James Meehan - Why Confidence Without Humility Is A Recipe For Disaster
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Well, show of hands, how many of you have ever been disappointed or hurt by somebody that was in a position of leadership or authority? Show of hands. Okay, so like most of us. Most of us have experienced that at some point or another. Maybe for you, that was actually a parent and they told you that they would always love you and be with you. Until one day, they left. And it’s been years since you last heard from them.
Maybe for you, the person that you’ve been disappointed or hurt by was actually a pastor that was really big about preaching about what it looks like to follow Jesus and how to live with integrity. And then one day, you discovered the heartbreaking news that they had been unfaithful to their spouse. Maybe for you, the person that you have been disappointed in is an elected official, it’s a politician who talks all about being for the good of the people, but it seems like the only person they really care about is themself. Most of us, if not all of us, have experienced some level of disappointment because of the things that people in positions of authority say and do. Now, I wanna remind you that every person in a position of authority is a person. That means that they are not perfect.
Now, I also wanna be clear that being human is not an excuse for wrongdoing. Like all of us are responsible for our actions, all of us need to be held accountable. But it is just really helpful to remember that every leader is infected with the same disease that we are. It is this disease of selfishness that the Bible calls sin. And what sin does is it tempts us to use our power, use our authority to sacrifice others to serve ourselves. And this has led many, many young people and probably many of you to be really, really skeptical of authority. Because you’ve been hurt or disappointed too many times to not be cautious. And here’s the thing, I’m not even saying you’re wrong for being a little bit of a healthy skeptic. As a matter of fact, you may not know this, but Jesus actually at one point in scripture was skeptical of people.
In John 2:24–25, we were told that, «Jesus would not entrust himself to them because he knew all people. He didn’t need any testimony about mankind because he knew what was in each person». What does that mean? Jesus didn’t trust those people because he knows that every single human being is a sinner and we have immense potential to do terrible things. And yet, the good news of the gospel is that even Jesus who knew everything about how terrible we could be, was willing to lay down his life, to sacrifice himself, not to serve himself, but to save us. This is why Jesus is a leader worth following. This is why Jesus is a savior worth trusting. Because unlike every other ruler throughout human history, there was never a moment where Jesus decided to sacrifice his people to serve himself. Instead, over and over again, he chose to sacrifice himself to serve others.
And so what we’re gonna do in this week’s message is look at two different instances from the life of Jesus where he wielded his authority as the rightful king of heaven and earth with tremendous humility, always looking out for the good of others. The first instance shows up in John 13. This is a portion of the Bible where Jesus is meeting with his disciples for what is known as the Last Supper. It is the final meal that he has with his followers before being arrested and then eventually going to the cross and laying down his life. We’re gonna start in John 13:3, we’re gonna draw some lines as we do. We are told that Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power.
So Jesus knew that God had placed everything under his power. This means that Jesus has authority over everything and that he had come from God and he was returning to God. So what does he do knowing that he has all power under him? He gets up from the meal, he takes off his outer clothing and he wraps a towel around his waist. Jesus, the son of God, who had all authority in heaven and on earth, gets up, takes on the position of a servant. He wraps a towel around his waist, and then he proceeds to wash the dirty dusty feet of his 12 disciples, knowing that one of them would in just a few hours, betray him. That another one would deny him and that the rest of those jokers would abandon him. But he does it anyway. Because Jesus is a king who always uses his power to serve others.
If we continue reading in John 13, we go a little bit further and it says that, «When Jesus had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. And he asked them a really important question. 'Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me teacher and Lord, ' both positions of authority. And Jesus says, 'Rightly so because that’s what I am.'» Jesus is not denying that he’s in a position of authority, but he’s redefining what authority in the kingdom of God is meant to look like. He says, «Now that I, your Lord and your teacher have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you».
A little bit further down in this chapter, Jesus will say that the greatest thing that we can do as his followers is to love one another, the same way that he has loved us. That when we love others the way that he has loved us, humbly and sacrificially, then the world will know that we belong to him. The most powerful evangelistic tool that we have is loving others the way that Jesus has loved us. Using our authority to serve others in humility, because that is exactly how Jesus used his authority. He says, «Very truly, I tell you that no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them».
