Humility & Pride (2 Corinthians)

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 1:1-2)

This letter, 2 Corinthians, is Paul’s rebuttal to assertions that he can’t possibly be the apostle of Christ that he claims to be. In responding, Paul presents himself, often implicitly, as one approved—I’m calling this back from his letter to Timothy, in which he encourages the young man to do the same (2 Timothy 2:15). This response, out of context, could be used to paint Paul as an arrogant or prideful man. I believe, though, that it’s in his confidence (specifically in Christ) that he displays the most humility. Before getting to that, though, I figure we ought to define humility and pride as they relate to confidence.

Humility and pride appear, to me, to exist on opposite sides of a "spectrum of confidence." A confident man will tend toward humility, and an unconfident man will tend toward pride; in the end, it seems one can be fully confident and humble, but not so with confidence and pride. Humility is the quieter of the two, and—in our Christian context—it operates for the sake of glorifying Christ. That's it. Pride, from a place of insecurity, loudly attempts to take glory for itself (either in word or deed). They appear, to me, to lie on the same spectrum because it seems that one can never be fully humble and fully prideful at once. The existence of one in a moment requires the death of the other, at least for that moment.

This "spectrum of confidence" comes in to play when we look at the source of ones actions, thoughts, or words. For a professional athlete to walk into a gym and say they are the best player there is a true statement and likely not born from insecurity, but from a slate of proof. For an average Joe to go into a gym and say the same, it's likelier that there may be elements of pride in that statement—potentially delusion. But is it humility or pride when an apostle, "called by the will of God," comes to the defense of his own ministry? And when does our own confidence become sinful?

Pride Goes Before Destruction, and Humility Before Honor

"Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)

There are many a proverb which speak to humility and pride. One of the more popular ones is Proverbs 16:18, but there are many more spread throughout the book, even in this chapter before verse 18 (see 15:33, 16:1-5). Verse 5 uses particularly strong language in regards to pride: "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured he will not go unpunished." Verses like these make it clear where God stands on the issue of arrogance and pride: it's abominable, disgusting to God—and, frankly, to those around to witness them. If this is the case, then how do Paul's assertions differ from pride and arrogance? Why are we given the letter to learn from? And how are we meant to express our own confidence? These are the questions that will be explored, but it helps to juxtapose this definition of pride with one of humility. Simply put: Humility is peace with (God's) reality. Pride is founded in attempts to bend reality.

When I began my walk with the Lord, it appeared to me that humility was simply a practice of diminishing oneself until they were positioned as the lowest of the low in their heart—that confidence was a sign of disobedience or an impure heart. I struggled with the notions of spiritual gifts and how they ought to be used. 'If one has a gift, they're clearly better in said area than others. How do they express them? Can one be humble and gifted?' I'd ask. This train of thought was reinforced by verses like Matthew 20:25-28 and Philippians 2:3.

"'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'" (Matthew 20:25-28)

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." (Philippians 2:3)

I'd read verses like these and be worried that I couldn't show any signs of confidence, and I was tempted to believe that these verses called for a complete deprecation of self; but I don't believe that this is the heart of these scriptures. Christ says what He says to the disciples after the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, asks Jesus that her boys have seats at the right and left hands of Christ—a request that upset the other ten disciples. He spoke in a moment where pride was leading self-elevation rather than God's elevation (see Matthew 20:23). And in Philippians, Paul's aim is to shift focus from living for oneself to living for the good of the Gospel; not for self-depreciation, but for Christ-elevation and unity (or harmony) in the body.

When the Word speaks against pride and arrogance, it isn't speaking against confidence. Our mistake is in equating one with the other. Pride and arrogance may start in confidence, but a need to over-express said confidence, or to over-express one's authority, either through word or action, is simply proof of a sense of shame or fear; and it's one that may grow over time. This isn't to say that confidence can't make a claim for itself or defend itself; sometimes it has to for a point to get across. This is the position that Paul finds himself when writing the letter that we know as Second Corinthians.

To the Church that is in Corinth

Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians is split into 4 sections, the first 3 addressing a specific claim or group of people: Paul's legitimacy as an apostle (1:1-7:16), an appeal to the "repentant Church in Corinth" (8:1-9-15), appeals and warnings to the "rebellious minority in Corinth" (10:1-13:10), and a short close (13:11-14). I would break each of these down myself, but there are sources online* which have done a better job than I could. What I want to focus on is Paul's tone and his heart in this letter.

