Understanding The Humble Life
UNDERSTANDING THE HUMBLE LIFE
I KNOW HOW GREAT IS THE EFFORT NEEDED TO CONVINCE
THE PROUD OF THE POWER AND EXCELLENCE OF HUMILITY, AN EXCELLENCE WHICH MAKES IT SOAR
ABOVE THE SUMMITS OF THIS WORLD.
- Augustine, theologian and philosopher
UNDERSTANDING THE HUMBLE LIFE
eing humble is not something that comes naturally to us as human beings. I have found that most people do not really know what humility looks like. Historically, humility has been linked to the word meekness. In the Beatitudes we hear Jesus say, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Of course, meekness rhymes with weakness, so who in the world would possibly want to be meek? I have never heard a father say, "I want my son to grow up and be meek."
The word "meekness" surprisingly comes from the word praus, which is a powerful animal that knows how to restrain its power. The idea here is that meek and humble people are powerful people, though they do not flaunt their strength and power.
I think it is important to note that since C.S. Lewis said that pride is the anti-God state of mind, it is only logical that humility is seeking God's mindset and His view of life. If Lewis is correct when he says that pride leads to every other vice, then humility must be the root of all virtues. Without understanding God's place in the universe, there really is no way for us to understand humility.
Famous skeptic Friedrich Nietzsche loathed Christianity because he believed it was for weak people. He hated the way the God of the Bible took such an offense at the pride of man. He believed the Christian attack on pride was to mask the weakness of humility in the Christian faith.
The great theologian John Stott responds with these powerful words:
At no point does the Christian mind come into more violent collision with the secular mind than in its insistence on humility, with all the weakness it entails. The wisdom of the world values power, not humility. We have drunk in more of the power philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche than we realize. Nietzsche dreamed of the rise of a daring ruler race. Tough, masculine, and oppressive Nietzsche worshipped power. He despised Jesus for His weakness. The ideal of Nietzsche
was the Übermensch, the superman, but the ideal of Jesus was the little child. There is no possibility of compromise between these two images; we are obliged to choose.
C.S. Lewis says that in God, we encounter something that is immeasurably superior to ourselves. In his book, Guide to Humility, Thomas Jones says,
Humility is so right because it so squares with reality. It is a reality that we owe other people a great deal. Now consider an even deeper reality. There is a God and you are not Him. There is a great and awesome God who created the Heavens and the Earth and you are not Him. There is a God who knows all, and understands all, and is in control of all, and you are not Him. And I am not Him. He is God, and we are not. He is the great God, and you and I are small people. Very small in comparison to Him.
I find it interesting what Jones says about being in control. Many people keep God at a safe distance because they do not want Him to interfere with their lives. They do not in any way want to give up control of their lives. However, you have to wonder, do we really have that much control over anything?
For instance:
• Did you have any control over when and where you were born?
• Did you have any control over the color of your skin, your eyes, your
hair, your height?
• Do you have any control over your talents, your abilities, or your
intelligence?
• Do you have any control over the economy, the stock market, interest
rates, or the deficit?
• Although we try to live healthy lives, do we have control over getting
cancer or Alzheimer's, or having a stroke?
• As my children get older and become more independent, I am realizing
that soon I will have little or no control over them. They will be making their own decisions and choices.
• Do we have control over the aging process?
• In all probability, we will have no control over how and when we die.
• Finally, when we do die, we experience the loss of every earthly thing
we gained in this life.
So, are we really in control of much of anything?
We don't seem to recognize this, or at least have not given it much thought. We are not in control. We are weak creatures; our bodies are wasting away, which in itself should cause us to see our great need for God. Only when we understand our need for Him does true humility begin. As Andrew Murray puts it, "Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is the first duty of the creature and is the root of every good human quality."
Pride seeks to be independent of God. At its heart, the pride we speak of is spiritual. Søren Kierkegaard, the famous Danish philosopher, observed that we all suffer from spiritual pride. We think we can accomplish great things, achieve prosperity, and find a purpose that is big enough to discover meaning in life, and do all of this without God. The prideful heart of man causes him to believe, "I do not need God."
I am reminded of a conversation I had with a good friend several years ago. His father was a very wealthy, self-made man and had built a large, successful business on his own. One day my friend approached his father and shared his concern that his father had no spiritual life. His father responded, "What do I need God for? I have everything I need." You can see why C.S. Lewis calls pride "the anti-God state of mind."
I do not know if this man ever changed his mind, but a few years after he had made this declaration of not needing God, he died. Over time, life has a way of humbling us all.
