I received a letter from a couple who were going to the mission field for the first time. It listed their financial requirements: so much for support, so much for medical expenses, so much for insurance, pension, the cost of operating an automobile, travel to and from the field, overhead for the home office, and so on. I was not disturbed by the letter. I was actually quite sympathetic. I knew that the requests were reasonable. Still I could not help contrasting their letter with the Lord’s commands to His disciples when they set out on their first missionary journey.
So I say again: If we are to learn humility (which we must do, if we are walking in the path marked out for us by Christ), we must begin with God and see everything in relation to Him, rather than in relation to ourselves. That is, we must acknowledge and embrace the fact that this is a God-centered, and not a man-centered, universe.
4. The burden of self-struggle. A fourth burden we are delivered from if we walk in humility is struggle, struggle somehow to “make it” or “gain recognition” in this world. You will understand, I am sure, that I am not encouraging a lazy spirit or an indifferent attitude in Christ’s service. In His service there is always need for hard work, diligence, willingness to suffer, and great perseverance. But that is a different thing from that kind of struggle for self-advancement that flows from pride.
2. The burden of pretense. The second burden Tozer writes about is the burden of pretense—of pretending to be something we are not and of hiding what we truly are. The man who is moderately successful in business tries to look wildly successful. He is ashamed to be thought of only as a moderate achiever. A person of limited education pretends to be more highly educated than he is and fears to meet a thoroughly educated man. Even if he is well educated, he fears to meet a person who is better educated or to be in a position where the unfavorable comparison shows. A cultured person fears to be with those who are even more cultured. Tozer says, “Let no one smile this off. These burdens are real, and little by little they kill the victims of this evil and unnatural way of life.”2
A third incident came before the triumphal entry. On this occasion the mother of James and John came to Jesus asking if her sons could sit on the right and left sides of Jesus when He came in His kingdom. The other disciples heard about it and got angry with James and John. Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:25-28; cf. Mark 10:42-45).
