No 86.

Kenneth Flodin: Humble or Haughty?

(Jas. 4:6)
(08:33)

Contents
1. Humble or Haughty? - Jas. 4:6
1.1. Haughtiness also a heart condition - Mark 7:21,22
1.2. Humility is not humiliation - Prov 22:4
2. Moses had great authority, yet humble
2.1. Mose’ haughty act - Num 20:4
3. When we might lose our humility
4. Our humility should always exceed our ability

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 1. Humble or Haughty? - Jas. 4:6
James 4:6: “God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to
the humble ones.”
Well, haughtiness is really disdainful pride, superciliousness, arrogance. One who
is haughty is in his own estimation superior to his fellow man.
On the other hand, humility is freedom from pride or arrogance. It’s the state of
lowliness of mind.
Humility and haughtiness are the exact opposites of each other. Humility is here;
haughtiness is at the other end of the spectrum.
Which one are you? Likely neither, but somewhere in between. Now, if Jehovah
had a “humble/haughty meter,” where would the needle be if he was monitoring
you? Would it be in the middle? Well, hopefully not. Hopefully it would be closer to
humility. We’re imperfect, but we want to be as far away from haughtiness as
possible.

1.1. Haughtiness also a heart condition - Mark 7:21,22

The verse said: “[Jehovah] opposes the haughty,” but he favors those who are
humble. Haughtiness is not totally a mental condition per se. Please find Mark
chapter 7 with me, Mark 7:21, 22. Jesus put haughtiness in a lineup with many
unsavory qualities and actions. Well, if it’s not totally a mental condition, what is
haughtiness? Notice how Jesus describes where it comes from at Mark 7:21, 22. It
says:
“21 For from inside, out of the heart of men, [so it’s a heart condition] come
injurious reasonings, sexual immorality, thefts, murders,
22 acts of adultery, greed, acts of wickedness, deceit, brazen conduct, an envious
eye, blasphemy, haughtiness, and unreasonableness.
23 All these . . . things come from within and defile a man.”
So haughtiness is really a condition of the heart, the inner person. And it says it’s
a ‘wicked thing.’

1.2. Humility is not humiliation - Prov 22:4

Well, what about humility? In some ancient cultures, a humble person was always
thought to be a slave, miserable, a pitiful person. But humility is not the same as
humiliation. Instead, in the Bible it stresses that humility — this lowliness of mind —
can actually lead to honor, to status with God.
And so Proverbs 22:4 says: “The result of humility . . . is riches and glory and life”
— not miserable, not pitiful by any means. We said earlier that if Jehovah had a
“humble/haughty meter,” the needle likely would not be pegged on humility in our
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case nor on haughtiness. Well, why is that? Well, because as dedicated Christians,
none of us are absolutely haughty at heart. But as imperfect dedicated Christians,
none of us have the market on true humility.

2. Moses had great authority, yet humble

Only Jehovah and Jesus are absolutely humble. Well, can we be basically a
humble person and yet act haughtily, or arrogant, at times? Well, let’s consider
Moses. Jehovah gave him tremendous authority. And it’s known that power,
authority, a responsible position can erode humility.
But Moses proved his humility time after time. For example, in Numbers chapter
11 he gathered together 70 elders, and verse 25 says that Jehovah took some of
the spirit of Moses away and put it on the 70 elders, and they began to behave as
prophets. Well, there’s nothing that indicates Moses jealously tried to guard his
authority and privileges. He was humble.
And we all remember the account where Moses’ father-in-law suggested that he
delegate some of his workload to others. Moses did not arrogantly resist that. He
humbly accepted the suggestion.
And then later, at the end of his life when Jehovah chose his replacement —
Joshua — Moses humbly accepted that decision. He urged the people to follow
Joshua’s lead.

2.1. Mose’ haughty act - Num 20:4

Well, we could say nothing else than Moses was an excellent example of humility,
but he was not perfect. Please find with me Numbers chapter 20, Numbers 20.
Humble Moses allowed himself to be provoked and perform an act of haughtiness,
or arrogance. The situation was that there was no water for the assembly of Israel,
and the people began to show an arrogant, rebellious spirit. Please pick up the
dialogue with me in verse 4 of Numbers chapter 20. They said:
“4 Why have you brought Jehovah’s congregation into this wilderness for us and
our livestock to die here?
5 And why have you led us up out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place? It is no
place for seed and figs and vines and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”
Well, they got under Moses’ skin. They caused him to lose his humility
momentarily.
Look at verse 9: “So Moses took the rod from before Jehovah, just as He had
commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron called the congregation together before
the crag, and he said to them: ‘Hear, now, you rebels! Must we [meaning Aaron and
I] bring out water for you from this crag?’”

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 Well, that was a haughty, arrogant act. Admittedly, the people were out of line with
their speech and attitude. But Jehovah took note of “the spike in the needle” of the
“haughty meter.”
Look at verse 12: “Jehovah later said to Moses and Aaron: ‘Because you did not
show faith in me and sanctify me before the eyes of the people of Israel, you will not
bring this congregation into the land that I will give them.’”
So although generally Moses’ “needle” was always very close to humility, Jehovah
was displeased with this “spike on the needle” toward haughtiness, even though
momentary.

3. When we might lose our humility

Well, it’s good for us to consider this because it’s easy for us to lose our humility,
particularly if we are invested with some authority.
Maybe we have a new responsibility in the congregation, on the circuit, at the
branch.
Or maybe we have a skill and talent that we excel in, and we get compliments
galore.
Or we’re at odds with a fellow believer. Will we maintain our humility?

4. Our humility should always exceed our ability

There was a great line in the February 2013 Watchtower. It said: “Remember: In
order to be useful to Jehovah, our humility should always exceed our ability.”
Well, King Saul allowed his ability to exceed his humility. And at 1 Samuel 15:17
— he was not to take any spoils from the land, but he allowed that to happen — in
verse 17, Samuel confronted him, and he said: “Were you not insignificant [or
humble] in your own eyes?” And then he said: ‘Why did you disobey Jehovah?’ Well,
Saul stammered and stuttered.
But bottom line, Jehovah was not pleased because in (1 Sam 15) verse 23,
Jehovah said through Samuel: “. . . rebelliousness is the same as the sin of
divination, and pushing ahead presumptuously the same as magical power and
idolatry. . . you rejected the word of God, I reject you as king.”
Well, it’s just as our text said: “[Jehovah] opposes the haughty ones.” May we all
strive to keep our needle “close to humility”.

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