Have you ever tried to define humility? It’s a pinnacle Christian virtue, and rightly so, but it seems most of us might not be able to define it with much precision. In a society that tends to focus on self-esteem, we tend to associate humility with low self-esteem and pride with high-self esteem. But there are a number of problems with this approach. The first being that the Bible universally condemns humanity for their pride. It is the disease of every human heart. But this does not match up with what we know about self-esteem. Many people today struggle with low self-esteem, with lack of confidence, and even self-loathe. So high self-esteem is not a universal problem, but the Bible claims pride is a universal problem. There must, therefore, be a distinction. Similarly, one of the most celebrated virtues of Christ is His humility. Does this mean that Jesus thought lowly of himself? That cannot be either. It seems the connection between self-esteem and biblical pride and humility is not as clear cut as we sometimes think. In Philippians 2, Paul gives what may be the best explanation of Christ-like humility in the Scriptures.  He commands the Philippian church: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (3-4). He then goes on to show Christ to be the ultimate prototype for a life of such humility because “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (6-7). 

The best way to define humility is to see what Paul associates it with in this text. First, it is contrasted with selfish ambition and conceit. These two vices are offspring of pride. The Greek word translated “selfish ambition” has to do with rivalry and therefore with a desire to win and for the other to lose. It refers to a self-interest that includes the disregard of or triumph over another. It is often used in the context of competition or division. The Greek word translated “conceit” is more literally “vainglory”. The word glory, transliterated “doxa”, indicates praise, honor, renown, or high repute. The word vain, “kenos”, indicates emptiness, worthlessness, or foolishness. When combined these terms refer to a type of recognition that serves arrogance and is ultimately futile. To pursue vainglory then, is to pursue praise and approval just for the sake of pumping up your ego. It is a sinful distortion of true glory. Both of these terms get at the essence of vicious pride. Pride is the disposition which sets others in terms of competition and rank against us. It is a self-centered point of view on life. Other people are not only your competitors, but are objects that you can use to boost your ego or objects that can threaten your ego. Pride looks for self-exaltation in the wrong places. Or it may be quick to self-deprecate because it is so focused on how it compares to others. It is obsessed with receiving approval and applause from others. So if humility is contrasted with an arrogant bend towards attention and reputation, then it makes sense that humility entails “count[ing] others more significant than yourselves.  Let[ting] each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (3-4). 

While we tend to think of humility in terms of self-esteem, as a way of thinking of ourselves, Paul associates it much more with a way of thinking of others. And therefore, humility is more about the priority of others rather than the superiority of others. Humility does not insist that we think of ourselves as inferior, though it does not demand that we are superior either. Paul does not command them to think poorly of themselves. He does not really say much about self-image at all, he just says to think more about others. This is reinforced when applied to Christ. Jesus, knowing His identity as God (a very high view of His identity!), nonetheless gives His life to the good and interest of others. Humility and greatness can go hand and hand. In fact, the greater a person is, the more impressive their humility becomes. That is why Christ’s humility will always surpass ours. Because not only does He care more about other people than we do, but He is much more worthy of His own self-love than we are. His commitment to the other is all the more praiseworthy because He is Himself so great that you might think He wouldn’t bother with us at all. Christ was equal with God, but that was not something He used to assert Himself over others. His position of superiority was not used for His agenda, rather He gave up a position of authority and became a servant. So while the Bible has plenty to say about how we ought to view ourselves, the discussion of humility versus pride is not so much about self-evaluation as it is self-absorption. Whether we love ourselves or hate ourselves, we are all so very focused on ourselves. Whether that means we are constantly in the center of the room, or if that means we hide in the corner, whether low self-esteem or high self-esteem, we all tend to see the world as centered upon us. Biblical humility calls us to consider another before considering ourselves, for that is what our Master has done.