Humility

Saturday night, I had the privilege of attending the induction ceremony of the 2010 class into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in Columbus. My college coach, Bob Nichols was inducted along with an incredible group of people.

The event was very well orchestrated and one thing in particular stuck out to me. Each inductee was given instructions that they were to keep their remarks to no longer than two to three minutes. When I heard this, my immediate thought was, Yea, like that's going to happen.

Well, it did. If I had to sum up this entire class of honorees with one word, it would be humility. It seemed that every person who gave remarks took less time than was allotted and they deflected the honor and praise toward their teammates, players, fans, family or friends. Maybe that is why they are now in the hall of fame.

The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested be the praise he receives.

Proverbs 27:21

Humility

I am currently in Kansas City for a meeting today. Yesterday I attended the onething conference put on by the International House of Prayer. There are 20,000 plus youth in attendance here, most on fire for God.

Last night, Loren Cunningham addressed the crowd. He is the founder of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) which is celebrating its 50 year anniversary. They are the largest mission organization in the world. He has been very good friends with people like Bill Bright, Billy Graham and Oral Roberts. He has impacted more people for Christ than most who have ever lived. Yet, he remains incredibly humble. Last night, he sluffed off all his accolades and gave credit to God and others.

That humility is one of the main reasons he is such a great leader.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6b

Humility And Hard Work

I'm a golf fan and I missed it. I was at a cookout on Sunday afternoon and I was unable to see the improbable. Tiger Woods lost for the first time when leading in a PGA major heading into the final round.

While I was watching earlier in the day, the announcers were all but giving Tiger the Wanamaker Trophy (which goes to the PGA Champion). After all, in 14 previous majors, Tiger had the lead heading into Sunday. And in all 14 of those opportunities, he was the champion.

However, little-known, 37-year-old Y.E. Yang had a different script.

Had I been watching, I probably would not have been rooting for Yang, simply because I would be rooting for someone from the U.S. However, after what I have read, I have determined that I really like this guy.

Consider this:

• He is the first Asian born male to win a major
• He was ranked 110th in the world
• He didn't begin playing golf until he was 19 years old
• Because he could not afford lessons or greens fees, when beginning to play, in order to hit balls on the driving range, he agreed to pick up balls as a "trainee"
• He calls himself "just an average Joe"

Humility and hard work, a pretty good combination!

True Humility

Sir Edmund Hillary in 2006

I just learned something today. I was reading about the death of Sir Edmund Hillary in January of this year and the account of his reaching the summit of Mount Everest. I was very impressed with the humility of this man.

Many see his greatest accomplishment as reaching the peak of the tallest mountain in the world, but I disagree. I believe his greatest accomplishment was the way he handled the adulation.

He gave equal credit to his guide, Tenzing Norgay, knowing what it would mean to the Nepalese to have one of their own make that claim. Just before Norgay's death, he admitted that Hillary was the first to reach the top and that he was so thankful for Hillary's "PR" sacrifice he made for him.

Once at the summit of the great mountain, Hillary shot this picture of Norgay, his traveling partner and guide. He did not have Norgay take his picture.

In Sports Illustrated last year, Hillary was quoted as saying, “Why did I need a photograph?” he said. “I knew I’d been there, and that was good enough for me”

Now that is true humility!

Lessons in Humility

I mentioned that I was traveling last week. The reason for my trip was that I was asked to be part of a Commission on Leadership Development for my church's denomination. In our meeting were the three North American bishops, one pastor and five "lay" people.

Matt, one of our bishops who was leading the meeting, taught me something about servant-hood and humility. During discussions, he would periodically get up and rub someone's neck and shoulders. He did this to me at least twice during the day and a half we were together. At first, it felt a little funny. But then I began to enjoy it and see it for what it was--Matt serving each of us.

I imagine it would be easy for Matt to feel he was above each of us, especially those not employed by the denomination. But that is not how he is. These acts of service left an impression on me...it truly meant a lot to me and it left me to wonder how I can better serve those around me.

The other impression I had from these meetings was that I felt inadequate. This room was filled with some incredibly talented people who had some amazing gifts. I was wondering why I was there. I felt as if I was not bringing much to the table.

I have a tendency to want to do things on my own. This is more than likely a pride issue. I feel that God was showing me that if I am going to be successful at anything, I will need Him and others round me...I cannot do it on my own. I know this in my head, however, I must need to get this in my heart, because this message came through loud and clear last week.

I truly was humbled...hopefully I can stay there.

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

James 4:6b

Pride

Have you ever been so sure you were right that you weren't open to hearing the other side? Pride...an ugly thing.

Have you ever been in that situation and then been proven wrong? Pretty humbling isn't it? I have been here more times than I care to admit. It takes true humility to listen, to really listen to someone when you believe your position is the right one.

