Philippians 2:1-5, “Christian Humility”
a sermon by Pastor Phil Henry
preached on June 27, 2010
at lilberti Fairmount Church (PCA)
(first delivered at Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church (PCA), 2006)
The story of God explains that since Adam’s fall, as long as there have been people who
get together, there have been problems. This seems especially to be a temptation and a
challenge for people who have high ideals and expectations.
One of the roles of church leadership, and authority, in a healthy church (which is like a
family with parents) is to help straighten out arguments and disagreements. This is part of
what it means to practice what is called “church discipline.” Discipline simply means the
practice of helping form a true student, and discipline begins by teaching the Bible.
As we learn together what God’s expectations are for this Christian family of liberti, and
for ourselves in our own individual families and relationships, we are disciplined or
trained to put what we’ve learned into practice.
There is no more important virtue when engaged in this learning process of how to live
together with other people than the virtue of humility. But what is humility?
I think the definition of “humility” is at the heart of this whole section of Philippians, and
a big reason why Paul wrote this letter to the Philippian church: they struggled with
figuring out how to “live” together in unity. At the heart of this struggle for unity must be
the characteristic of humility.
I think people are basically the same today, where many people’s lives lack a vital
experience of humility.
On the one hand, if you’re a Christian, you’re probably missing humility in part because
you have a hard time taking what you know about humility and living it out. Let’s call
that the “Head not Hands” problem.
On the other hand, if you’re not a Christian, humility may be missing from your life
because you may have been working to “be” humble without understanding its Gospel
root. Let’s call that the “Hands not Head” problem.
I want to address both groups of people this morning, and everyone in between, and talk
from this text of Scripture about True Humility.
I’d like to look first at the beautiful concept of humility; second, its blessed creation; and
third, its bright children.
Let me describe my outline in a different way, in terms of three questions: first, what
does true humility look like? (This will be my design point.) Second: how is it formed?
(This will be my research or philosophical point.) And third: what kind of results does it
produce? (This will be my engineering or production point.)
Point 1: ARCHITECTURE
The Beautiful Concept of Humility (Or: what does true humility look like?)
Humility is beautiful for three reasons.
First, humility is beautiful because it is secure.
Starting with verses 27-29, we get a little glimpse into what was happening in this Roman
Colony of the ancient world. They were struggling, as many of you do today, with their
faith. They faced the temptation to quit and were charged to “stand firm” (verse 27).
They were not to be “frightened” from opposition they faced because of their faith (verse
28). They had to accept suffering and hardship as part of what it means to be a follower
of Jesus (verse 29).
Temptation to quit. Temptation to fear. Feeling overwhelmed by suffering. Humility, in
the face of all these things, is secure.
How about you? Some of you may feel humble and “thankful” only when things are
going well. Your security comes from outward things, and this is not part of God’s
picture of what makes humility beautiful.
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Do you feel humble and/or grateful only when things are going well? When your
schooling is paid for, when you’ve been given a car, or a down payment for a house,
when you have a well-paying job, or your relationships are where you want them to be?
When suffering and hardship knocks the wind out of your faith, and you find yourself
feeling insecure, you have to ask the question: where was my faith in the first place? Did
I really have humility, or was it some kind of substitute?
For some of you, this may mean you need to require or learn to have a certain “ease” with
things that create weakness and loss in your life.
There is a paradigm in the Christian faith that finds death producing life; life rising out of
the ashes of death and despair.
Second, humility is beautiful because it is content.
Take a look at verse 1. Here, Paul lists a string of “ifs”—which really read more like
“sinces” or ‘becauses’—like this: “because you have encouragement in Christ,” “because
you have comfort from love,” “because you have participation (or shared life) in the
Holy Spirit,” “because you have affection and sympathy,”—because of all this, be
humble.
All of these things: encouragement in Christ, comfort from His love, the shared life of the
Holy Spirit, experiencing the affection and sympathy of the body of Christ—these things
produce contentment.
Contentment says of God and your circumstances, “Everything is ok,” and where it isn’t
“okay,” contentment says, “God’s in charge and He will work it out somehow.”
Contentment says, “I don’t have to know the outcome, I know the God who’s in charge
of the outcome.”
David speaks about contentment in his most famous psalm, Psalm 23, when he describes
his cup “running over.” A full cup in the ancient near east was a symbol of amazing
abundance.
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David also writes this, along similar lines, “the boundary lines have fallen to me in
pleasant places” (Ps. 16). Elsewhere in the Psalms, we read that the poet has “stilled and
quieted his soul like a weaned child within himself.” Does anyone know why a weaned
child is a picture of contentment?
If faith has seen these things about God, then it can say with James, “every good and
perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of Lights, with whom there are no shifting
shadows.”
For some of you, this may seem intellectually boring (at best) or prehistoric and even
damaging (at worse). But we want to remember that the fundamental question of a
curious person must always start with “God’s in charge, I’m not.”
