Title: Vainglory | Humility

Scripture: Luke 1:26-56

Speaker: Bill Gorman, BillG@ChristCommunityKC.org

Vainglory is being “…overly attached to how we appear to others and are acknowledged and approved by them.”

“The proud person wants to be the director of the best show ever produced… But the glory seeker will happily sink to new depths of shallow sensationalism as long as ratings will be high.”

“It is ironic that the art of impressing others and gaining applause involves carefully hiding ourselves just as much as it involves showing ourselves off… Vainglory is a cheap substitute for true fulfillment of the human desire to be profoundly known by another person — to be known by name, for who one truly is — and to be loved just that way.”

Whose applause are you living for?

Humility: Displaying the glory of another

“[They] radiate God’s beauty and goodness in the world, drawing others to that glory, of glory that transcends the person and his or her act. When others witness these acts, their attention is elevated above the one acting and is ushered momentarily into the cathedral of God’s presence.”

Whose glory are you seeking to display?

“Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is especially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, “By jove! I’m being humble”, and almost immediately pride—pride at his own humility—will appear. If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt—and so on, through as many stages as you please.”

In the discipline of secrecy: “We abstain from causing our good deeds and qualities to be known… to help us lose or tame the hunger for fame, justification, or just the attention of others…”

“One of the greatest fallacies of our faith, and actually one of greatest acts of unbelief, is the thought that our spiritual acts and virtues need to be advertised to be known…. Secrecy rightly practiced enables us to place our public relations department entirely in the hands of God...We allow him to decide when our deeds will be known and when our light will be noticed. Secrecy at its best teaches love and humility before God and others.”

Silence

Solitude

Self-Deprecation

“Social media instead of promoting the value of authenticity, it encourages performance. Instead of teaching the rewards of vulnerability, it suggests that you put on your best face. And instead of learning how to listen, you learn what goes into an effective broadcast.”

“Without an audience, you don’t have to work at getting attention from anyone. No performance is needed. No one is watching, so you can just “be yourself.” If all you have become as a performer – an actor anticipating reacting to what your audience demands — the emptiness of the self will quickly be exposed [in solitude].”

The vainglorious “…need a secure sense that they are already fully known and unconditionally loved; they need to know that such knowledge and love are a gift; most importantly they need to trust that they have already been given that gift.”— Rebecca DeYoung, Vainglory: The Forgotten Vice

Conversation Starters – Brookside Campus

Date: May 14, 2017

Text: Luke 1:46-55

Title: Vainglory | Humility

OPENING UP: Bill defined vainglory as living for applause from the wrong audience, and he asked a key question: whose applause are you living for? How would you answer that?

REFLECTION: Bill said, “We project a particular image to the world about who we are because we’re afraid of what people think if they knew who we really were.” Do you identify with this? What are some of the situations in which you tend to hide your true self or some of the things you tend to hide about yourself?

SCRIPTURE: Read Luke 1:46-55. How would you characterize humility based on this text? What characteristics of humility do you particularly wish to grow in and experience more?

REACHING OUT: How might the virtue of humility transform how we engage our community as individuals and as a church?

DEVELOPING HABITS: The disciplines of silence, solitude, and self-deprecation all help us escape from vainglory and grow in humility. Which of these disciplines might you try out this week? What questions do you have about that discipline? And what do you need to do to make sure you’ll be able to practice it?

PRAYER: Pray for each other to be able to live before an audience of One, that is, to live knowing God’s love and acceptance instead of depending on the applause of others. In what situations do you need this prayer most? You can share, then pray for each other specifically.