Check out this video. Not only will you get a chuckle out of it, but hopefully it will shed some light on how you listen to others, even when you "know" you are right.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
James 1:19

Humbled

Late yesterday afternoon I was preparing for a talk I was giving at a dinner event a few hours later. I needed to take a break so I decided to make a repair on something which required me to use Super Glue.

However, I could not get the glue out of the tube. Everything I tried was futile, so I decided that I would throw it away. Then I had a great idea...or so I thought.

Since I was going to pitch it, I decided to take a needle and puncture the tube so I could at least get a drop out before throwing it away. So I positioned it over the sink and pierced the container. I had no idea it was going to explode over my hand!

So here I was, frantically trying to wipe up Super Glue in my sink and not even thinking about my hand. My right hand had three fingers firmly stuck together and my left hand had tissues stuck to two fingers from my cleanup efforts. To complicate matters, in the middle of my three stuck fingers was the needle. Boy, does that stuff work well...and fast! I felt very foolish as my son was laughing at me.

I went to my computer and Googled for a solution. I was told that nail polish remover would do the trick. It took a good 30 minutes, but at last I was free (my fingers were a mess but at least they could now operate freely!).

As I drove to the venue for my talk I couldn't help but think of the people I would be speaking to. Had they known what I had just put myself through, they probably would have thought I was the last person they would want to hear from! I know that God wants me to be humble. I also know that I sometimes have a hard time doing that on my own so He needs to occasionally help with the process!

GTG

A friend of mine named Stu uses a phrase with me and others regularly, "Glory to God!" He even signs his emails and notes with "GTG" at the bottom.

Some may find this strange, but if you know Stu, he means it. He is a great example.

I witnessed some other great of examples of this over the weekend at the Passion Conference Molly and I attended in Atlanta.

It seemed that every time after Louie Giglio or Francis Chan spoke, they would get off the stage somehow before the crowd could applaud for them. They did not want the adoration and the applause because they wanted it to go to God.

The Chris Tomlin Band, David Crowder Band and Charlie Hall's band were the same way. The spotlights would go off of them at the end of their songs so that the focus and applause was not on them. Very cool.

I have to admit I am one who likes applause. When I was growing up, I liked being praised more by my parents than corrected. When I played basketball, I certainly liked hearing claps rather than boos. When I write or speak, I like to hear that people liked what I had to say. This saddens me but it is true. That is why Stu's example and the things I witnessed this weekend were so powerful to me.

47 - 4

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I coach my son's 5th & 6th grade basketball team. We played a game this afternoon against a team that is loaded with talent. We played hard but they were able to squeek out a win against us, 47 - 4.

That sounds pretty bad, but when you compare it to our first game against them when they beat us 54 - 8, it doesn't look quite so bad.

When I was watching the game from the sidelines, I was watching the skill level of the players on the other team versus ours. There was not even a comparison. The coaching on our team was probably lacking too! But when you are on the sidelines helplessly watching your team get thrashed, it is very humbling and very difficult. I know I need that from time to time (unfortunately more often than not), but it is very difficult to watch our kids get discouraged.

Nevertheless, our kids played hard and did manage to have fun. I am proud of them. They are all great kids! I am also happy for the other team, as they seem like great kids also--very talented, great kids.

One interesting thing happened after the game. I talked with one of the other two coaches and congratulated him. He sheepishly accepted it and said something like, "I'm sorry." He felt bad that we had to go through that. He said, "We just got the luck of the draw on players." Classy comment.

Then on my way out, I was talking with their other coach. I said, "Great game coach! You have some really good players on your team!"

He said, "Well, I like to think it has a little to do with coaching too."

Unfortunately, that comment left a bitter taste in my mouth. However, it was a great reminder to me about the importance of being humble.

I'm Sorry

This morning I had a breakfast meeting. I am working in my home office today so I came home after my meeting just before my son, Robbie was getting on the bus for school. He came to me and gave me a big hug and said "I'm sorry." I asked him what he was sorry for and he said, "for they way I acted yesterday." (He had done some things yesterday that required us to remove some privileges from him for a few days.)

I told him I forgave him. But for some reason I was deeply touched. The hug felt great but I think I was really moved by the way he said he was sorry. I could tell he really meant it--that he was showing humility.

Humility is also a great trait for a leader to have. Robbie's apology reminded me that one of the greatest things a leader can say is "I'm sorry" or "I was wrong."

Humility

...Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Romans 12:3b

Most mornings for the past 30-40 days, I have been reading Romans 12 and then meditating on a verse that stands out to me that morning. Some days, nothing really jumps out but then other mornings I feel like God is putting flashing neon lights around something He wants me to learn.