GOD'S POINT OF VIEW
I think it is significant that God has such high regard for the humble, and such great contempt against the proud.
In the Old Testament, in Isaiah 2:12-17 we are told:
For the Lord of Hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty, against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, against every high tower, against every fortified wall, against all the ships of Tarsus, and against all the beautiful craft. The pride of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men will be abased, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
In Proverbs 16:5,
Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; assuredly, he will not go unpunished.
There is also a phrase that you see several times in the New Testament, that God is "opposed to the proud." Seeing that God is totally against those who are proud and arrogant and that it is an abomination in His sight should get our attention.
On the other hand, it is quite clear that God has special regard and honor for the humble. We are told:
Oh, Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble. You will strengthen their heart. You will incline Your ear (Psalm 10:17).
He leads the humble in justice. He teaches the humble His way (Psalm 25:9).
When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but, with the humble, there is wisdom (Proverbs 11:2).
A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor (Proverbs 29:23).
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you (James 4:10).
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time (1 Peter 5:6).
And then most significantly, in both James 4:16 and 1 Peter 5:5, we are told that "God gives grace to the humble." Under no other circumstances does He ever promise to give His grace—only to the humble. This is a very significant promise.
Grace is a word that is often misunderstood and literally means receiving God's favor. The most common definition used in the Bible is the unmerited favor of God, which applies to salvation. But in the New Testament, the word "grace" is most commonly applied to living this life with God's power —a divine enablement. Through grace, God enables us to do that which we cannot do ourselves (Hebrews 13:9; 2 Timothy 2:1). Grace is incredibly significant. God gives His strength and power only to the humble through grace. This, of course, is the theme of this book: "the power of a humble life."
WHO GETS THE CREDIT
Pride is not only competitive in nature but causes us to gloat because we feel superior to those with whom we compare ourselves. We can take all the credit for our success. It is like the saying, "He was born on third base but somehow thinks he hit a triple."
Pride looks at life and takes credit for all the good things. Pride says, "I accomplished it; I worked harder than everyone else; I deserve it, and therefore I should receive all the glory."
GRACE IS INCREDIBLY SIGNIFICANT. GOD GIVES HIS
STRENGTH AND POWER ONLY TO THE HUMBLE
THROUGH GRACE.
Tim Keller says that pride claims to be the author of everything good we do and accomplish. Therefore we believe we deserve all the credit. He says it is a form of cosmic plagiarism, where you have been given something as a gift but then you take all the credit for it and say, "I did it; it is my work."
In the Old Testament, Moses said that arrogance is looking at your life, your abilities, and your achievements, and thinking in your heart that it is your strength, your power, and your ability that has led to all your success. Humility helps you to recognize that all you are and all you have is a gift from God and a result of other people contributing to your life. Read the following example from Drayton Nabers, Jr.'s book, The Case for Character:
Let's take the example of a tailback who wins the Heisman Trophy. This Heisman winner gets his name in the paper and his face on ESPN. But where did he get the DNA that created the strong body? And where did he get the great coordination that helped him win the prize? How many of the one hundred trillion cells in his body did he create?
We are told that for each of these cells there is a bank of instructions more detailed than the thirty-two volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica put together. Does this tailback understand even one of these instructions? (For that matter, does even the smartest doctor or biologist in the world fully understand the marvel of a single human cell?)
"But I worked so hard," the tailback might say. "I went to the weight room. I practiced harder than anyone else on the team."
To him we could reply: "But who taught you to work that hard? Who built the weight room? Who bought the equipment? Who built the university, including the stadium you played in? Who cut the grass there and laid out the lines and boundaries? Did you hire or pay your coaches? Did you recruit your teammates? Did you open up those holes in the line that you ran through?
If this tailback has humility, he will express nothing but overflowing gratitude when he wins the Heisman—to his parents, to his teachers, to his coaches, to all the players on his team, to everyone who helped him along the way. Most of all, time and time again, he will express gratitude to God.
In describing humility, Nabers states:
… humility is a form of wisdom. It is thinking clearly. It is simply being realistic. It is knowing who really deserves the credit and the glory for what we do.
This ageless thought says it all: "We drink from wells we did not dig and we are warmed by fires we did not build" (Deuteronomy 6:11). In this light, humility is only logical.
I often share a powerful, true story in my speeches because it enables us to see the clear contrast between pride and humility. The story comes from Stephen K. Scott's book, The Richest Man Who Ever Lived.
