A Humble Certainty Explained

It is time for me to explain what I mean by "A Humble Certainty."

It should be the desire of every Christian to be like Christ. One of the main characteristics of Christ is his humility. Therefore, every Christian should desire to be humble. In the reading for the class, a few of the authors misapplied the characteristic of humility in the development of their theology. Humility, for them, means that a Christian must be, if not ambiguous, then at least fluid in regards to doctrine. While I agree that doctrine should be open to reexamination, I disagree that it is not possible to be humble and certain at the same time. After all, Jesus was both certain and humble. While this seems to be counterintuitive, it is possible to be firm while remaining humble if the source of the certainty is not in oneself. The confidence is in the truth of God’s word, and that there are some doctrinal truths that are clear in the scripture and therefore can be held with certainty.

The incarnation, in which Christ left heaven to live on earth, was an incredible act of humility. Paul describes this act of meekness in Philippians 2:3-8, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!” (NIV) Even the nature of his birth and life was humble. Jesus’ birth in a manger and life in obscure Nazareth belie the fact that Jesus chose a humble life when he could have chosen to be born into royalty and live in luxury. The great British poet, William Blake, painted the picture of Jesus’ humility perfectly in his poem, “Little Lamb.” Blake wrote, “Little Lamb, who make thee, Dost thou know who made thee…Little Lamb, I'll tell thee; Little Lamb, I'll tell thee: He is called by thy name, For He calls Himself a Lamb He is meek, and He is mild, He became a little child.” Jesus left the glory of heaven to become a man in order to die on the cross. That Jesus chose humility is an example, especially to every Christian, to make the same choice.

Jesus’ humility did not change the fact that he was absolutely certain about many things. Jesus was certain about who he was. In John 8:58, Jesus existed before creation, “‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” (NIV) According to John’s account, Jesus’ statement about himself was so inflammatory that his listeners picked up stones to kill him. Another example of Jesus’ certainty is found in the account of Jesus cleansing the temple, which is found in each gospel account. Jesus was convinced that what was occurring in the temple was wrong. Physically clearing the temple was hardly the act of a man with ambiguous beliefs. It was possible for Jesus to be humble and certain about his beliefs. It is possible for his followers to follow his example and be humble and certain at the same time.

Diana Butler Bass vehemently argues that it is not possible to be humble and hold strong convictions on the scripture. She writes, “As soon as certainty replaces humility, it leaves little room for the intellect to transport the faithful to awe.” I disagree. It is possible to make claims on Jesus Christ, eternity, salvation, while remaining modest. In other words, it is possible to be humble and certain when the certainty is not founded on one’s own abilities such as intelligence. Instead, one can be humble when making confident claims when the foundation of the claims is God’s word. Resolute statements on difficult issues such as eternal destiny are possible because the scripture makes resolute statements on difficult issues. As a result of her misunderstanding of humility, Bass avoids concrete statements about truths that are clear in the scripture, which can damage the ability of a church to fulfill the mission God has given to it, namely to proclaim the gospel of Christ and to make disciples.

Ambiguity on the ability to make authoritative doctrinal statements has a negative effect on the mission of the church. There is a proclivity for those who are ambiguous on scripture are also ambiguous about eternal destiny. Bass champions a view of a church that “makes few grand claims about eternity and salvation. Rather, these communities emphasize life in this world.” Granted, many churches that are resolute on the scripture have a tendency towards focusing more on heaven than life on this earth. However, because the scripture is clear about how the choices we make about Christ effect our eternal security, the church can be clear about these doctrines as well. In Romans 6:23, Paul states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NASU) Jesus says, according to John 14:6, “‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (ESV) In 1 John 5:11-12, the apostle John writes, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (NIV) This stands in sharp contrast to Brian McLaren’s perspective, ““Maybe it’s not that there are two places beyond the door of death, heaven and hell.” The scriptures make clear statements about the consequences of sin and the existence of heaven and hell. Furthermore, God’s people can be confident in stating the truth from God’s word while remaining gracious and humble because the truth is found in the scripture rather than in themselves.

Mankind is fallible. This much is clear in scripture and in daily life. As a result, Christians should be open to the reexamination of doctrines. In this respect, humility is required to ensure that what we can be certain about is clearly stated in scripture. Olson argues, “reconsideration and reconstruction of doctrines in the light of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ and in Scripture is required by our own finitude and fallenness…” Reconsideration is always important, especially due to humankind’s fallibility and the ever consistent change of culture. Application from the scriptures must be consistently reexamined to discern how the truths from scripture apply to cultural idiosyncrasies. McLaren offers a perspective on how humility and doctrine collide, “if you have an infallible text, but all your interpretations are admittedly fallible, then you at least have to always be open to being corrected about your interpretations…” The basis for correction must be from the infallible scriptures. Christians must be willing to reexamine their doctrinal positions. However, the reconsideration is not on a whim or on someone’s opinion. We must always be willing to change our position if it is proven to be unbiblical. The scripture is the standard therefore the scripture is the source. Humility comes into play when we understand that it, not our opinions or positions, is the standard of belief. This is how we can be certain about what we believe and remain humble.

American evangelical Christianity needs a dose of humility. We have come to the point where the hallmark characteristic of evangelicalism is not humility but arrogance. In this sense, we have become exactly what Christ was concerned most about the Pharisees, proud of our religious observance but spiritually empty. The correction is not found in becoming ambiguous in our beliefs, but maintaining a certainty. Humility and certainty require the balance of knowing what we believe, while being willing to reexamine our beliefs because the foundation is not found inside ourselves but in the scriptures. This is what I plan to apply in my ministry context. More specifically, I plan to make this a part of my ministry “DNA” with the goal of sharing this value with my faith community. It is my opinion that we will not convince many Americans of their need for Christ through arrogance or doctrinal debates, but through a community that humbly loves one another and knows what we stand for.