about doing your absolute best, but it captures another huge piece: attitude. Attitude is one of the most undervalued but absolutely essential items in life. Think for a second about two hypothetical team members: One is extremely talented, but has a terrible attitude, is always infighting, and passive-aggressively questions the direction being taken. The other is less talented but extremely positive, helpful to everyone, and openly asks questions if he doesn't understand. What if the talented individual could instead possess this same attitude? How much more dynamic could he be? And it all ties back in with the first point about humility.
There is a disappointing phenomenon where in which the more talented we believe ourselves to be, the more entitled we feel to express our displeasure. We wield our status as a weapon to cast others down, not lift the collective group. As a society we lift up those rare instances where someone goes the other way, i.e. some big movie star helping someone, but shouldn't that be the norm? Shouldn't our gifts and talents drive us to be of more service to those around us not greater burden? Attitude, in my opinion, is what brings teams and groups of people from good to great. Let’s start this grassroots effort to change the default attitude.
Our practical application is captured is a simple phrase: live humbly with a good attitude. A simple maxim I can absolutely bring to bear in my daily life.
Have a great weekend, share with a friend and like the post.
-the contrary disciple