My former church pastor, Dr. Jim Borror, while visiting a church in the Northwest, was asked by a woman to meet with her husband, a multimillionaire entrepreneur with thousands of employees. Although this man had tens of millions of dollars and everything money could buy, he was unhappy, bitter, and cantankerous. No one liked being around him, and contention and strife followed him wherever he went. He was disliked by his employees and even his children. His wife barely tolerated him.
When he met the man, Dr. Borror listened to him talk about his accomplishments and quickly realized that pride ruled this man's heart and mind. He claimed he had single-handedly built his company from scratch. Even his parents hadn't given him a dime. He had worked his way through college.
Jim said, "So you did everything by yourself." "Yep," the man replied. Jim repeated, "No one ever gave you anything." "Nothing!" So Jim asked, "Who changed your diapers? Who fed you as a baby? Who taught you how to read and write? Who gave you your first job after college? Who serves food in your company's cafeteria? Who cleans the toilets in your company's rest rooms?" The man hung his head in shame. Moments later, with tears in his eyes, he said, "Now that I think about it, I haven't accomplished anything by myself. Without the kindness and efforts of others, I probably wouldn't have
anything." Jim nodded and asked, "Don't you think they deserve a little thanks?"
That man's heart was transformed, seemingly overnight. In the months that followed, he wrote thank-you letters to every person he could think of who had made a contribution to his life. He wrote thank-you notes to every one of his 3,000 employees. He not only felt a deep sense of gratitude, he began to treat everyone around him with respect and appreciation.
When Dr. Borror visited him a year or two later, he could hardly recognize him. Happiness and peace had replaced the anger and contention in his heart. He looked years younger. His employees loved him for treating them with the honor and respect that true humility engenders.
In this story you see the dark side of arrogance and what it can do to a person's life and relationships. This man was disliked by everyone with whom he came into contact. Most significantly, he took all the credit for their contributions to his accomplishments. Clearly he had no awareness of the pride that ruled his heart and mind.
Once he had been wisely confronted by Dr. Borror, a major transformation took place in his life. As he began to give people the proper credit that was due them, everything changed. Not only did it impact the relationships he had with others, but it transformed this man's life. There is power in the humble life.
THE ESSENCE OF HUMILITY AND ITS
POWER
A MAN'S PRIDE WILL BRING HIM LOW, BUT A HUMBLE
SPIRIT WILL OBTAIN HONOR.
–Proverbs 29:23
THE ESSENCE OF HUMILITY AND ITS
POWER
et's continue to examine the essence of humility and better understand the nature of its power by looking at some real life examples. A number of years ago, Jim Collins, who was a faculty member at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, wrote a best-selling book entitled, Built to Last. It was based on a management study of companies that he and his associates made back in the 1990s with the intent of analyzing and demonstrating how great companies sustain themselves over time.
In studying the data, Collins came up with the idea of trying to determine if certain universal characteristics distinguished truly great companies. Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified eleven elite companies doing such a good job that they produced phenomenal results for fifteen consecutive years (some of these companies included Abbott Labs, Kimberly Clark, and Nucor Steel). He and his team sought to determine how these companies made the leap from merely being good companies to becoming great companies. He took the results of all this intensive research and wrote what would come to be one of the best-selling business books ever published, Good to Great.
What I find interesting is that Collins gave his research team explicit instructions to downplay the role of top executives. He did not believe that the business community needed another book on leadership. Although he had insisted they ignore the role of the company executives, the research team kept pushing back. They soon came to recognize something very unusual about the executives in these good-to-great companies.
The debate between Collins and his team went back and forth until, as Collins put it, "the data won." They recognized that all the executives from
these good-to-great companies were cut from the same cloth. They all were what he called "Level 5 Leaders."
Collins wrote, "Level 5 Leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless." These good-to-great leaders never desired to be celebrities or to be lifted up on a pedestal. Collins declared that they were "seemingly ordinary people quietly producing extraordinary results." What Collins and his team of researchers clearly observed is that a Level 5 Leader builds enduring greatness through the paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.
Collins points out how so many leaders are very prideful, driven by big egos. Their main concern is their own personal greatness. Their great desire is to be business celebrities. He says they often fail to set up the company for future success because they reason, what greater testament to your own personal greatness than to see the business flounder once you are gone.
Tim Keller makes a similar observation when he says, "The humble are kind and gentle, but also brave and fearless. If you are to be humble, you cannot have one without the other." You see this attitude in a number of the great leaders in the Bible. John the Baptist is a great example. When John's disciples were complaining that all the people were leaving him to follow Jesus, John made it clear that Jesus must increase and that he must decrease. On the other hand, you see John courageously confront King Herod about how corrupt he was to take Herodias, his brother's wife, to be his own unlawful wife. It landed him in jail and eventually cost him his life.