The aspect of humility I’m calling contentment only comes when you give up your socalled right to define your own reality and accept the reality that God has defined, and is
defining, for you.
Third, humility is beautiful because it is other-focused.
Not only is humility beautiful because it is secure and content, it is beautiful because it is
focused on other people.
Which it can be only because it is “secure” and “content.”
Think about it: it is impossible to focus on others without either being destroyed, or
destroying them, if you don’t start from a position of true contentment and security,
authentically experiencing these characteristics of humility deep within your soul.
From the text that was read, listen again to verse 3: “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit,
but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
What do you think it means to do nothing from ‘rivalry’? When I read that, I
automatically thought of Purdue-Indiana University, the big rivalry at my alma matter; or
the Wildcats vs. the Sun Devils (I moved from Arizona last summer). We got to see a
huge rivalry play out last Fall in the world series between the Yankees and the Phils. Or
the Blackhawks and the Flyers.
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And what do you get with rivalries? You get arguments. You get quarrels. You get fights.
Paul is saying that the things you do in the Christian family, which is the church, should
not be done out of rivalry, or in such a way that rivalries result. Of all places, the
Christian family is not to be a place where people try to conquer or get victory over other
people. They should be “other focused.”
Paul also says to do nothing in the Christian family from ‘conceit.’ I think conceit means
to act, within the Christian family with an overemphasis on one’s own worth or value or
abilities.
Which, by the way, you can’t do without diminishing the value of someone else.
Conceit is a kind of egotism or pride.
Paul says the opposite of these two attitudes (rivalry and conceit) is the attitude or virtue
of humility, which, he explains, consists in “counting others as better than yourselves.”
This is a difficult and demanding command. “Count others as better than yourselves.”
Regard other people as being of more worth and more importance than yourself.
What does this look like? Simple things: not interrupting others. Even silently, in your
head. Making time for other people. Telling the truth to other people. Expressing
appreciation for other people. Not becoming angry or rude or enraged at other people.
Accepting their weaknesses.
And you are to do these other-oriented things in “humility.”
For the “head not hands” people…identify what you’ve been holding back from God,
what would represent a true release of your control, and truly acquiring acceptance of
God’s will in a difficult circumstance. Share that thing with someone who can support
you in what will probably be a difficult decision, and act on that item within the next 24
hours.
For the “hands not head” people…pray this prayer: “God, show me where my security
is in my own behavior, and not in your character, your person.
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Point 2: RESEARCH (OR PHILOSOPHY)
The Blessed Creation of Humility (Question: “How do I get humility?”)
That’s what humility looks like. And it is beautiful, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great if all of
us had this kind of humble character? Secure, Content, and Other-focused?
My second point is along those lines—just how is Humility created? Where does it come
from? This is its “blessed creation.”
I think there are a couple of steps we need to consider when pursuing this biblical and
beautiful picture of humility.
The first step is to confess and admit our pride. It may seem simple, but it is a big step
because pride hides and disguises itself in so many different ways.
We were noticing at our house the other day a strange smell as we came in and
out of the garage. At first, it wasn’t so bad. But it was getting worse and worse
over the course of a few days.
Turns out the stench got so bad that while we were preparing to leave for
somewhere, it was so bad that it had to be taken care of right then and there.
At first, we could live with the smell. But it became so bad that we admitted it
couldn’t wait, even if we were late.
As it turns out, it was chicken that was left exposed to the air and flies had laid
hundreds/thousands of eggs in it, which were all turned to larvae.
The creation of humility is like that. At first, you can live with the pride in your life.
Some people wind up living with it for a long time. But sooner or later, if you want to see
the beauty of humility in your life, you’re going to have to admit that you’re proud.
Confessing pride can reveal some surprising things. Pride isn’t always bragging about
how good you are. It can take the form of always doubting yourself as well.
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Some people imagine a humble person to be the kind of person who’s always telling you
that he’s awful, or that he’s nobody. But I wonder: is that really what it means to be
humble? Listen to this: C. S. Lewis says, “perfect humility dispenses with modesty.”1
To dispense with means to throw out. So, Lewis is saying, “If you wish to be humble,
toss out your modesty.”
I used to live in Arizona and I’ve hiked in the Grand Canyon a few times. One of
the two famous trails that descend down into the canyon is called Kaibab Trail.
Have any of you been on Kaibab?
Well, according to native American tradition, “Kaibab” means “upside down
mountain”—that’s what the Grand Canyon is. It is a mile below the top edge.
I think that’s one way to think about the kind of false modesty, or false humility,
that Lewis describes: its really only “upside down pride.”
Like the Grand Canyon, it’s still a mountain, just a mountain in the opposite
direction.
Upside down pride is a hard master. But somehow, admitting that our so-called modesty
is really virtue masquerading as “pride” is a big step to take.
