Humility

Jennifer Benson Schuldt shared the following inspirational story about Sherpa Nawang Gombu and Jim Whittaker, the two climbers who, in 1963, shared the goal of being the first humans ever to reach Mount Everest’s 29,029-foot summit, in her Jan. 19, 2016, “Our Daily Bread” devotional.

As the two neared the mountain’s top and realized they would soon achieve their goal, both began thinking seriously about who should have the honor of reaching the summit first. Whittaker motioned for Gombu to go first. Gombu smiled and said, “You first, Big Jim.”

What happened next is a monument to both their friendship and remarkable achievement. They agreed neither would go ahead of the other. Both were remarkable mountain climbers but, more importantly, incredible people, and on May 1, 1963, the two stepped onto Mount Everest’s summit together.

Gombu and Whittaker’s cooperation reflects the lesson Jesus taught when he told a story about a man who went to a dinner and, uninvited, took an honored seat at the head table. In the parable, Jesus taught that instead of taking the most honored seat at a banquet, we should accept a less impressive position. He said, “The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left…” (Luke 14:10, NLT) Jesus’ point was that it is better to be asked to step up to a place of greater honor than it is to be asked to step down from an honor achieved through self-promotion.

I get frustrated when I see people shamelessly promoting themselves, focusing mainly on what makes them look good. This seems all too normal today, but working hard and trusting God to promote us at the right time is far more effective than tooting our own horn.

However, if we are completely honest, each of us has, at some point, fallen prey to our selfish instincts. On occasion, I know I have been guilty of promoting myself, and I suspect each of you has done something to make yourself look a little better than you deserved. Jesus was right: it is better to do our best and let others notice than to make ourselves look better than we are and get caught trying to look good.

When we fall into that trap, it reflects poorly on us and sets us up for long-term failure, even if our self-promotion seems to succeed temporarily. Most importantly, God knows the truth, and making ourselves look better than we are is never a good long-term strategy.