The Apostle Paul considered himself to be the chief of all sinners and openly shared his struggles, yet boldly went into the streets of Athens and Rome to proclaim the gospel.
One of my favorite examples of true humility in a man is found in Numbers 12:3 where we learn that Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth. Yet we see Moses go before the most powerful man on earth at the time—Pharaoh, king of Egypt—who could have easily had him killed if he so desired. Moses boldly stood before Pharaoh and said to him in essence, "I want you to let my people go. I want you to give up your entire slave labor force, the key to your entire economic and military superiority. I want you to do it without payment. And I don't want you to mess around; I want you to do it quickly."
RESEARCHERS FOR THE BOOK GOOD TO GREAT RECOGNIZED THAT ALL THE EXECUTIVES FROM THE
GOOD-TO-GREAT COMPANIES WERE CUT FROM THE
SAME CLOTH. THEY WERE ALL … "MODEST AND WILLFUL, HUMBLE AND FEARLESS." (JIM COLLINS)
Clearly, strength is found in the humble life. The humble don't make decisions by sticking their fingers in the air to see what other people think. They enjoy a fortitude and an inner strength that comes only through God's grace. They know who they are. Their lives are not consumed by trying to please and impress others.
PICTURES OF STRENGTH AND THE HUMBLE LIFE
We can easily theorize about life and how it works. I think at this point, we have already seen how pride and arrogance are deadly in a person's life. It can have devastating consequences, and we can be oblivious to its presence in our lives, until we get burned by it. Unfortunately, the final outcome can lead to circumstances that are irreparable.
Humility, however, is not something that modern people value or pursue. It is natural to be skeptical when you hear the phrase: "The power of a humble life," so I am going to give you a number of examples that will help you see what happens in real life when one possesses the precious gift of humility.
* * *
Dr. Armand Nicholi, author of the book, The Question of God, developed great insight into the life of C.S. Lewis through his research on the man. Lewis was an atheist through the first 31 years of his life, and during this period he always dreamed of being famous. In an essay that he wrote in 1941, he speaks of dreams of success and fame, hoping one day the world would acknowledge what a remarkable person he was. Before Lewis' conversion to Christianity, Nicholi says that he was proud and arrogant as
were many who attended the elite boarding schools and prestigious universities in England. Lewis writes of his experiences at school:
I have never seen a community so competitive, so full of snobbery and flunkeyism, a ruling class so selfish and so class conscious, or a proletariat so fawning.
Shortly before becoming a Christian, Lewis began to examine his life for the first time, and he didn't like what he saw. He had often thought of how clever he was as a teacher and dreamed of being admired by his students. He also yearned to be a well-known writer. Yet, when he became a Christian, Lewis seemed to forget about himself and his desire for fame. Ironically, that is when he found it. Nicholi says,
He found that when he concentrated on writing and forgot about becoming famous as a writer, he both wrote well and became recognized for it. This may have contributed to his oft-repeated principle that when first things are put first, second things don't decrease, they increase.
Lewis's desire for fame began to really diminish because he realized how it posed such a great danger. He saw very clearly that it was nothing more than the desire to be more well-known than others, and such a desire was rooted in pride.
Lewis matured as a Christian and became more alert to the presence of pride in his own life. Twelve years before he died, he wrote in a letter:
I am now in my fiftieth year. I feel my zeal for writing, and whatever talent I originally possessed, to be decreasing; nor (I believe) do I please my readers as I used to … Perhaps it will be the most wholesome thing for my soul that I lose both fame and skill lest I were to fall into that evil disease, vainglory.
What is ironic is that Lewis produced some of his greatest books over those next twelve years.
At the end of his life, he believed his work was done, he had fulfilled his role and exerted about as much influence as he ever would. A week before
his death he told his brother Warren, "I have done all that I was sent into the world to do, and I am ready to go."
He never dreamed he would become the best-selling Christian author to ever live!
* * *
ESPN and Sports Illustrated call Coach John Wooden the greatest coach of the 20th century. His stats bear that out. In 40 years of coaching, he compiled an 885-203 record—a winning percentage of .813. His historic tenure as coach of the UCLA Bruins, which spanned 27 years, included four 30-0 seasons, an 88-game winning streak, and ten national championships—seven of those in a row (1966-1973). And he is one of only two people enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.
