Trophy or Tool: Pride vs. Humility

He must become greater; I must become less.  

John 3:30

In a sermon by our pastor from Jubilee Church in Seoul, South Korea. Pastor David was talking about the issue of pride vs. humility in light of the story of John the Baptist. 

In his sermon entitled Hero to Zero, Pastor David showed how John the Baptist could have taken all the accolades that people gave him for himself. He was the first prophet to come on the stage of Israel in 400 years! Think about that...for longer than America has been a nation, there had been no prophet of God sent to Israel (the last one was Malachi). The people were thirsting for a word from God and here came John the Baptist. 

His birth was miraculous..born to Elizabeth in her old age after a message was given to his father by the angel Gabriel. He had a huge following when he was preaching at the Jordan River. People were flocking to him to hear his words and be baptized. He even had his own disciples. Yet, when given the opportunity to take the accolades and the praise for himself, he did not. 

They (his disciples) came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him." To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.  

John 3:26-30

John had true humility. He saw the gifts God had given him merely as tools to be used in service to God. He did not take pride in his speaking ability or in the fact that people followed him and listened to his every word. No...he only saw these as tools to point the way to Christ. 

This idea reminded me of a blog entry I recently read from a friend of mine who is a missionary, with her husband, here in Hungary. Trudy Chun writes Confessions of a Missionary Wife and she touched on this subject in her blog entitled trophy or tool. 

"Have you ever wanted to be God’s trophy – all shiny and sparkly with the glory of heaven? The kind of thing that’s put on display, under glass for all to admire. For those who aspire to excel in the public area, be it through music, preaching, teaching or writing, the longing to be God’s trophy in some shape or form rushes through our veins with a fury. 

But I cannot find a single reference in scripture where God calls us to be his trophies. We are instead called to be “witnesses” (Acts 1:8), “disciples” (Matt 28:19), “vessels “(Romans 9:21), and “implements of righteousness “(Romans 6:13). In short, we are called to be tools."

"Tools are far less glorious things than trophies. They dwell not in showcases, but on hooks, in boxes or in drawers. They aren’t necessarily so interesting to look at. They aren’t pretty. And they can have no ambition unto themselves. They are wholly dependent, serving no purpose at all, unless they rest in the Craftsman’s hand.

Oswald Chambers writes: “If you seek great things for yourself, thinking, ‘God has called me for this and for that,’ you barricade God from using you. As long as you maintain your own personal interests and ambitions, you cannot be completely aligned or identified with God’s interests.”

That is the gist of it...do we do the things we do for ourselves or for God? Are we looking at our gifts and blessings as things to be proud of...as things that others should recognize and praise us for or, do we see those things only as tools to be used in His service? 

In my own life, pride has been a huge sin and it is still something I struggle with daily. Yet, it's a sin that I did not recognize until a few years ago. When I was young, it was pride in my grades or my accomplishments, then it was pride in the college I went to, the career I held...after that, it became pride in the fact that I was a mother of six and a homeschooler. I basked in the praises I received from people, even going so far as to volunteer the information that I had six children to people who might only see me with one or two of them. Why? Because I wanted them to recognize my hard work, my sacrifice, and to praise me for it. 

Wow! What pride on my part. I was wanting to be a trophy of God's..."all shiny and sparkly with the glory of heaven...The kind of thing that’s put on display, under glass for all to admire." I was wanting the glory, the praise, the admiration for myself. 

Praise God that He continues to show me where I need to change. I don't want to be a trophy. I don't want people to see my life and praise me. Instead, I want people to see my life and praise God. I don't want my life to point to me but to God. That's what it means to glorify Him...to take the spotlight off myself and put it on Him. 

"For in the end, a trophy is  terribly hollow, cold, and untouched, and untouching vessel. It tarnishes with time and even the safety of protective glass cannot change it. But a tool regularly experiences the warm magic of the Master Craftsman’s touch as He uses it to fashion something beautiful in the lives of others.

May we learn how to simply rest as tools in His hand that He might use us to craft His masterpieces in this world."