We are a fractured people. And by that, I mean both as Americans and as the church. All you need to do is spend a few minutes on Twitter to see how true this is. Politics divide us. Secondary theological issues divide us. We can’t even agree on how to love and care for a lost and hurting world. To me, it all comes down to one thing: our need of humility.
Puffed Up with Pride
We are a proud people—an arrogant people. And please don’t miss I have included myself in this; I am prone to sinful pride just like everyone else. Sin drives this, of course, but I can’t help but think that our culture fuels the fire as well. Social media is perhaps the most pervasive way. Think about it. Think about the impact social media has had on how we think and act. Now, because of social media, everyone believes they have something to say and a right to be heard. Add to that how social media feeds the dark craving of our souls for affirmation and acceptance in the form of “likes” and “follows” and it is no wonder the tone of our conversations is amping up. We have laid civility on the altar of boldness; humility on the altar of notoriety. And so, we think that we have a corner on the truth—that we are wiser and even godlier than others. So we talk to rather than talk with. We stand in a posture of instructing rather than sit in one of learning. We seek to be champions of our political party or theological camp rather than seek to be servants of our King. Borrowing from the Spirit-inspired words of James, “My brothers and sisters, these things should not be be this way.” (Jms. 3:10)Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Of course, pride is not new for our generation. It was the root of sin in Eden and remained prevalent from that moment forward on the pages of Scripture. This week, we see God bring Jacob to a critical crossroads in his life because of this sin. To understand what takes place in Genesis 32, we have to take a step back and consider how pride marked Jacob’s life to this point. For his entire life, Jacob’s greatest concern was himself. That is why he traded his brother a bowl of stew for the family birthright. That is why he tricked his father for the family blessing. That is why he played favorites with Rachel and Leah. That is why he took advantage of Laban. Jacob was all about himself, and it seems he prided himself in being able to come out ahead in whatever situation he encountered. But now, on the eve of standing before his estranged brother, Esau, he is at the end of his rope. Esau outnumbers him and the last Jacob heard, his brother wanted him dead. Oh, he hasn’t given up. Jacob is still trying to play the angles and work out a plan. That is why he divided his family as he did. But Jacob’s greatest cause of pride—his street smarts—are also telling him this one is not going to go in his favor.The Beauty of Brokenness
But God. I love those two words when they appear together in Scripture. They generally mean something beautiful is going to follow, such as in Ephesians 2:4. No, you won’t read those words here in Genesis 32, but the narrative carries their essence. The situation was indeed dire, but God showed up. And what followed was beautiful. In a rather mysterious encounter, Jacob finds himself wrestling with a man all night long. We aren’t told how this began—although I would love to know—nor are we told definitively who this man was—although it seems to be God incarnate. We aren’t told because that is not the point. The Bible doesn’t tell us what we want to know, but rather what we need to know. We don’t need to know how this match began, but how it ended. And we don’t need to know the identity of Jacob’s opponent, but rather how this event changed Jacob’s identity. The key moment came when the man and Jacob were locked in a stalemate (which by the way, I would argue does not reveal Jacob’s strength, but rather God’s mercy). The man had injured Jacob’s hip, yet he clung to his opponent. And then it happened: the man asked Jacob what his name was. Why was that the critical moment? Because Jacob had been asked that before, hadn’t he? Go back to Genesis 27 and see how Isaac asked this very question of Jacob, not once, not twice, but three times (v. 18, 21, and 24). And what had Jacob done? He had lied each time. But not this time. In this moment, God seems to be forcing Jacob to confront the reality of his sin—how he had lived for himself all this time. How he had swindled and deceived others at every turn. And now, look where that had led him. Jacob was physically broken, but it seems he was spiritually broken in this moment as well. Jacob couldn’t keep going like he was. Had he faced Esau as the same man who ran from him decades before, it would not have gone well. But God did not let that happen. He intervened and changed Jacob, and changed his name to make what had happened abundantly clear. Oh, we don’t see a perfect Jacob after this. He still plays favorites with his sons, for example, and we know where that led. But what we do see is Jacob slowly, gradually, painfully changing from this day forward. The limp attested to his physical brokenness, his new name his spiritual brokenness—a brokenness which was nothing but a blessing.Humility and the Gospel
Let’s wrap this up and bring it back around to what we are experiencing today. Jacob learned what we need to learn. That pride is in opposition to the gospel and that humility is an essential element of the gospel. There is no room at all for pride in the heart, mind, words, and conduct of gospel-saturated and gospel-changed people. The cross cries out for the humble to come to it on their knees, and when they do, the posture remains unchanged. The gospel is about not what we can do or have done, but what Christ has done. The gospel is not about our goodness, our worth, our cleverness—it is about our depravity and Christ’s goodness and worth and wisdom that He has graciously poured out on us. Humility is necessary for our salvation as we realize we can do nothing about our sin, and that same humility is necessary as we live from that salvation. I know this was a longer post, but I’d encourage you to take a few more minutes and read this great article from Lifeway Voices by D.A. Horton on this subject. I trust you will find it worth your time.Do you know why many of us are not yet truly blessed? We have not yet been truly broken. Men throw broken things away, but God never uses anything until he first breaks it. You’ll never show me anybody who has been or will be mightily used of God who has not been broken. There is no blessedness without brokenness.”—Adrian Rogers (1931-2005) [1]Preschool Tip: As you teach your preschoolers this week, be sure to help them understand that God changes us through the power of the gospel. Many of your little ones will be used to hearing about how they need to behave—and of course there is a place for that—but we need to help them understand that we cannot behave enough to receive God’s love and acceptance. The gospel tells us the opposite: that God saves us and changes us to live out our new identity in Christ. That’s a heady subject for sure, but it is one we want to begin planting in the minds and hearts of our preschoolers now. Kids Tip: This week you have the opportunity to lovingly, yet boldly, confront the pride in your kids. Help your kids consider where they struggle with the sin of pride. Perhaps it is on the sports field. Perhaps in the classroom. Perhaps playing video games. Or perhaps it is as they look at kids with different amounts of melanin in their skin or who dress differently. God loved Jacob, so He confronted him on his sin of pride, and we ought to do the same for our kids too—because we love them as well. [1] Adrian Rogers, “The Blessing of Brokenness,” LightSource, March 8, 2018, https://www.lightsource.com/ministry/love-worth-finding/articles/the-blessing-of-brokenness-12875.html.