As I have researched the life of John Wooden, every source I read pointed to his humility as the key to his success. Wooden was wary of recognition and fame because he understood that pride was dangerous and could easily ruin a player or a team.
Dr. Ronald Riggio, a psychologist who specializes in leadership, wrote an article in the publication Psychology Today about the leadership of John Wooden. He writes that the first lesson to be learned from the life of Coach Wooden is to be humble. Coaching was not about the coach, for Wooden it was all about the development of student athletes. Riggio had the opportunity to speak with Coach Wooden and was surprised when the coach told him how much he loved Division III college basketball where the players are not on scholarship but play simply for the love of the game. Later Wooden told him, "I think if I had to do it over again, I would have coached Division III." Riggio was stunned that the greatest coach ever in collegiate sports said he would give away all the glory he received for the "love of the game."
Pat Williams, who wrote a book on the life of Wooden says that people like Coach Wooden are rare. They are greatly admired and praised by others, but they seem to be unaware of their own greatness. Williams also seemed to think that Coach Wooden had what those level 5 leaders had and what Jim Collins wrote about in Good to Great—a paradoxical blend of
personal humility and professional will. In describing Wooden, Williams said he modeled the perfect balance of confidence and humility. In his own words, Coach Wooden said,
Confidence must be monitored so that it does not spoil or rot and turn into arrogance. I have never gone into a game assuming victory. All opponents have been respected, none feared. I taught those under my supervision to do the same. This reflects confidence, not arrogance. Arrogance will bring you down by your own hands.
"TALENT IS GOD-GIVEN; BE HUMBLE. FAME IS MAN-
GIVEN; BE GRATEFUL. CONCEIT IS SELF-GIVEN; BE
CAREFUL." (JOHN WOODEN)
Pat Williams believes that the outcome of John Wooden's life can be boiled down to this simple equation: "Confidence plus humility is the simple formula to greatness." Williams went on to say, "Who is Coach Wooden? He is a guy who never sought out the limelight. He was always trying to stay behind the scenes. He never cared about receiving accolades for his coaching; it was all about the team."
One of the greatest quotes of John Wooden is very simple but quite profound: "Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be grateful. Conceit is self-given; be careful."
* * *
When Dwight Eisenhower left office after two terms as President of the United States, I was seven years old. I never knew much about him until I read David Brooks wonderful book, The Road to Character.
Ike, as he was often affectionately called, graduated from West Point in the class of 1915. Though he lived in the shadow of World War I, he never saw military action or left the United States. When he finally received orders to be shipped out, the war had already ended.
In 1918 Ike was promoted to lieutenant colonel and would not receive another promotion for 20 years. After World War I there was a glut of
officers and therefore not many opportunities for advancement. Ike did not receive his first star as a general until he was fifty-one; and as time went by, no one expected great things from him.
Anyone who has studied Eisenhower's life will recognize that his humble approach to life in the military is what propelled him to such great heights. Although he was not rising in the ranks as I am sure he would have wanted, he submitted his own desires for the sake of the military. His memoirs reveal that he learned and accepted "the basic lesson of the military—the proper place for a soldier is where he is ordered by his superiors." Over the years, there was nothing glamorous about his career; he was just given runof-the-mill-assignments.
David Brooks gives some great insight into Ike's humble approach to life in the military.
As a staff officer—never a coveted or glamorous role—Eisenhower learned to master procedure, process, teamwork, and organization. He learned the secrets of thriving within the organization. "When I go to a new station I look to see who is the strongest and ablest man on the post. I forget my own ideas and do everything in my power to promote what he says is right."
He also gained a perspective on himself. He began carrying around an anonymous little poem:
Take a bucket, fill it with water, Put your hand in—clear up to the wrist. Now pull it out; the hole that remains Is a measure of how much you'll be missed …
The moral of this quaint example: To do just the best that you can, Be proud of yourself, but remember, There is no indispensable Man!
The individual who had the greatest impact on Eisenhower and who served as a great example of the humble life was Fox Connor. He served as the ideal humble leader, and from him Ike learned the great maxim, "Always take your job seriously, never yourself."
Eisenhower would later write in reference to Connor:
A sense of humility is a quality I have observed in every leader whom I have deeply admired. My own conviction is that every leader should have enough humility to accept, publicly, the responsibility for the mistakes of the subordinates he has himself selected and, likewise, to give them credit, publicly, for their triumphs.
Ike would go on to follow these convictions and give credit to all his subordinates in victory. He was also prepared to take all the blame on DDay if the invasion had failed. He had even prepared a memo to release if they had experienced failure. The memo that never had to be released said,
Our landings … have failed … and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.
