A Taste of Humble Pie

On the return trip from Amarillo last Tuesday, Darin and I had a conversation about the inconvenient necessity of airport security checkpoints. I, weird as I may be, find them to be a fascinating study in sociology. He's not so impressed; he thinks it's a big hassle. True, it is bothersome to have to remove shoes, belts and all other "extraneous" accessories, but there's something remarkably humbling about the whole event. It's funny to me to see pilots and congressmen, executives and children all wandering around in their sock feet. It's a defenseless and mean position (not mean as in unkind, but as in lacking in dignity or honor), and it's amazing how quickly the adults want to get their shoes back on their feet and rush away from that spot in the airport. It's as though they are afraid that some of that humility will rub off on them, and they'll carry it throughout life if they're not careful.

Why are we so afraid of humbling ourselves? This phenomena even occurs among believers. People I knew with certainty to be ministers, pastors and church members still sought to rush through, and I couldn't help giggling to myself as Darin and another pastor friend tromped through the scanner. These same two ministers boldly shared the Gospel of Christ on Sunday, but for the moment they couldn't walk without slipping! Scripture mentions humility over 50 times; I don't think that's accidental. Paul tells us specifically to have the same attitude as Christ who humbled himself (Phil 2:5,8). Perhaps if we had to walk around in our socks more often, tasting that humble pie, we'd each be more compassionate and gentle.

Phil 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.