Pride is the absence of God in a person's life; humility, the presence of God is a person's life. I think I like that definition. For leader's, humility is also a synonym of being "teachable". Leaders need to be teachable and humble. We must recognize the possibility of errors and mistakes, and be willing to accept and recognize even in public when we make mistakes. Notice that I did not say failure. For with God, it is impossible to fail. Sometimes, like Walter Pearson Jr. says in a sermon titled "Called to the Dry Bones District", it's not that your preaching has gone sour or that you have lost your ministry, but instead that you are in a district or in a valley where there are only dead bones. In that case, Pearson says to just preach to the dry bones so that they may live.
Failure is not an option for 3-D Christians: Definitely, Devoted, Disciples. Romans 8:37 says that we are "more than conquerors." Therefore, with Christ, we can never fail. We are where we are right now for a God-ordained reason. We may not see it now, but we will later. Just be faithful. Remember, it's more important to be faithful than to be successful. How many successful preachers have you seen hit rock bottom and lose their ministry because they failed to be faithful to their spouse and family. Instead be faithful. If God wants you to be somewhere, he will place you there in His due time. Whether you are in a big church or a small church, don't worry, since Adventists pastors get the same pay. A bigger church does not equal a bigger salary. Instead, the bigger the church, the bigger the pressure and stress if you are running on empty. So fill your spiritual reserve each day with the fuel of the Holy Spirit through prayer, bible study, and spending time with
your family.
Stay humble always, and move forward only after you have spent time on your knees. I told the new church where God has assigned me that "I believe I was born to be the spiritual leader of this church." Some thought it was too bold, too proud, but after some thought they realized that I am convinced that only God has brought me safe thus far. If I didn't believe that God has ordered each of our steps, then like Australian Evangelist John Carter used to say, I "probably would go and grow bananas and live on the beach somewhere."
As leaders, we need the presence of God with us every moment of every day. If humility means the presence of God, then "Lord, help me to be humble and to have humility in my life." Be teachable, down to earth, and never think you are so much better than where God has placed you in the present. Pride, comes before a fall. But humility before exaltation. Let God exalt you in His due time.
Dudley M. Canright was a gifted speaker who became a in-demand preacher and evangelist during his generation. Yet, he struggled with his salvation and was in and out of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for years. He lived with James and Ellen White, yet at times went from being their trusted friend to being their most feared enemy. At one point, he came to despise Ellen G. White and wrote the book Seventh-day Adventism Renounced, in which he attempts to destroy and attack the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the prophetic ministry of E.G. White.
Story has it that one day while he was in good terms with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and after preaching a powerful message in an evangelistic series, he told a trusted friend, "Where it not for the unpopular and offensive message of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I could really become famous and make a name for myself. I am that good." Well, Canright in fact did make a self-fulfilling prophecy about himself that day. He did unfortunately leave the church one day, and today He is remembered as an ex- Seventh-day Adventist who wrote and attacked the church more than anyone else in his generation. How sad, and how tragic. How awful. Canright needed humility. Instead he fell victim to pride and deceit. He needed a double dose of humility in order to recognize that "Were it not for the message he embraced and preached, He would be nothing." The message made the man, not the man the message.
You today are who you are because God and his message has made you that. It's that simple. You are not indispensable. But God will use you as long as you are a fit instrument for His Glory. In essence, stay humble, stay close to God. If God wants to, he will exalt you in due time. Be faithful always. Period.
~ Sal Garcia