History tells us that Dwight Eisenhower had many personal flaws but was often aware of his shortcomings. What strikes me significantly is that he was a man who was faithfully and humbly carrying out his duties, always seeking to grow and develop. There was nothing glamorous about his life and accomplishments as he entered his 50s. No one expected great things from him, yet Dwight Eisenhower became a five-star general in the United States Army, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, and the 34th President of the United States, serving two terms. Clearly, there is power in the humble life.
* * *
Martin Luther King Jr. was probably the most visible spokesman and leader of the Civil Rights Movement in America. He is best known for advancing civil rights using the tactics of non-violence through civil disobedience.
As you examine his life, it is quite clear that his effectiveness was rooted in humility. In the book, The 9 Virtues of Exceptional Leaders, author Rob Jenkins writes of Dr. King's exceptional leadership skills. He refers to the
famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," where King calls upon white Christian ministers to acknowledge the justice of his cause. This letter has come to be regarded as one of the most significant documents of the Civil Rights Movement. So many of the changes that were championed by Dr. King came to pass rather quickly after this letter was written.
Jenkins asks the question, "What made his arguments so powerful?" It is quite evident that Dr. King approached those he was seeking to influence with great humility. However, it was not from a position of weakness or condescension, or speaking from the moral high ground. He approached them as an equal, as one seeking to be a person of good will who was speaking to another person of good will. The power of this letter comes in its closing words:
If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me … I hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civilrights leader but as … a Christian brother.
This letter demonstrates how Dr. King was humble and meek, and yet quite forceful. Though he is challenging the white clergy on their moral responsibility, in no way does he act condescending toward them nor come across as if he is morally superior to them.
Two months before he was assassinated, Dr. King delivered his famous sermon about greatness, "The Drum Major Instinct." He made it quite clear that Jesus gave us a new norm of what it means to be significant. In his own words, King said,
If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized —wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.
And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve.
You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don't have to know Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.
Rob Jenkins makes this insightful observation about the power of humility as seen in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King:
King's example teaches us something vitally important about humility: Far from the popular conception of "meekness" as a synonym for "weakness," it actually is a form of strength. Or perhaps we should say, rather, that humility is a source of strength, a reservoir of great power.
IF YOU WANT TO BE GREAT—WONDERFUL. BUT RECOGNIZE THAT HE WHO IS GREATEST AMONG YOU SHALL BE YOUR SERVANT. THAT'S A NEW DEFINITION
OF GREATNESS. (MARTIN LUTHER KING)
Leaders who embrace and seek to internalize the virtue of humility do not simply fade into the background, as some might imagine. They do not become weak and thus prey for the strong in some Darwinian struggle for survival. Ultimately, they are the fittest, the strongest, and the most capable of leading.
* * *
Sam Walker is an editor at The Wall Street Journal, and in May 2017 wrote a piece that was adapted from his new book, The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World's Greatest Teams. In the book, Walker set out to identify the greatest teams in sports history, and to see what each of these teams might have in common. In the end, they all had one shared characteristic. Their years of dominance either began or ended with the
tenure of one player. And this player, in every case, eventually became captain of the team.
One of my favorite anecdotes from his book involved the Brazilian soccer team. Back in 1962, when they had won their second consecutive World Cup, Pelé was the star of the team and arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. Most observers assumed that he was the driving force behind the team's success.
However, Pelé was never the captain of the Brazilian soccer team. Behind the scenes was the team's unquestioned leader, Hilderaldo Bellini. Walker describes him as "a tough and humble central defender who during a nine-year stint with Brazil, never scored a goal." Although Bellini was never a star, he performed all the behind-the-scenes tasks necessary to make an exceptional soccer team. Most significantly, he did all the grunt work necessary to unify the team. Bellini recognized that strength is found in unity.
Walker writes, "Bellini cleared up the team's mistakes with his fearless defense, often leaving the pitch bruised and bloodied, and calmly urged them forward when their confidence sagged." He never sought the limelight or desired to be a star.
What is so interesting is the captains of the greatest teams in sports history were not exceptional players. They recognized and accepted their role—not to dazzle on the field of play but to play in the shadows of the stars, to carry the team's water, and to be quite satisfied to lead from the rear. This is humility. There is power in the humble life.
* * *
Perhaps one of the most popular people to hold the presidency of the United States was Ronald Reagan. Not only did he have a winsome personality, but he was incredibly humble.
