WONDERFUL WORDS OF LIFE RADIO SERMON May 29, 1977

HUMILITY‑‑THINKING SANELY ABOUT YOURSELF
Romans 12:3‑4
How sane are you? Have you ever had serious doubts about your sanity? Because of the popularity of books on psychiatry and psychology, it is not uncommon to run into self-diagnosed cases of insanity. However my experience is that insane people rarely ever see themselves as insane. It is more common to find the insane believing themselves to be the only sane person in the whole world. They feel themselves to be under threat from a mad, mad world.

According to the Apostle Paul, one sure sign of sanity is humility. Indeed humility is thinking sanely about yourself. "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think: but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." "To think soberly" is the word employed in the New Testament for being in your right mind. When Jesus restored the demoniac of Gadara to mental and spiritual wholeness, this is the word used to describe the result. He began to think soberly. Involved in this is seeing things as they really are, being a true realist about yourself, about your relationship to God, and about your relationship to others.

The tone of this passage suggests that each of us may be in danger of thinking insanely about ourselves. Indeed, if I understand this admonition, some of us may be doing this very thing. The word is addressed to "every man that is among you." Some have wanted to confine this important word on humility to the ministers of the church, but that "every man" seems to mean just that. This is not a danger confined just to the pulpit; for it is also common in the pew.

Do you wonder about the setting for this admonition? You should not. Humility is the number one sign of true consecration to God. If a man is characterized by pride of face, grace, or race, you can be sure that his life is not totally consecrated to God, and that he is not knowing that day by day inner renewal of mind which the Lord wants him to know. Humility should follow on the heels of such consecration and transformation.

SANE THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF GIVES A PROPER PLACE TO SELF
Two dangers confront us when we begin to think about ourselves. The Apostle directs our attention to both of them in this text. The first danger involves thinking too highly of one's self. We are warned to stop thinking too highly of ourselves. "Not to think more highly than he ought to think." To do this is to be guilty of pride. The word used by the Apostle means to have high thoughts of one's self. Interestingly, A. T. Roberson comments on this word, "Self conceit is treated here as a species of insanity." Pride involves a refusal to be realistic about who you are and about what you can do.

Pride constitutes a continuing danger in the spiritual life. It often appears right after some great deed or experience of consecration or victory for the Lord. Biblical evidence seems to indicate that pride had its beginning right among the angels of heaven. It appeared there when the angels began to give an improper place to themselves in their thinking.

However we must beware of the opposite danger. Some have felt that the proper alternative to self‑exaltation was self depreciation. So instead of being sold on themselves too much, they under‑sell themselves. Instead of being too positive about themselves, they become too negative. "Sober or sane thinking" does not demand self‑depreciation‑‑but self estimation done honestly. Scripture provides us some notable examples of men who got into difficulty through self‑depreciation. Do you recall how God became upset with Moses when he kept putting himself down? When God called him to go to Egypt at the burning bush, his immediate response was "not me" for I cannot. Instead of accepting his excuses as being valid expressions of humility, God chided him rather severely by reminding him that he knew of all his limitations.

Can you make an honest estimation of what your strength and weaknesses are? Can you honestly appraise what gifts God has placed in your life? On the one hand, are you aware of your frailty and flesh, but on the other hand are you cognizant of the gifts that God has placed in your life? If you are a thinking sanely, humble Christian, you will be constantly making a proper, sober appraisal of your life and your gifts.

SANE THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF GIVES A PROPER PLACE TO GOD
Humility always acknowledges and recognizes God to be who He is in Himself. A denial of God His proper place is a form of moral insanity. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.''

A very basic insight into humility is suggested to us by Paul in our text. "According as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." In your estimation of yourself, thinking about yourself, you must take into consideration what God has given to you. This affirms that God has divided out to each Christian a measure of faith.

"The measure of faith" gives the expositors of this text some difficulty. Some feel that it refers to faith itself. Surely whatever confidence and trust we may have in God, God gave it to us. We are not the creators of our own faith. However, in this context others feel that faith represents here all that faith receives from God, especially the spiritual gifts which are immediately taken up by the Apostle in his lesson. This seems to be the better understanding. But whatever content we give to the expression, the emphatic thing is that we are not responsible for it. A man is acting insanely if he goes forth boasting about things in his life for which he can take no personal credit.

Sane thinking, or humility, always sees God as being the source of every gift and privilege in the Christian life. Paul's first words in this verse provide us an example of what he is teaching. "For I say, through the grace given unto me." Paul speaks to them as an Apostle not because of who he is in himself, but because of the favor, the enablement God has given to him. He honestly sees and acknowledges that he is where he is because of the grace of God.

Listen to your own conversation. To whom are the credit lines given? Do you overwork the "Ps", "me's" and Mine's"? If so, then you are listening to some sure signs of spiritual insanity. Humble, sane thinking men speak much of God and His gifts and His work in their lives. They are always aware of what He has done and is doing for them.

SANE THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF GIVES A PROPER PLACE TO OTHERS
A man who puts a wrong value upon himself will inevitably place a wrong value upon his brother. Giving the proper place to others demands sane thinking about yourself. Included in this giving a proper place to others will be a recognition of your oneness with them. "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members of one another." Some needed insights are given to us in these verses about our relationship to each other. They will be a part of our sane thinking about ourselves.

A sane thinking person gratefully acknowledges the inter‑dependence that exists, A man is a fool who begins to live as though he is independent of others in the world, but this is especially true in spiritual things. All of the Christians together make up the body of Christ. This means that each individual Christian is one member among many in the one body. Just as my little finger is a significant member of my one body, so I am an individual member of the body of Christ. Just as my little finger is definitely dependent upon other members of the body, so am I significantly dependent upon the other members of the body. But on the other hand, it must be seen that even my little finger has a personal contribution to make to the other members of my one body. Even so sane spiritual thinking forces me to see that the other members of the body of Christ can be benefited by the contribution I can make to the body of Christ.

This insight has been overlooked by so many in our day. Do you see the pride that is involved in a man saying, "I do not need the church. They cannot do anything for me.'' Such a man is talking insanely. He is talking as though he constituted the whole body of Christ just by himself. But can you not also see the absurdity of a person saying, "The church does not need me. Little old me, what kind of contribution can I make to the body of Christ. No one needs me." Such thinking is a denial of the very plan and purpose of God. Such thinking ignores the fact that God has placed you into the body as a member and has given to you a significant spiritual capacity to minister to the other members of the body. We will explore the nature of these spiritual gifts next time.

The duty placed upon us is that of humble, sane thinking about ourselves. This involves placing ourselves in the right place, God in the right place, and others in the right place. Such humility is the first sign of true consecration of life to God. Have you been made to see pride in your life? Your response then should be that of sincere repentance ‑‑‑ there is no other response that we can make to sin. Have you seen self depreciation in your attitude and disposition‑‑this too should be confessed to God as sin. It, too, is a denial of God and His power and purpose. Humility is the true disposition that God desires in your life.