Humble Beginnings

…an arrogant spirit before a fall
(Proverbs 16:18 – HCSB)

The pride of life is not from the Father, it is from the world (1 John 2:16), and it must give way to the fear of the Lord. In the kingdom of the world, the aggressive, the arrogant, and the audacious receive reward. In the kingdom of God, those who humble themselves will be lifted up (James 4:10). This is one of the most often revealed themes in the Word of God.

A modern day parable will give us a perspective on this. A new candidate for minister was to give his trial sermon. He studied intently, prepared his sermon with excellence, forming the message with precision and with purpose. The exegesis was done with the utmost care, and the exposition would contain both wit and wisdom. The clarity and accuracy of the message was certain. Everything seemed to be in perfect order; the stage was set for a great service. The young man was supremely confident that his trial sermon would come off as a rousing success, and he daydreamed that many souls would be saved, many believers would come to renew their commitments, and that the “crowd would be wowed”.

When the day arrived, the man ascended the pulpit, holding his chin high, and staring at everyone. With a look of ultimate assurance he began his magnum opus. Much to his surprise, no one responded. Not during the message, and not after, at least not positively. There were no shouts of amen, no nodding heads, no movement to the altar of repentance, and further, looks of bewilderment. He left the platform with his head held low, looking down so that no one could see his obvious failure on his face.

The church elders looked with disdain at the man. The man thought to himself, “How could they not understand?” Surely these men and this church were not very wise, seeing that they would judge such superior craftsmanship with such apathy. How could they improve upon his masterpiece? What had he done wrong?

The truth is that his delivery lacked the one thing that he hadn’t considered: the unction of the Holy Spirit, the enduement of power from On High that comes about when a message is bathed in fervent prayer, accompanied by a humble ascension into the chancel as God’s minister of His Word. The man’s mind was prepared but his heart was not.

As he descended into the crowd, an elderly woman, who had seen scores of men preach the Word, and dozens give their trial sermons, approached him with a word of wisdom. She said, “Son, don’t give up. You just need to remember that if you had went up to the platform the way you left it, you would have left it the way you went up it”.

That is sage advice indeed.