During his eight years in office, one of his great goals was to see the Berlin Wall torn down. He lobbied for it both publicly and also in private conversation with Mikhail Gorbachev. As events spun out of control, in 1989 the people opened the gates, and the following year the official demolition of the Berlin wall began.
What is so interesting is that in 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev, and not Ronald Reagan, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. President Reagan, who had fought so hard to see the demolition of the wall, received no credit, yet he never complained. His son Michael wrote these words in his book, Lessons My Father Taught Me:
My father wasn't hungry for praise and applause. He just wanted to achieve the goal. One reason my father was willing to let Mikhail Gorbachev take all the credit was that he knew Gorbachev needed to look like a hero and a leader to his own people, or he would be undermined in his own country. So Dad was willing to give Gorbachev the credit if it would enable Gorbachev to relax the restrictions on the people of East Germany.
Throughout his eight years as president, my father kept a brass plaque on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office that read: "There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit." That was not a mere platitude. That was literally how he lived his life.
Pat Williams points out that the humility of Ronald Reagan is exemplified by his ranch in California where a modest 1,500 square foot Spanish-style ranch house sat on 688 acres. He remodeled it himself after leaving office as governor of California. He hosted many heads of state and prominent visitors in his humble abode. As his son Michael revealed: "My father was a humble man who didn't feel any need to impress other leaders with ostentatious surroundings."
In President Reagan's farewell address to the nation he said,
I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: it was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didn't spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation—from our experience, our wisdom, and our belief in the principles that have guided us for two centuries …
My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.
What strikes me in these words is that the accomplishments he refers to are described using the plural pronouns "we" and "our." He did not take the credit; he saw it as a joint effort among all of us. This is the mark of a humble leader.
* * *
C.S. Lewis wrote a wonderful essay entitled, "The Necessity of Chivalry." He points out how in medieval times, the ideal hero was both humble and kind, yet bold and strong. He points to Sir Thomas Mallory's book of the legendary King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In describing Lancelot, Sir Ector says,
Thou were the meekest man that ever ate in the hall among ladies; and thou were the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.
Lewis recognized what Jim Collins discovered in his research—strong dynamic people have this paradoxical blend of being humble and kind, yet brave and fearless. Lewis saw that the medieval ideal required this "double demand" from a knight. In the essay he says:
The knight is a man of blood and iron, a man familiar with the sight of smashed faces and the ragged stumps of lopped-off limbs; he is also a demure, almost a maiden-like, guest in hall, a gentle, modest, unobtrusive man.
STRONG DYNAMIC PEOPLE HAVE THIS PARADOXICAL BLEND OF BEING HUMBLE AND KIND, YET BRAVE AND
FEARLESS.
Lewis says the chivalrous knight has a duality of character in that he is fierce to the nth degree but is meek and humble as well. He believed that the medieval ideal brought these two qualities together even though they "have no natural tendency to gravitate towards one another."
Lewis is right, most modern people greatly desire to be thought of as strong and courageous. To be considered kind and gentle is of little or no importance, particularly to those in the marketplace.
Lewis recognized that the medieval ideal taught humility and restraint to a valiant knight because everyone knew from experience that he needed it. He realized if it is not possible to produce men who combine the two sides of Lancelot's character, it would not be possible to produce a society with any lasting dignity or happiness.
* * *
Many people consider Katharine Graham to be one of the most influential women in the 20th century. Born Katharine Meyer in 1917, she was the daughter of Eugene Meyer who bought The Washington Post out of bankruptcy in 1933. Katharine began working for the Post in 1938 and two years later married Philip Graham, who at the time was working as a clerk for a Supreme Court Justice. Eight years afterward, Meyer made his son-inlaw, Philip, the publisher of the Post.
As the years went by, Philip struggled with alcoholism and depression. In 1963 he entered a treatment center and eventually was diagnosed as suffering from manic depression. In August 1963, his doctors allowed him to go home for the weekend, where he proceeded to take his life by a selfinflicted shotgun blast.
Katharine was devastated and considered selling the Post. However, she finally decided to succeed her husband as publisher. The paper at the time was one of many newspapers in Washington D.C., and none had nearly the readership of the mighty New York Times.
Katharine faced her first crisis in 1971 when she made the decision to publish excerpts of the Pentagon Papers, knowing that she and the newspaper staff could be prosecuted under the Espionage Act. She understood that the paper could be financially ruined, but she risked it all for the people's right to know the truth about the Vietnam War. Her decision to print was vindicated on First Amendment, free speech grounds by the Supreme Court.