The letter gives off a sense of frustration at many times (3:1, in particular, reads with a bit of sass)—that's how I imagine Paul's writing this. It's as though he would really rather not be defending himself and would instead focused on Christ and getting the Gospel out, but he's deemed it necessary. I think it's important to note again that Paul is writing in response to claims made against him (claims he believes could hinder the Message if not rebutted or resolved). At each step in his response, though, Paul re-centers his claims on the power of God and on the results of Christ's sacrifices. That's the key to me in all of this thought on humility and pride. Without Christ, these words start to lose their meaning. Let me show you.

Sincerity, the Grace of God, and the Power of Christ

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort," (2 Corinthians 1:3)

Almost immediately, Paul sets the tone of his heart by praising God (I wonder sometimes if that's more for him than the Corinthians). Right after this, he gets into his first defense: "We have behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God." Paul begins by clarifying the intent of his last letter, one "written with much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears," not for pain but as an expression of love. It's as though he's apologizing, and perhaps rightfully so, I haven't seen the letter—this which Paul refers to is a letter that we've lost by now. This heart of apology, even when writing to "boast," shows great humility and confidence.

"Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letters of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." (2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

'Such is the confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from Christ, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

After that apology, and a moment spent encouraging the Corinthians to forgive those who've caused pain (as he did—maybe a way of asking for forgiveness for himself too?), Paul begins to lay out his ministry. I won't do it justice here, but he highlights this new ministry bestowed upon him, of the Spirit rather than of a common law, by and through Christ. He goes on to encourage the Church, reminding them of the beauty and light of the Gospel, of a place being prepared for us in Heaven, and of the reconciliation to God that was made possible through Christ. That pattern is building.

"We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." (2 Corinthians 5:12-15)

This is the sum of Paul's ministry as an apostle: I, by the grace of God, present myself and the Gospel of Christ to you with sincerity and humility. Isn't that the type of person you'd want leading, encouraging, and correcting you? All that was just a summary of the first seven chapters, but the pattern continues as Paul specifically addresses both the repentant Church in Corinth and the rebellious. While encouraging the former he asserts 'I say this [give generously] not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love is also genuine' (8:8). His response to the rebellious deserves a bit of a breakdown itself.

"I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh." (2 Corinthians 10:1-2)

Paul maintains a similar heart posture as he has throughout the letter, but the tone is more severe in this part of the letter. The teacher is addressing the trouble-making students. I'd love to have been in Corinth when this letter was received; I wonder how such a message was received by those rebellious individuals. Paul's emphasis switches from encouragement to a direct condemnation of the pride of a minority in Corinth. Humility and pride go head to head: How different are they in this case?

The Defense

"I, Paul, entreat myself you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh." (2 Corinthians 10:1-2)

Paul is very clear from the beginning of this section that he would like for this address to be all that's necessary. He makes many claims and statements, and chooses a course, which is very much like that of a disappointed father—of which he is for this church, a point he makes clear. I don't know what statement, specifically, Paul is responding to—I don't have the letters or the YouTube reactions from his "haters"—but he lets us in on a few of them and at each step provides a sort of proof for his claims. He's fed up at this point, and though he'd rather not, he's seen fit to boast a bit and make his point. To provide evidence of his apostleship where there's ignorance about it.

First, Paul seeks to remind the rebels that, though he doesn't flaunt it, he does indeed stand on equal ground as the "super-apostles" (preachers of a distorted or different gospel) of the time. This equal standing is established in Christ: "If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. For even if we boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not destroying you, I will not be ashamed." This equal standing is important for Paul to note, becuase now he is speaking in terms that will resonate with those rebels.

"'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.' For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends." (2 Corinthians 10:17-18)

This is, in essence, Chapter 10: 'It's in submission to Christ that we appear to you meekly; for the sake of our witness, please hear me that we may continue in meekness. We stand as your other preachers do, but our power comes from the Spirit, our wisdom yields to God's, and our identity and authority are founded in Him. Our actions speak for us, not to commend ourselves, but to address you in your terms—we brag only in what the Lord has done in us and through us, not on anything beyond us. Our only aim is the progression of the Gospel, we don't dwell on our past successes. At the end of the day, it's God who creates the standard and judges.' 'These statements, as far I can see, are founded in a God-centered confidence. Herein lies the difference between humility and pride, as I see it. But Paul continues.

"I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:1-3)

This is where it seems Paul starts to dig in. He allows himself, for a moment, to write emotionally—and why not? He's human, after all: "What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool" (11:17). Paul begins to address his actions using a, somewhat sassy, hypothetical question: "did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you may be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you" (11:7-8). What Paul is getting across in this part of the letter, what it seems the rebels have ignored, is the level of care that Paul has for his ministry, the churches he's planted, and the integrity of the Gospel. It's in these things that he's "boasting," rather than in any ability or wisdom of his own. He's suffered for the sake of all three (11:16-33).