This morning was one of those mornings.

The verse above jumped off the page at me this morning. I know God was trying to get my attention and show me I needed to get off my high horse--my feeling like I am so important. You see, I have realized that I like to impress people. When I realize I have done something with the sole purpose of trying to impress others, I now feel sick to my stomach.

As a result, I think I am getting better...but I think God is telling me I still need to work on this...especially in my marriage!

How does this relate to you?

Young Life Example

I just left a meeting with the area director for Young Life in our region and one of Young Life's greatest supporters. We talked about a lot of things, but what really made an impression on me was their heart for serving Christ.

There were no agendas, no pride on display, no attitudes of superiority. Just trying to humbly serve God.

On my drive in to the office, I thought about how often I do that...humbly serve God with no agendas, no pride, etc... The painful truth is that I can't say I do that all the time. I sometimes have agendas and I certainly have pride that gets in the way.

This twenty-something Young Life leader taught me much in this short meeting.

Humility

I recently signed up for a free 6 month trial of Sports Illustrated magazine. I really don't have the time to be reading that but I figured, it's free, I'll take it. I typically take two minutes and go through the magazine and if I see anything I think might be worth reading I'll read it, but this is pretty rare.

This week had an article about Roger Federer and the sub-headline said "In winning his fourth straight U.S. Open crown and 12th Grand Slam title, Roger Federer left little doubt that no one in the world does anything as he plays tennis." This headline caught my attention and I decided to read the article, not because I am a huge tennis fan but rather because I am a fan of excellence and those who achieve it. I always enjoy learning about what makes people excel.

In reading the article, I was immediately disappointed in Roger Federer. Yes, I respect what he has done on the tennis court, but what disappointed me was his lack of humility in the article.

Here is one quote:

"It's important that people respect what I do, and I think over the past couple of years that has happened. There were times i felt people were like..." He shrugged. "It was a bit strange. But now I almost have the feeling [they know] they're watching greatness."

I don't know about you, but I am drawn to the famous athlete who has humility. I know others feel that way about you and me also, so let's be humble.

Pride Before the Fall

I'm on vacation in the Smoky Mountains with my family and my dad, my step-mom, two of my sisters and their families. Two days ago, we took a great hike to Grotto Falls which is pictured above.

I have been here many times and remembered it as a short, relatively easy hike. After all, it is only 1.2 miles up to the falls. It is a hike we typically take with the younger kids since it is not too difficult.

Well, about 1/4 of a mile into the hike I was huffing and puffing. It was harder than I remembered. In fact, I was not ready for the hike. I usually wear two pair of socks when I hike and I only wore one for this "easy" hike. I also didn't lace up my hiking boots very tightly as I felt I wouldn't need them very tight.
On the way down I paid for it. I didn't fall, but my pride cost me. I stepped on a root and turned my ankle. As a result I was unable to hike yesterday (thankfully I was able to hike today!).

This is not much different than my everyday life when pride gets the best of me and I eventually pay for it. Oh well, one of these days I hope I can learn this lesson.

Big Enough to be Small Enough

In a devotional from Dr. David Jeremiah, he wrote:

When Dr. J. Edwin Orr wanted to write a biography of Toronto's famous pastor, Oswald J. Smith, he was concerned about how Smith would respond to the complimentary nature of the work. He soon realized, however, that Dr. Smith was gracious and humble enough to take both criticism and compliments in stride. "He is big enough to be small enough to give the glory to the Lord," wrote Orr.

What a description for us to emulate!

How about you? Are you big enough to be small enough to give the glory to God?

A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor. Proverbs 29:23

Not my Plans

Don't you hate it when things go awry!

I have a short day today because I am charged with picking up our new cat from the Vet today at 1:00 before they close (my wife is working today). He just got de-clawed. So, I had great plans to get into the office and get lots of stuff done this morning.

Well, it was not to be.

I utilize Franklin Planner Software and sync it up with my Palm Pilot. My Palm decided to freeze up this morning which caused me to have to hit the reset key. As a result I lost all my data on my Palm. Fortunately, I still had it on my computer.

When I tried to sync, I lost data on my computer and nothing went to my Palm. Ughhh.

However, for once in my life I was thinking. I performed a backup just prior to this so I was able to get back to where I was on my computer. However, syncing with my handheld was still an issue.

I have just spent the past 2 hours chatting online with Franklin support. They have been very willing to help and have suggested some things, but nothing seems to work.

I am saying all this to let you know that my plans of getting a lot done this morning just went out the window.

I don't know about you, but I sometimes think that everything I am doing is SO important and MUST be done. Like the fate of the world depends on it. Who do I think I am? I must think I am pretty important.

For that reason, I am glad God uses these roadblocks from time to time to bring me back down to earth.