She showed similar courage when she gave approval to executive editor, Ben Bradlee, and his reporters to pursue the Watergate story. For a long
period of time, The Washington Post was the only newspaper covering the story, and they received a great deal of pressure and criticism. Once again she was vindicated by her courage to make difficult decisions.
Katharine Graham remained the publisher and head of The Washington Post for the next thirty years until her accidental death in 2001. Those who knew her best praised her for two great qualities: courage and humility.
Upon learning of her death, President George W. Bush called her "a true leader and a true lady, steely yet shy, powerful yet humble."
Katharine Graham's funeral service was conducted at Washington National Cathedral. The eulogy was delivered by Senator John Danforth who said this of her:
Of the many words written this last week, one sentence deserves special attention. It's from Katharine Graham's obituary in the Post: "Mrs. Graham was often described as the most powerful woman in the world, a notion she dismissed out of hand."… That is an astonishing statement in this town …
St. Paul tells us, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others."
That is the way believers are supposed to live … It is very biblical and very true that "every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." That is a text for all of us. It was lived by Katharine Graham.
I read some very interesting words about Mrs. Graham in Pat Williams' book, Humility. On his radio program, Pat had interviewed the prominent author and motivational speaker Dr. Sheila Murray Bethel. During the interview, she shared an encounter she had with Katharine Graham back in the late 1990s at a luncheon hosted by Graham. Mrs. Graham's parties and banquets were renowned for their stellar guest lists because she knew so many presidents, kings, and leaders from around the world.
At this particular luncheon, Dr. Bethel was seated next to Mrs. Graham. Bethel asked her,
Mrs. Graham, you have hosted all the greatest leaders from around the world. What is the single most important trait of all great leaders?
Without hesitation, she said, "The absence of arrogance."
As she reflected back on the conversation, Dr. Bethel says,
She had stated it so simply, yet it was such a profound insight. As I watched Mrs. Graham conversing with others around the table, it struck me: This woman is the perfect illustration of the trait she named —"absence of arrogance." Katharine Graham was one of the most powerful women in the world—yet it was her humility that defined her. Now, whenever I meet a great leader, I ask myself, "Is this leader humble? Does he or she possess an absence of arrogance?"
In reflecting upon his interview with Dr. Bethel, Williams makes this observation: "I'm here to tell you that the secret ingredient of success, however you define it, in whatever field you seek it, is this trait called humility."
* * *
In the February 22, 2014 edition of The New York Times, there was a fascinating article by Thomas Friedman entitled, "How to Get a Job at Google." It was written from an interview with Laszlo Bock, the senior vice president in charge of hiring at Google, one of the world's most successful companies.
In the hiring process Bock says, "GPA's are worthless as a criteria for hiring and test scores are worthless; we found they don't predict anything." He then proceeds to share what they are looking for in the prospective new hires that come to interview with Google. One of the primary attributes they desire is humility. They are looking for courageous leaders who, at the appropriate time, will step up and lead but also, at appropriate times, be willing to relinquish power. In other words, they need to be humble enough to step back and embrace the better ideas of others.
Bock also stressed the importance of having intellectual humility for if you do not have this, you will be unable to learn even from failure. Too many proud people believe they are a genius when something good happens; but when something bad happens, it is someone else's fault.
Google seems to understand that truly humble people are what Jim Collins called, "a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless." Bock declares that they are looking for people to take firm positions and who will argue like hell. However, when they learn a new fact, they need to let go of their ego and be willing to change their point of view.
Bock recognizes that in an age of innovation, their work is increasingly a group endeavor. In order to work well and effectively in the group, you have to be humble.
This is in line with something I read in Ryan Holiday's book Ego is the Enemy. The nine-time Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winning jazz musician Wynton Marsalis offered this advice to a promising young musician on the mindset required to become a great musician:
Humility engenders learning because it beats back the arrogance that puts blinders on. It leaves you open for truths to reveal themselves. You don't stand in your own way … Do you know how you can tell if someone is truly humble? I believe there's one simple test: because they consistently observe and listen, the humble improve. They don't assume, 'I know the way.'
Holiday says that humble people are students for life and that they seek to learn from everyone and everything. It might be from people you beat or from those who have beaten you. Wherever you are in your life journey, there is the opportunity to learn. This is the perspective humility brings into your life.
THE MOST HUMBLE PERSON THAT EVER
LIVED
IF I WERE TO BOIL DOWN ALL THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GREATNESS TO A SINGLE WORD, IT WOULD BE HUMILITY.
–Charles R. Swindoll, pastor and author