Clark Clifford shares this reminiscence of his former boss, Harry S. Truman: Every morning at 8:30 the President would have a staff meeting. One day the mail clerk brought in a lavender envelope with a regal wax seal and flowing purple ribbons. Opening it, the President found a letter from King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, whose salutation began, "Your Magnificence." "Your Magnificence," Truman repeated, laughing. "I like that. I don't know what you guys call me when I'm not here, but it's okay if you refer to me from now on as 'His Magnificence.'"
Truman subsequently sent a message to the United Nations supporting the admission of 100,000 Jews into Palestine. Soon afterward he received a second letter from King Ibn Saud. This one began: "Dear Mr. President."
Philippians 2:5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
Flattery and smooth talk have been there as long as we have had humanity on earth. It’s easy for us to respect and behave well in front of someone who is well above us in some manner or the other. Mostly it can be in terms of money, position, power, information and etc. We tend to respect and behave so well in front of those who can either benefit us or harm us. Perhaps that’s not the real picture of humility. We are so well mannered in front of our boss, and with that very tongue we abuse and speak ill to the rickshaw puller and the waiter in that small food joint.
It is very important to understand that humility is not a concept to be changed as per the situation. It is a frame of mind, it’s a natural behaviour that one develops over a period of time due to our beliefs and learnings in Christ Jesus. Thus Paul reminds us to have the mind of Christ. Just as Jesus humbled himself in front of the father, he was humble to wash the disciples’ feet, enter into Jerusalem on a donkey, prepared to be flogged by Roman soldiers, and even to be buried in a borrowed tomb. The list can go on and on. So it was never the person and the situation that affected the behaviour. It was always the same mind everywhere and for everyone.
So if you pay a nice tip to show off at the fine dining and fight over 5 bucks with that humble vegetable vendor, you are not humble. If you can respect your boss and not address the rickshaw puller respectfully, you are not humble.
Stanley Thomas Isac
Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com
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