Two other values must be encouraged: humility
and inclusivity. One of the attitudes that creates a distaste for religion and
religious organizations like churches is the sense of arrogance that pervades them.
The attitude that, “We are right and everyone else is wrong.” Or that,” We have
the Truth and everyone else needs to embrace our Truth to be accepted in the
end.” These attitudes are counterproductive to genuine community. The arrogance
implicit in such an attitude puts being right ahead of being in relationship.
It makes dogmatic knowledge the highest value; Truth as principle or
proposition as opposed to a Person. So what I know becomes more important than
who I know.
Imagine how different the religious and
spiritual experience would be to embrace life with humility. To acknowledge
that I don’t have all the answers, that I don’t have a corner on Truth, that I
am incomplete without others, that my view of life and God will be more
balanced and reflective of Totality when I expose myself to other people’s
views and beliefs, that I am “here” not to simply get people to believe what I
believe but also to learn from them, to allow their beliefs to help shape my
own. Imagine living in a community where this value of humility was a
cornerstone.
There’s a profound hymn that the early
Christians sang regularly as one of their theme songs. Archeologists have
uncovered copies of it in various places like homes and ancient gathering spots
for worship spread throughout the ancient Middle East and Roman empire. It’s
recorded in the New Testament:
“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus
thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of
himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what.
Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the [heavenly location] of deity
and showed the nature of deity – he [humbly] took on the status of a slave, became
human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process.
He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life
and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a
crucifixion.” (Philippians 2:5-8, The Message, adapted)
The cornerstone of deity is humility – the
willingness to give of one’s self for the sake of the other – the choice to
recognize the supreme value of the other to the extent of becoming one with the
other, of acknowledging the significance of what the other has to bring to the
Table. The heart of Christianity’s view of God and Christ centers on this experience
of profound humility, what’s called the Incarnation, Christ’s intentional
choice to become one with humanity in order to not only give but also receive,
to not only teach but also to learn what it was like to be fully human, to live
in complete solidarity with people.
The early Christians sang this hymn regularly.
No wonder congregations developed the reputation in their communities of being
places of acceptance and great diversity – places where, unlike the culture of
their time, Jews and Gentiles, free and slave, men and women, rich and poor
gathered together and shared common meals, material possessions, and spiritual
activities.
Arrogance is antithetical to God and therefore
to the building and establishing of genuine community. God designed life to
work best with an attitude of humility. The
great jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis said, “If you can’t have humility to be in
balance with others, you won’t be as good a jazz musician as you might be.”
(Sweet, p 384) That’s a great way to put it. Jazz as a musical structure and
style is built upon the value of humility – the intentional allowing of others
to contribute their expertise in an organic and dynamic blending of the whole.
It involves a deep respect for each musician’s contribution to the piece by
structuring into the delivery creative opportunities. The end result is high
impact and deep pleasure.
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