Humility Is Hard
6 min read
27 “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “ ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
29 Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”
30 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”
31 But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.
—Mark 14:27-31
Leave it to Peter to completely miss the point of what Jesus was saying. Jesus was simply stating a matter of fact that they would fall away. Even so, Jesus will rise from the dead and meet with them in Galilee! How significant is that?
But in that moment, Peter felt the need for his face to be saved more than he understood the need for all of humanity to be saved, including his own soul. And so what he heard from Jesus was the part that threatened his pride, not the part that would save the world.
In life coaching, we learn that how we listen and hear is a result of what is called the “filtering system.” Without monitoring our “filtering system” and keeping it free of junk, we tend to hear what our own hearts are feeling more than we hear what other people are saying.
We all are susceptible to “unclean filters” due to pride. Pride will make us deaf and blind to the needs of the people around us—even our own families and friends.
There was a time when I was a worship leader, and there was this brother on the team who was quite the pain (not just to me, but to many). He himself was quite prideful. An ex-Army ranger (he used to jump out of planes). He was a guitar virtuoso. He had a good voice, and he had been raised up in the church—which is to say that he had good church “instincts.”
I was never envious or jealous of him for any of these things. I’m just not that type. In fact, I appreciated his talent, and we would occasionally do duets. I loved worshiping and accompanying when he led.
But he would frequently point out things that I was doing wrong as a worship leader—questioning my song selections, questioning how I led the team, questioning how I related to one member in particular.
One time we were having a heated discussion over email. And I can’t remember the context exactly, but I completely missed something he said on one of his responses that was very relevant to our discussion. When he pointed out what I had missed, all I could do was to acknowledge that I had missed it and apologize.
I had always assumed that I was a good “listener”—that I had a clean “filtering system,” I had always “prided” myself in my humility. But I realized that the ears of my heart could be corrupted by pride as much as anyone else’s.
Every once in a while, pride still clogs up my “filtering system.” But by God’s grace, He is making me a better listener.
Father, You know my pride. Forgive me when my pride clogs up my ears and my heart. May Your Spirit help me to listen to others well, and especially to hear and understand and obey Your word. In Jesus’s name. Amen.