Humility
Values that Must Shape Our Congregation
The person who is most a danger to themselves is the one who doesn’t think they need to read this.
Pride doesn’t always look like arrogance.
It looks like competence that stopped praying.
It looks like experience that stopped listening.
It looks like a leader who builds for God without bowing before Him.
Humility is the Christ-confronted, Spirit-dependent posture that makes every other virtue possible in a life of others-oriented service.
At Resurrection Church, we don’t treat humility as a soft skill or a personality trait you can develop later.
Humility is the foundation. Everything else we build in life rests on humility because in humility we rest on the Lord.
Without humility, everything collapses.
Why? Because work that matters and lasts will be done in the strength of the Lord. “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (James 4:6).
That’s not just a warning–it’s a promise.
You don’t want to find yourself on the wrong side of that equation.
Our humility at Resurrection has three characteristics.
Christ-confronted. Humility begins at the cross. The Pharisee in Luke 18 tithed, fasted, and followed the rules—but he stood before God listing credentials instead of falling before God in acknowledgment of need. The tax collector couldn’t lift his eyes to heaven. He went home justified. A leader who leans on his own righteousness is already lost. Before leading, a leader must fall to his knees in need of mercy. While leading, a leader stays there. The Christian life begins by bowing to Christ and never leaves that position.
Spirit-dependent. Ezekiel stood in a valley of dry bones, asking, “Can these bones live?” The answer wasn’t a better strategy or more resources. It was the breath of God. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6). Jesus was direct: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Not “you’ll struggle.” Not “you’ll be less effective.” Nothing. That’s the most humbling and liberating truth in leadership. When you embrace your powerlessness, you discover God’s power.
Others-oriented. Jesus redefined greatness: “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Mark 10:43). His path to glory took the form of a servant to the point of death. If that’s the pattern for Jesus, what makes us think ours should be different? Paul commended Timothy for showing “genuine concern” for others’ welfare–not strategic relationship-building, but authentic care that put others’ interests above his own.
Pride rarely announces itself.
It hides in defensiveness when questioned.
It shows up in the need to be right.
It whispers that your experience qualifies you to trust your own judgment. It lingers in the sting you feel when someone else gets credit.
Ask yourself: Where am I currently relying on my own strength instead of acknowledging dependence on God?
Is it in how I handle conflict? Make decisions? Respond to criticism?
How do I react when things go well under my watch—do I quietly take credit? When someone challenges my idea, does something rise in me?
The proud person protects himself. The humble person has already died in Christ. And the person who has died to himself is fully free to serve.
Humility isn’t weakness or passivity. It’s not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less. Humility orients us toward the agenda of God and keeps us dependent on His strength.