unfeigned humility

This weekend I finished the book "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is a pretty convicting book and opened my eyes to personal sin that I was not aware that I was committing - it is not an outward struggle, but one that I imagine many Christians deal with (or do not deal with!).

Dietrich talks a lot about how we are ALL sinners. We ALL fall short of God's glory. It is because of God's mercy and His son's death on the cross that our sins are forgiven and we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, are able to re-enter into communion with Him.

As a Christian, a forgiven individual, I often overlook the fact that by nature, I am still a sinner. On this journey, I have the opportunity to meet a wide variety of amazing individuals ranging from house wifes and pastors to homeless folk and alcoholics, but they all have one thing in common - sin. Many times I subconsiously rank individuals according to thier place in society, as I imagine most do. As I hand out food to individuals passing through the soup kitchen line, it is easy to feel a sense of pride (either consiously or unconsiously) because of "my rank in society".

Deitrich addresses this issue: "The Cross of Jesus Christ destoys all pride. If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recongnizing my sinfulness at all. He who would serve his brother in the fellowship must sink all the way down to these depths of humility. How can I possibly serve another person in unfeigned humility if I seriously regard his sinfulness as worse than my own? Would I not be putting myself above him; could I have any hope for him? Such service would be hypocritical. 'Never think that thou hast make any progress till thou look upon thyslf as inferior to all.' (Thomas a Kempis)"

In the realm of salvation, every human being is on a level playing ground! It is only by God's grace that we can gain favor in His eyes - one no more than the other.

Stephanie