Awkward

My high school graduation was, in a word, awkward.  I graduated from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, and in those days, all the graduates were given a blue graduation gown and cap, as well as a silver tassel.  But if you had good grades, you were given a gold tassel, and the top students were given a gold tassel as well as a gold belt-like strap that decorated the gown.  And so when the gowns were passed out, I opened my packet to see a silver tassel.

When I opened it, I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach.  I went to four different high schools.  That did a number on my athletic aspirations, but I’d worked pretty hard academically.  I’d taken the tough classes and was pretty sure I’d earned at least a gold tassel, but no.  A couple of my friends took me to the school office, and we asked to talk to the vice president in charge of tassel distribution.  I inquired about what a student had to do to earn the gold stuff, but the worker just rolled his eyes.  He uttered something like, “You’re not on the list, you don’t get one.”  I asked him to check my grades, so he glanced at me as if to say, “Seriously?”  Then he got the records, took a peek, did a double-take, and mumbled, “Oh, wow, since you just transferred in this year, we must’ve missed you.  We didn’t have you on any of the lists for awards.  You actually did well.  Interesting.”  He fumbled around, found a gold tassel and belt thingy, put them on the counter, and that was that. 

I wore the gold gear, but it was awkward.

Standing up for yourself is always awkward, isn’t it?

Orville Redenbacher, of popcorn fame, once quipped, “If you don’t toot your own horn, who will?”

Standing up for yourself is awkward, but we have to do it, right?  We all want the gold tassels we deserve.  And we’ve all been passed over, and over, and over.  Who hasn’t been overlooked for a job or two, cut from a team we probably should have made, had our work claimed by someone else in our group?  We all have had our share of silver tassels when we really should have gotten gold.

And if or when we tried to fight for ourselves, we ended up in an uncomfortable, thorny, awkward position.

So, how do we fight for ourselves?

The Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Philippians.  And Paul says when it comes to promoting ourselves, “Don’t…”

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.—Philippians 2:3 (NLT)

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves—Philippians 2:3 (NIV)

How do we stand up and fight for ourselves?  Paul says simply, don’t.  Don’t worry about that.  Tooting your own horn is awkward, so don’t bother.  Be humble.

And this isn’t the only time Paul says this.  To the Ephesians he writes,

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.—Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)

And it isn’t just Paul.

Peter wrote, “Humble yourselves…”—1 Peter 5:5 (NIV)

And James says, “Humble yourselves…”—James 4:10 (NIV)

They got this from Jesus who preached, “Blessed are the meek…”—Matthew 5:5 (NIV)

The Bible teaches that we shouldn’t be overly concerned with fighting for ourselves.  We don’t need to stand up for our rights.  We don’t have to pursue the gold tassel when we’ve been given silver.

And our response is, “What are you crazy?”  Of course I’ve got to fight for myself!

But Jesus didn’t.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.  Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.  When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.—Philippians 2:3-9 (NLT)

Jesus’ attitude was one of overwhelming humility. 

One of the most overlooked attributes of God is actually humility.  God is all-powerful and omnipresent and loving and just and humble.  The Trinity is incredibly humble.  The Father says, “This is my Son.”  The Son glorifies the Father.  The Holy Spirit points to the Father and Son.

God is humble.  Look at Jesus.  He gave up heaven, he became a lowly human.  He wasn’t born into royalty either—he was born in a manger, to a humble young couple.   He never had a lot of stuff, didn’t get an abundance of gold tassels, died on a cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and they cast lots for his few possessions.

Even his miracles were performed with humility.  Jesus’ first miracle of turning water into wine was done discreetly.  He didn’t stand up and provide an extravagant performance.  His miracles were done humbly—the lady who touched his garment was healed.   And the resurrection?  Jesus didn’t jump out of the grave shouting, “Here I come to save the day!”  He appeared humbly to over 500 people.

God works in your life and mine humbly.

Jesus didn’t fight for himself.  He didn’t push for the gold tassel.  We should be humble too.

But who will look out for us?  Who will fight for us?

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 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.

—Philippians 2:9-11 (NLT)

Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.—Ephesians 2:9-11 (TMV)

The Father fought for the Son.  The Father stood up for the Son.  We don’t have to fight for ourselves.  We don’t have to fight for our right to party.  We can humble ourselves and allow God to fight for us.

“God opposes the proud but favors the humble.”  So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.—1 Peter 5:5-6 (NLT)

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. --James 4:10 (NIV)

We get a choice: humble ourselves and let God lift us up,

or lift ourselves up and let God humble us.

We can fight for ourselves, or we can let God fight for us.  We can stand up for ourselves or we can let God stand up for us.  We can try to exalt ourselves or we can let God do it.  When we fight for ourselves it is always awkward, uncomfortable and doesn’t always work.  When we let God fight for us, He always wins.

God is better than us; let’s let him do the lifting.

That’s the crux of Christianity.  We can try to earn heaven ourselves, try to follow the rules and regulations, and be a good person, but we inevitably fail.  Or we can trust God, who sent His Son for us.  Jesus died for us, he rose for us, and he offers all we need.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 4:19 (NIV)

God will give us everything we need.  He will give us the gold tassel.

At Excel one of our values—or at least one of our aspirational values—is humility.  But even talking about it is awkward.

We have some gold tassel leaders, but our calling is more important than tassels.  We’re not building a movement; we’re about building people.  We’ve set numerical goals, but those are primarily to keep us from complacency and to keep us dependent on God.

Lee Coate wrote something that has been messing with me: “When our ambition is disconnected from our humility, a crash is inevitable. But when our ambition is birthed from God and bathed in the waters of humility that mirror His, our impact is endless.”

God tassels play a role in high school.  Let’s keep moving toward humility.

As the great and humble John Madden said, “Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.”