The Journal

The Gospel is Humiliating

The Gospel is Humiliating

"I always love for the opportunity to go fishing with friends. It’s wonderful to be out on the water, away from everything and everyone but the people you’ve come to be with. It’s serene, quiet, and calming. The only sounds are water flowing, birds chirping, and friends laughing. It doesn’t get much better.


However, I didn’t spend much time fishing recently until I was invited by two friends. It was funny. I hadn’t been fishing in 6 years, and wanted to seem like I knew what I was doing completely, even though I had forgotten a lot. Not much humility in that.

Then, after only catching a bunch of the smallest fish in the pond and not being able to use the more effective baits, I had to confess that I wasn’t quite the outdoorsman I tried to sell myself as.

Humility is key. The Bible tells us about how those who exalt themselves will be humbled and that those who humble themselves will be exalted. Heaven will not be filled with “Do It Yourself” people. It will not be filled with those who believe in themselves.

It will be filled with those who knew that they had nothing to offer other than what was given to them, and who cast themselves fully into the hands of a loving king. The Gospel is humiliating because it tells us that we can do nothing to save ourselves other than give up trying and trust someone else to do it for us. The Gospel is not about us. It is about the God who redeemed us. We are not the heroes of that story.

In humbly accepting this truth and throwing ourselves into the care of Jesus, we are exalted to relationship with God and adoption into His family. Those who exalt themselves as their own savior will realize what a miserable savior they are, and soon be humbled. Those who humble themselves and admit they can only ask for mercy and grace will be exalted as Children of God.

The Gospel is humiliating. The Gospel is beautiful. The Gospel is powerful.

Also, I did finally end up catching the biggest fish of the day. Beginners luck, I suppose. "

 

-The Wannabe Outdoorsman

Brandon Blevins

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