Now that you know them, you will be blessed if you do them. This is really important because the thing that we have to understand when it comes to following Jesus is that grace is never earned, but some blessings are. Grace is never earned. It is the undeserved kindness of God, but some blessings are rewards given to us when we live a life of obedience. The blessing of being used by God in a significant way is only received if we actually allow God to use us in a significant way. Let me explain it like this. I have a son named Jace. He’s four years old. And because he’s my son, I love him no matter what. That means, no matter what, there is a roof over his head and there is food on the table. He doesn’t have to work for or earn any of those things. But if my son wants a treat, if he wants popsicles or cookies, if he wants extra showtime, he wants to watch a couple more episodes of «Paw Patrol,» he has to earn those privileges.
Like if you want a popsicle, bro, you better eat the protein. Like you have to eat your chicken before you get cookies. If you wanna watch extra shows, you better take all of your toys that are in the living room, pick them up and then put them back in your room because some blessings are earned. But grace never is. He never has to work for my love. But sometimes, because I love him, he has to put in a little bit of work for an extra reward. And God often will do the same thing for us. God, because he loves us, will always give us what we need. He will always give us salvation, grace, forgiveness in Jesus Christ if we come to him. But because he loves us, sometimes, he will make us work for the things that we want. Because God understands that sometimes putting in the work actually helps us grow our character, that we actually become more mature, more disciplined people, and sometimes, the reward that we receive is all the richer because we had to work for it.
Grace is never earned, but some blessings are. And one of the blessings that we experience when we don’t just believe in the stuff that Jesus said, but we actually do the stuff that Jesus did, is the blessing of becoming more like Jesus. Who is Jesus? Jesus is a king who chooses to sacrifice himself to serve others. And as his followers, we have been called to do the same. He’s a king unlike any other. He is the lamb who was slain and the lion who rose. And because of that, he’s always worth following.
Now, I wanna fast forward a little bit in John’s gospel. It’s a few chapters later, and this takes place just a couple of hours later where we see once again, the coming together of Jesus authority and humility in a really, really powerful way. So in John 18:2, we are back with Judas. This is the dude who betrays him. And we know that because John tells us. Now, Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the garden after the meal. Jesus and his followers went on a walk and they arrived in a place called the Garden of Gethsemane. And Judas, the traitor, who had followed Jesus for three years, brings a whole bunch of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees.
These are the religious leaders that have had some issues with Jesus because they did not agree with the stuff that Jesus said about God but even more so what Jesus said about himself. Because Jesus just claim to be a Bible teacher. He claimed to be one with God. And that created all sorts of issues. So Judas shows up with some soldiers and religious leaders, and they’re carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. And Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, he knew where this was going the entire time. None of this caught him by surprise, and yet he went along with it, humbly. Jesus asked the question, «Who is it that you want»? And they replied, «Jesus of Nazareth,» and Jesus said, «I am». And Judas the traitor was standing there with him.
Now, when Jesus said, «I am». They drew back and fell to the ground. So the people show up. Jesus says, «Who do you want»? Well, Jesus, we want you. And Jesus looks at them and says, «I am». Now, you may not know this, but I am is the name that God used to reveal himself in the Old Testament. And so when Jesus says the words «I am,» he’s not just saying, «I am the one you are searching for». He’s saying, «I am God in the flesh, the creator of the universe. You are about to arrest the person that you say you are here to serve. I am». He announces his identity and he demonstrates his authority because just at the sound of his words, all of the people draw back and they fall to the ground. And then they arrested Jesus.
Jesus made it crystal clear that he was in complete control of the situation, that he was not threatened by their torches or their weapons, because simply with his words, he put them down. And yet, even though he had the authority to do that, in humility, he allowed himself to be arrested. Why? Because Jesus is a king who wield his authority with humility. He knew that all he needed to do was say another word and he could get out of the situation entirely. But he went along with these people because he knew that it would lead him to the cross where he would lay down his life so that we could find freedom and forgiveness in his name. This is the kind of king that Jesus is. He is one who does not sacrifice others to serve himself, but sacrifices himself to save us.
So now what does that look like for us? Like how do we follow a king like that? How do we live up to the standard he has set? How do we follow his example? Pretty simply, what I want you to do is to follow Jesus and serve people with both confidence and humility. With confidence and humility. Now, those two words are really important and somewhat loaded because very few of us actually understand them rightly. And if we’re going to follow Jesus faithfully, we need to know what these things are. So confidence. This is the thing that every Disney movie for the last 30 years has been preaching. It is believe in yourself, trust that you’ve got what it takes, that you are enough. Or at least that’s what confidence is when you separate it from humility.