I think ditching the modesty, as Lewis put it, would open up pathways to hearing about,
and benefitting from, the Gospel—for some of you, this might be the first time you really
felt the love and acceptance it offers.
The reason its so important is that when you judge yourself, you’re actually not strict
enough, not hard enough, not bold enough, and not honest enough.
1
This quote is ostensibly from his book The Weight of Glory (at http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/17038.htm). See also
worldofquotes.com/author/C.-S.-Lewis/1 “Don't imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most
people call "humble" nowadays: he won't be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who's always telling you that, of course,
he's nobody. Probably all you'll think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in
what you said to him. If you do dislike him, it will be because you feel a bit envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life
so easily. He won't be thinking about himself at all. There I must stop. If anyone would like to acquire humility, I
can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing
whatever can be done before it. If you think you're not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”
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False modesty winds up not going far enough in exposing all of the weak and sinful and
broken areas of your life.
The second step to the creation of true biblical and beautiful humility in your life is
to tell the truth about yourself.

What is it that you want people to believe about you?

Why don’t you want others to know the truth about you?

What are you afraid of?

Who are you?
Telling the truth about yourself in this spiritual context is called confession. To confess
means to get to the bottom of the ills of your heart.
As one pastor has said, “when we confess our sins, truly confess them, we discover that
we were far worse than we ever imagined.”
In my experience, confession isn’t worth the paper its printed on unless it is done in the
presence of someone else: a trusted friend, a spouse, or a pastor, for example.
There is something powerful and potent when your truth-telling is expressed in the
presence of ANOTHER.
Humility is created when (1) you admit your pride; and (2) when you tell the truth about
yourself in the presence of another; and finally (3) humility is created when you go to
the cross.
Remember the goal of this letter that St. Paul is writing is unity. Paul wants the Christian
family that is the church in Philippi to be united together in sweet harmony. And there is
nothing that will do that better than seeing the virtue of humility created in them.
But humility doesn’t come out of the blue, it doesn’t come “from nowhere.”
Humility ultimately comes from the cross.
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How do we see this in our text? Verse 5 explains that all the aspects and qualities he’s
described are to be found “in the mind of Christ.” He says if you have in your minds the
same attitude that Jesus had in his mind, you’ll learn true humility.
The cross, you see, is the ultimate and perfect picture of humility.
The cross is also an answer to our question, “Why can’t I be humble?” If you could be
humble, Jesus wouldn’t have to die! That’s how bad our pride is. That’s how poisonous it
is to others and to ourselves, and especially to God.
Don’t you believe that?
Or are you still trying to convince yourself that you’re not “that bad”?
The Christian message is that the cross is the only solution to the problem of human
pride, of human sin. Not only is that the best place to go to learn humility, it is the only
place to go to learn true humility.
Problem is, Christians and followers of Jesus don’t go to the cross enough. We fall into a
mindset that says the cross is a good place to start in the Christian life, to start my life of
faith, but then I move on to other things.
No, the reason we’re so poor, the reason we are so bankrupt of the kind of humility Paul
describes here, and why in our churches and families and relationships find so much selfcentered egoism and pride, is that we don’t go to the bank enough.
One way to think about it is this: you can’t be humble like Jesus until you’ve been
humbled by Jesus. Here’s a story to illustrate what I’m saying:
There was a boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. Her only chance of
recovery was the blood of someone who had already conquered her disease with
her same type. "Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny
hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my
sister." Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room--Mary, pale
and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met,
Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile
faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube. With the ordeal almost over,
his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. "Doctor, when do I die?' Only then did
the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he'd
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agreed to donate his blood. He's thought giving his blood meant death. In that
moment, he'd made his decision.2
Johnny determined to give his life, but it wasn’t required in this case. Christ’s life was
required to save us.
Earlier I quoted Lewis; he writes elsewhere about the danger of lacking humility:
“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity,
greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea-bites in comparison: it was through Pride
that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete antiGod state of mind.”
Do you see the anti-God state of mind in your life? Has pride destroyed things in your
life? Without humility, destruction will come into every part of your life, and your whole
life will disintegrate, meaning literally, lose integrity, lose unity; you’ll come unwound.
So then humility, if it is found in Jesus, requires the death of pride; not just once, but day
by day, as you go to Jesus.
Point 3: ENGINEERING
The Bright Children of Humility (Question: “What are the results of true humility?”)
Finally, and briefly, what are the results of true humility?
Illustration: woman with “bling on everything.”
God promises in Philippians 2:15 that followers of Jesus will shine like stars “in the
midst of a crooked and perverse generation.” But first, we must be clothed with the
clothing of humility (see Colossians 3). Jesus must clothe us in order for us to display the
humble fruit of a changed life. His robes of righteousness, formed out of his own “unto
death” humility, are the clothes we wear as we do His work in the world.
2
On the website: http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/substitution.htm from his book Written In Blood by Robert
Coleman.
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