Dear Pastor, Walking in Humility Requires Courage
This article is part of the Dear Pastor series.
Dear Pastor,
James tells us, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Paul exhorts the church to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3). Conceit and selfish ambition are destroyers of godliness; they spread like wildfire through a church or ministry, burning and destroying souls in their path of savagery. Pride hurts the church. Humility lifts it up to the glory of God.
Walking in humility requires courage. Courage to embrace when we fail, courage to accept when we are wrong, and courage to make choices that have little or no short-term payoff yet are best for oneself and the communities we serve. To grow in our understanding of humility, we must attune ourselves to the wisdom of Scripture and the pastoral voices of history. In pursuing humility, we find strength and confidence to continue in the path of faithful ministry service and care.
Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls
Coleman M. Ford, Shawn J. Wilhite
Professors Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite help pastors to embrace a classic, patristic vision of ministry through a study of pastoral virtues and early church figures.
Basil and the Humble Life
Basil of Caesarea (c. 330–379) was a significant theological force in the fourth century. On the heels of the Council of Nicaea (325), he sought to steer the church through tumultuous theological waters amid the ongoing Arian controversy and its numerous aberrant theological descendants. He was instrumental in defending the deity of the Holy Spirit and promoting a robust Trinitarianism in the spirit of Nicaea. In addition to being a significant theological voice, Basil was also a monastic reformer and minister who addressed various pastoral matters. Overall, one of his main concerns was promoting humility as integral to a flourishing Christian life and ministry.
Humility as a Practice of Virtue
Basil viewed humility as the chief Christian virtue. He wrote on this topic throughout his career, but his thoughts are most clearly seen in a sermon he preached around 375, now titled On Humility. Humility, according to Basil, was especially important for church leaders. Only through the practice of humility may one truly develop character and cultivate happiness. More importantly, humility served as the divine entrance to restoring the glory that humans lost through pride. In fact, it was in this way that humility led to happiness (because it allowed one to comprehend and fully value the life of Christ) and produced excellence of character (by allowing one to properly apply other virtues without being clouded by corrupt human pretension). The world strives for glory by means of power and personal exaltation, but this delusive pathway to glory impairs the performance of even basic virtues.
While Basil recognized the existence of natural virtues, he affirmed the human inability to naturally practice virtue to its fullest extent. For Basil, man had “lost the good which it was in his power to possess.”1 This fall from glory came through pride, and humility was the necessary key to unlocking divine glory. In his words, “The surest salvation for him, the remedy of his ills, and the means of restoration to his original state is in practicing humility and not pretending that he may lay claim to any glory through his own efforts but seeking it from God.”2 Human effort falls short of the glory of God. Striving for glory by means of self-righteousness, worldly wisdom, and attempts at courage and moderation all fall short of their full expression in a Christian life of virtue.
Achieving Humility through Imitation
Humility, however, is the most elusive of Christian virtues. Once we sense that we have attained humility, it is likely that we have lost and must start over.
The fundamental basis of humility for the believer is the life of Christ through the teachings of the apostles. Basil explained, “Indeed, we find that everything the Lord did is a lesson in humility”3 and “Come, let us imitate [the apostles], so that out of our humility there may arise for us everlasting glory, the perfect and true gift of Christ.”4
Humility is indispensable to the Christian life and pastoral office.
Therefore, humility derives mostly through imitation of the one who in his very life was purely humble and acted accordingly. According to Basil, imitating Christ’s humility informs all other actions in one’s life, especially charity, and leads to glory.5 Christ shares his glory with those who glorify him through their actions of love.
Humility and the Imitation of Christ
But how does one imitate Christ? In one of his monastic writings, the Shorter Rules, Basil described just that. First, believers should call to mind the words and example of Christ. Next, they should claim the promise of Christ that he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:11). Last, they must remember that developing humility is akin to learning a craft, requiring practice and fraught with difficulty, though it is “accomplishing every virtue in accordance with the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ.”6 Thus, the Christian grows in humility by modeling Christ and the apostles and shunning the path of Satan, which is, in essence, one of pride.
Just as humanity lost the glory of God by rejecting humility, so did God bring them back to glory by entering their humanity through humility. Thus, it is not human beings who ascend to God but God who descends to them—the road to ascension begins with a posture of condescension. This is the ironic nature of the distinctly Christian virtue of humility. Basil consistently lamented that humanity spent much time posturing and seeking success in the eyes of the world but that this was a search for validation in the eyes of people and would not lead to the glory it was seeking. It prevented human beings from the true practice of virtue and thus the glory that waited at the end. “What truly exalts a person” said Basil, is “to know in truth what is great and to cling to it, and to seek the glory which comes from the Lord of Glory.”7
Pastor, Pursue Humility
Basil continually asserted the centrality of humility in the Christian life. The implications of practicing humility are myriad for Christians, but we’d like to highlight three simple applications for pastors.
First, humility is indispensable to the Christian life and pastoral office. Virtue is not a self-driven effort fueled by innate ability but is cultivated when one submits to the will of God. Pursuing holiness is a vital facet of the Christian life, and according to Basil, it leads to happiness in the light of Christ and his work on our behalf. Thus, humility is the axis on which Christian virtue turns.
Second, humility is the proper response to receiving the gift of salvation. For Basil, converting to Christ leads to humility and informs one’s entire Christian life. The turn from gazing on self to gazing on God and his work of salvation on our behalf is what truly brings glory to one’s life. Thus, the degree to which pastors reflect on their salvation is the degree to which they grow in humility.
Third, the practice of humility serves as an apologetic to the unbeliever. Too often the world sees the story of moral failure play out in the pastorate. The desire to gain influence at the expense of humility leads to downfall. Every time. God’s word predicts it (Prov. 16:18–19). On the other hand, a humble pastor may not draw a crowd, but he is certainly modeling Christlike behavior, and such humility has an irresistible gravitational force.
Final Thoughts
Basil taught that humility is essential for obtaining the good life. This good life is a return to the glory that humanity once had with God at the beginning of creation. Pride, the chief reason for humanity’s fall from glory, continues to impair one’s practice of virtue. Only humility can return us to the state of glory we once possessed. Thankfully, Christ has provided a way back to glory—by humbly trusting in his salvation and imitating his humble spirit.
Because of humility’s prime place in the Christian life, other virtues can only rightly be practiced through confessing our weakness. Humility produces excellence of character and true happiness by allowing one to properly apply other virtues free from corrupt human pretension. This applies to all aspects of life, including ministry. Therefore, pastoral virtue is found in the spirit of the humble Christ. What the world wants to gain through prideful living can only be found in humble submission to God, and pastors can present this true glory with their humble words and their humble work.
Notes:
- Basil, “Homily,” chap. 20, sec. 6.
- St. Basil the Great, “Homily,” in On Christian Doctrine and Practice, ed. John Behr and Augustine Casiday, trans. Mark DelCogliano, Popular Patristics Series 47 (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2012), chap. 20, sec. 1.
- Basil, “Homily,” chap. 20, sec. 1.
- Basil, “Homily,” chap. 20, sec. 6.
- For more on Basil’s understanding of social action and charity see Anthony Meredith, The Cappadocians (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1995), 27–29. See also Timothy Patitas, “St. Basil’s Philanthropic Program and Modern Microlending Strategies for Economic Self-Actualization,” in Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society, ed. Susan R Holman, Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 267–86; C. Paul Schroeder, trans., St. Basil the Great: On Social Justice, Popular Patristics Series 38 (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2009).
- Silvas, Asketikon of St. Basil, 381.
- Basil, chap. 20, sec. 3.
Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite are coauthors of Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls: Learning the Art of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers.
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