Trying

[ Suffering for Doing Good ] Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 1 Peter 3:8

This verse finds me trying in two senses. Firstly, I am constantly trying to live out these wise and inspired words, and secondly, I sometimes find them ‘trying’ because I don’t always reach the mark and fall short. But as Paul writes in Philippians 3:14 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” So, we should never give up trying to be more Christlike as Paul says. Peter takes the theme and says we should be more….

Like minded, suggesting that we need to treat our brothers and sisters with the same care that they treat us. With respect and due care. Our churches would always be more welcoming and friendly if we were all working to the same goal, and we did not have the hierarchy of self appointed leaders. There is no room for pride in a like minded group.

Sympathetic churches show the heart of Jesus in the community. It takes a real Christian to show true and genuine sympathy for the downtrodden, forgotten homeless people who live on the streets. It is easier to forget or ignore these people, but we are commanded to sympathise with their lives and lifestyles. They may not behave or look like the clean, respected members who fill our pews, but we cannot distance ourselves from them, or their needs.

Love one another tells me the highest calling we need to have for our fellow Christians. When we grasp the fact that God IS love, then it follows that we must show that same Christlike love to our brothers and sisters. Peter doesn’t say this because it’s easy, because as the old saying goes, “It’s hard to love the unlovely”, but we are commanded to, so we must. Not a halfhearted ‘like’, but a full blown selfless Christian agape love.

Be compassionate and show it. This is practical and unmistakeable. When we are compassionate, the world can see it, and then know for certain that we mean to share the love we have for each other, with them too. The combination of love and compassion is contagious, and shows the world we are serious about their salvation too. We think their soul is worth saving for eternity.

Humble. In one small word, we encapsulate the hardest thing for us to do as Christians. Oh we say we are not proud, but we fail the test when we think, no one else can do this job like me. Or, I have been helping to run this church all my life, so I know all about the needs better than everyone else. Or again, where would they be without my tithes or offerings? The burden on my shoulders is great, but I still think I am humble. Really? Humility is elusive. When we actively believe we have achieved humility, it’s at that point we have lost it! I think Peter left this command to the last because without it, we become a sham, and the world can see through a phoney with no trouble.

Humility

Dictionary definition of humility:”the quality of having a modest or low view of one's importance.”

Humility is like a vapour. Easy to see, but impossible to get your hands on, or your arms around. There is a lot of truth to the idea that just when you think you have it, you lose it! In fact humility is not something we should try to see in ourselves, but by contrast it can be seen more easily in others. I think you would agree that there are people we know, who we see as humble, but they would never say that of themselves. In fact they will not see it in themselves either!

So, the question that haunts me is this: How do we aspire to be humble if we can’t see it in ourselves? Perhaps we could look at the question from the other angle. What are the characteristics we can see in others that in our mind makes them humble? Firstly and perhaps most important is that they will never draw attention to themselves, so they are never loud either in lifestyle, or language.

Children are taught to be assertive and not withdrawn or backward, and this coupled with social media where the number of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ is paramount, what chance can anyone have of finding that elusive thing called humility? The one place where people will aspire to see and become humble is church. The Bible shows the life of Jesus where he is undoubtedly lowly and humble, but who wants to be like Him, when we can be popular and show folks how good we are?

The apostle says it this way in 1 Peter 5:5 : “Be gentle as you care for each other. God works against those who have pride. He gives His loving-favour to those who do not try to honour themselves.” . What a lesson. So if a Christian comes across as: see me, hear me, loud, proud, assertive, pushy, or showy, they still have some way to go before the standard is reached, but remember it is easier to see humility in others, so we must take care that we don’t have any of these ‘anti-humility’ traits ourselves. You and I might not see them, but those around us certainly will!

HappySad

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Romans 12:15-16

This is one of those easy to understand passages, and quoted often, especially when we get alongside those who are going through a hard time. We tend to stress these tough times, mainly because we are comfortable helping others when their humanity is weakest and most frail. This makes us feel good and helpful. However, the verse has another side, and we ignore at our peril.

It has been said often that pride is the greatest sin, and at the root of many, if not all, other sins. Maybe that’s why we don’t find it easy to talk or preach about being happy for others in the happiness of their achievements. When our friends do a great deed, especially for the Kingdom, we don’t usually rush to congratulate them because sometimes we think: Why all the attention, after all I did that same thing ages ago and nobody made a fuss of me? Oh yes, pride goes before a fall, can be unseemly, and very un-Christian.

(By the way, ‘HappySad’ is a word coined by my daughter Heather, and I have used it often!)