When we are called to Christ through the effectual work of the Holy Spirit, we no longer desire to be seen. Our belief in Christ’s work on the cross on our behalf and our profession of faith in Him is essentially saying that we want to hide behind Him. We don’t want the world and certainly not God the Father to see us for who we truly are at our core. We don’t want to be defined by the terrible things we’ve done.

On the morning of August 21, 2017, I was fortunate enough to be in Wilson, Wyoming. It’s a beautiful spot of the country regardless of the season, but this day was special.

Nearly my entire extended family had gathered to experience this moment together. The town was abuzz over what was about to happen. No, a famous musician was not coming to town. No politician was coming to make lofty promises. No tech company was hiring for high-paying jobs.

It was about to go dark in Wilson. But not because of a power outage or because it was nighttime. Wilson was about to actually be hidden from the sun’s view behind something larger and greater than the town. Some of you are picturing the scene from Independence Day where the alien spaceships block out the sun, but that’s not it either.

Wilson was about to be eclipsed by the moon. We were about to be hidden from the sun’s gaze and the excitement was at a boiling point.

The Anomaly of Humility

It’s the most notable time I can remember in my life where people were actually eager to be hidden from view. The reason this was such an outlier among my memories is that our desire as humans to be seen and recognized is everywhere and our craving for notoriety is seemingly impossible to kill. It’s so sneaky.

Of course, we would all say that humility is a good thing. I’m sure many of us desire to grow in humility—and perhaps pray for that. But do we contradict our prayers by simultaneously seeking to be recognized for our humility?

Maybe you haven’t been duped into that contradiction, but I have. Desiring to be recognized and pursuing humility are simultaneously present at times within my praise-hungry heart. I have literally had the thought and desire to be famous for being humble. How crazy is that?

So how do we practice humility? What does it look like for us to serve the Lord in humility?

Humility in Action

Over the past few years, it has become clearer to me that humility involves a perpetual desire and effort to hide behind Christ. I mean that in all things, we take tangible steps to see Christ be increased in our lives to the decrease of our own agenda and notoriety.

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