Again, Paul has reasons to boast—he says as much as he continues speaking on the visions, revelations, and wonders he's seen; but still, "on behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast except of my weakness..." This is very modest approach, which he acknowledges immediately: "...though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he see in me or hears from me." Paul then acknowledges a "thorn" he's been given (we don't know what it is—it's speculated that the vagueness may have been intentional) to keep him from attempting to elevate himself. This is the context behind the ever popular verses 9 and 10:

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

After that verse, Paul seems to snap out of his boastful moment ("I've been a fool!") and he returns to address, and make his appeal to, the rebels. He goes on to tell them that they've seen the signs of his apostleship, that he's been honest and loving and refrained from being a burden. He readdresses the aim of his ministry: "Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved." Paul then gets severe; this final piece of the letter is Paul's stern warning that he is coming to address them, those who have not repented, with the power of God.

"I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them—since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God." (2 Corinthians 13:2-4)

As he closes, Paul highlights the necessity to examine oneself, to find Christ and live uprightly and true. His aim for the Corinthians is that they would be a strong people, founded on the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was given authority, and seeks only to use it, for the aim of building the church up. As he drives his point home, he reiterates that focus and foundation is on Christ and His power, not on his own made up authority. That's all great and dandy, but what's the point? you might ask. I want to set the record straight on what humility and pride actually are.

Humility and Pride

As I mentioned in the introduction, the battle between humility and pride, and how they relate to confidence, was a point of contest for me. As a kid with little context, when I heard people speak on humility it felt like an attack on confidence, something which I'd believed to be good—it was a quality of mine that had often been complimented, so what would I be without it? As I've grown in the Lord, though, I've seen that humility and pride have everything to do with confidence, but my understanding of what confidence looked like was skewed. This understanding came only after I'd put my faith and identity in Christ. I'd taken an approach similar to what Paul did and taught, and that was useful because it set me up to operate in truth rather than in delusion.

A piece of Scripture that clung to my spirit when I was a new believer was Romans 3:22b-26:

"For there is no distinction: For all have sinned and fall short of the God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at a present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who had faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:22b-26)

I remember the Spirit's insistence on the words "No distinction" and "all have sinned fall short." Absolutes. I figure God means it when he says words like those. This understanding became the truth which I based my life on, it was this section of verses that made our need for a Savior so clear to me. And it put all of us on equal ground (for the first time in my life). It doesn't matter how much money you make, how many church services you go to, how many countries you visit for missions trips, how much you tithe, how well you sing in worship, how kind you try to be to your brothers and sister: all of us have broken the Law and all of us deserve that punishment which is death (Romans 6:23). If that doesn't humble a man, I don't know what will.

To take it a step further, not only do we all deserve that punishment, but we were granted a sort of immunity from the punishment through the Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ—granted we accept Him for who He is in total—not just Savior, but Lord and all that entails. And that's not a maybe, it's a fact—that's where our confidence comes in. I'd once heard confidence described like so: "The feeling that no matter what happens here, I will be okay." That feeling is found in faith in Christ. And that feeling is what's made this relationship between humility, pride, and confidence click.

I believe that a man (or woman) who puts his full faith in Christ can't help but be confident and humble—they happen simultaneously as the understanding that none of us is really that good, but that we were loved enough to die for, sets in. No matter how hard a believing man tries, if his foundation is built on anything but Christ, his spirit will not rest. It takes confidence to humble oneself; I know the tug that Ego has when you try to tell him to take a step back—he acts like a toddler—it's not fun. This is the pride that goes before a fall. It's the spirit that led to the demise of Saul's kingdom in 1 Samuel.

On the other hand we have examples of humility before God in Abraham preparing, at the command of God, to sacrifice his son, Isaac. We see it in Paul's life, as he constantly sacrifice comfort for the sake of the Gospel; and we see it in God Himself, both in the Father giving up His Son for a moment, and in the Son's obedience to His Father. Even when Jesus wanted to go another path, He quickly re-centers and reemphasizes his submission to the Father's will. These acts of humility weren't founded in a confidence in oneself, nor were they founded in a tearing down of oneself. They were founded in a confidence in God, His promises, and His plan.

It's often said that humility isn't thinking less of yourself, but rather thinking of yourself less. To that I'd add, it's replacing those thoughts of yourself, or anything else, with thoughts of Christ's love and sacrifice, and of this Commission we've all been given. In shifting focus to Christ, we can more confidently step out knowing that we are indeed secured. When things go well, or when we're doing well, the best way to ensure that we don't grow conceited is to acknowledge the role we've played and still to give God the glory (the credit) in the end. In Christ, confidence and humility are reconciled. May your confidence be found in Christ.

Be blessed.

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