And what a lot of people think humility means is it’s almost like viewing yourself as less than it. It’s almost like doing whatever you can to not draw any attention to yourself. And so it seems like confidence and humility are on opposite ends of the spectrum, but there is a problem. When you separate confidence from humility, you lose out on both. And what you end up with looks a little bit more like this, where instead of confidence, you actually have arrogance because it’s all about you and how awesome you are. And, and instead of genuine humility, what you end up with is insecurity because you are obsessed with your inadequacies and you feel like you are awful.
Both insecurity and arrogance are expressions of pride. They’re just different flavors. Arrogance says, «I’m awesome». Insecurity says, «I’m awful». Either way, it is still all about me. But real confidence is not belief or trust in yourself. It’s faith in God. And real humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it is thinking more of others putting their needs before your own. So if we wanna faithfully follow Jesus and represent him well to the rest of the world, we have to learn to serve people and follow him with confidence and humility because those two things have to come together.
So what we’re gonna start with is building confidence by trusting Jesus' authority more than your insecurity. Because your identity, your value, your worth is not defined by your insecurity. It is based on Jesus' authority. It means trusting who he says you are more than trusting your own self-limiting beliefs. Trusting in Jesus authority looks like actually doing the stuff he’s called you to do, even if you don’t think you’re capable of it, because you trust that his power is made perfect in your weakness, that with him, you can do infinitely more than you could ever do on your own. And that by the power of the Holy Spirit, the same spirit that raised him from the dead, you can do what he has asked you to do.
So when you start to feel that insecurity creeping up, what I want you to do is to take those negative thoughts captive, make them obedient to Christ. That means every time that negative thought starts spinning around in your head, you identify what part of that thought is true because there might be a part of it that is actually true. And then you replace the part of that thought is false with truth that is based on God’s word. Now, this is really important because so many of our insecurities are based on things that are actually true, but we let them convince us to believe the lie that is untrue. And I need to make sure this is abundantly clear. You do not become more confident by lying to yourself about how awesome you are.
Like if you step onto the field of the Super Bowl and the quarterback of the other team is Tom Brady, and you are the quarterback of your team, I don’t care how many positive affirmation statements you declare, you will not be confident. Why? Because he’s better than you. And he’s been there before. Guess what? Jesus is better than him. And he has been where no man has gone before, to the gates of hell and back. It is him that we place our confidence in. The next thing that I want you to do is to develop humility by serving someone you think is beneath you. Develop humility by serving someone you think is beneath you. If you want to grow in humility, one of the best things that you can do is something that you feel is humiliating. And when you do, the outcome will be increased humility.
This is why for some strange reason, I don’t remember how many years ago it was, but I felt this clear direction from God. That if I ever see trash in a urinal, no matter how many people have peed all over it, that I’m to reach my hand and grab the trash out and throw it away. Why? Because I feel like bathroom cleaning people are beneath me. Because I have arrogance that needs to be dealt with. And so I try the best I can to serve them by doing something that honestly feels terrible. Not fun. I don’t it. But I imagine if I was in their situation and there was a part of my job that I liked the least, that I would be so grateful if somebody else did it, it would be that part of the job.
And so I grow in humility by doing something that feels beneath me. What is it that feels beneath you? What do you need to do? Who do you need to serve? When we get to our small groups just a little bit, we’ve got two statements that are gonna be on your message guide with some blanks that I want you to fill in. The first one says this, to develop humility, I will do blank. That’s what you’ll do to serve blank, whoever it is. And then to build my confidence, I will replace blank, the negative thought with blank, the truth from scripture.
I want you to take those statements. I want you to fill in the blanks to help you get as specific and practical as you can so that you can become someone who follows Jesus and serves people with confidence and humility. Because we serve a king who always chose to sacrifice himself to serve others. We serve a king who always wield his authority with humility. And the more we do the stuff that he did, the more that we trust the things that he said, the more we become like him and the more the world will see him in us. So let us choose to receive the grace that is freely given and to respond with obedience so that we can experience the full reward that comes from life with Jesus.
Heavenly Father, we come before you right now, so grateful that you love us no matter what, that there is nothing we can do to make you love us anymore or any less. Let us rest in the truth of your grace. And help us do the work to serve you and to serve others well. To actually follow in the footsteps of our king Jesus, doing the best that we can to become people who love with confidence and humility. We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen and amen.