The Cloak of False Humility

Today I want to talk a bit about what true humility versus false humility looks like. I think we all have met people over the years that we’ve been able to discern pride in, despite them talking about how humble they are.

Those people do exist, but I want to address a different facet of this topic, because in my time spent talking to different women of faith, I’ve begun to discover that there’s another type of false humility that will pop up. One that’s actually not rooted in real humility, but rather has its roots in insecurity and lies that they have believed about themselves.

These are women who are beautiful in every way, they have gifts and talents and a deep love for Jesus, but for one reason or another when you meet them in group settings or one-on-one they constantly minimize themselves and who they are. They will downplay their accomplishments, downplay their talents and giftings, or in group settings, avoid “grabbing attention” for themselves in ways that go above just merely not being boastful or prideful, but to the detriment of themselves and what they have to offer in Christ Jesus to the rest of us.

This sort of thing isn’t actually true humility, it’s insecurity and fear that has been cloaked with an air of false humility. The root of it can be many different things, but more often I’ve seen it linked back to past traumas that through one way or another have allowed the voice of the devil to come in and to whisper lies, slowly letting it become their own internal voice. I think church culture or more traditional families have also contributed to this, especially when they really emphasize the “a women must be silent” and misapply those passages in Scripture.

I had been pondering this phenomena for some time, but I was never quite able to put my finger on why this air of “humility” smelled so false to me, until I went to Reclamation Church in Denver and got a chance to hear Michael Miller preach out of Deuteronomy. Just like Holy Spirit has a tendency to do with speakers sometimes, Miller went on a quick little tangent about Numbers 12:3.

“Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.” (NASB)

This verse always cracks me up when I come across it, because it seems like exactly the opposite of humility, especially knowing that Moses was the one who wrote that line. But Miller made this point, and it’s stuck with me ever since:

“True humility is rightly acknowledging who God says you are.”

That means a true understanding of your identity in Christ, and your relationship before God. In Christ, you were washed clean and made pure. It’s by the blood of Jesus that you now have boldness to approach the Father’s throne of grace and receive mercy whenever we need it. It is understanding that you are that treasure in the field, the pearl of great price that Jesus Christ gave up absolutely everything he had so that he could purchase you, because he knew you were worth “every penny”.

And Moses knew what God had said about him, he knew that his relationship with God was as one that was rooted in deep friendship, God spoke to him face to face and chose Moses to represent him in front of all of Israel.

And that’s what I mean when I talk about false humility. So many of us women will belittle ourselves or make ourselves smaller and less than what God says we are and call it “humility”, when in fact it’s the false lies of the devil instead.

In fact, true humility seems to be the moment where our own narcissistic and self-centered thoughts evaporate and are instead focused on serving others, on serving Christ, and on not exalting ourselves, but letting God speak for us instead (see: Luke 14:11, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6).

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Phil. 2:3–11, ESV

This passage is a great little Bible study into humility because we see how Christ looked past himself to the desperate need that was around him, and chose to humble himself to the point of death on the cross. Christ didn’t exalt himself, but he allowed God to exalt him instead.

True humility means that we do not deny our own identities in Christ, under a pretense of false humility. Christ threads that needle very well in the final scenes of his life, when we see people point blank ask him about his identity.

“And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tel you, from now on you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matt 26:63)

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews"? Jesus said, “You have said so.” (Matt 27:11)

Notice that Jesus Christ doesn’t go, “aww shucks I’m just a man like everyone else.” Jesus was firm in his identity as the Messiah, the Son of God and owned up to it.

But there’s also a clear link between humility and the Fear of God. As we draw closer to the presence of the Lord, as we spend more time with him, a beautiful thing happens. We begin to see ourselves rightly in relation to the Father. We see ourselves rightly in the sense that we recognize the great love he has for us and the identities he’s given us as children of God, but also rightly in the sense that we see his awe and majesty. True humility will never try to steal or take away the proper glory and honor that is due to the Lord.

That’s even one way we can discern false teachers—who’s getting the glory? Is it the false teacher whose every word seems to come back to themselves? Or is it the person who knows who they are in Christ, but also never forgets to give Jesus the proper exaltation, and the proper glory?

Lord, I pray that we would all be men and women who rightly understand our relationship to you. The great price you paid for us, the great love that you have for us, and your desire that we should walk in that freedom. But let us also be men and women who always give the glory to you, who will always understand that we are just mirrors that reflect your own power and majesty to those around us. Lord let us be people of true humility in every way.

In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.