Fred Smith was a longtime member of the board of Christianity Today International and a contributing editor to Leadership journal. He died August 17, 2007, just days before his 92nd birthday. His writing, characterized by clarity and practicality, appeared in numerous articles and downloads on BuildingChurchLeaders.com. Below is a reflection that Smith penned in 1984.
So often in our Christian life we misinterpret humility. I have had a growing appreciation of objective evaluation since doing about 40 television shows with professional athletes who have a quiet evaluation of their own superiority. Listen on Sunday afternoon to the golfer who wins the tournament—he neither berates himself nor runs around slapping himself on the back. He simply admits he was hitting his putts firmly, getting his irons up to the pin, and keeping his drive in play. The church needs to develop this type of objective humility.
The best definition of humility I’ve ever heard is this: “Humility is not denying the power you have but admitting that the power comes through you and not from you.” If you deny the power you’ve been given, you lie. If you have a fine voice, to depreciate it is to show a lack of appreciation for it. If you’ve been given a talent for making money (and I believe it is a talent), then use it and be the trustee of it. If your talent is administration, then help things to happen. I don’t believe that God is giving any talent for irresponsibility, and that is what we are showing when we fail to recognize, appreciate, and use the talent that we have been given.
Ethel Waters said to a nervous friend of ours on the platform of our church, “Don’t worry, honey. God don’t make no flops.” This is the spirit of assurance the church needs to recapture.
