But who among you will be willing will be your servant.Matthew 20:26
A leader’s generous vision is serving others – family, customers, colleagues, the country, and humanity. This noble ambition to do is one of the fruits of the wonderful the virtue of humility. Since humility is often misunderstood, in the next section, we will try to clarify the nature of this virtue. “Humility,” says the German philosopher Josef Pieper, “is not primarily an attitude that concerns man’s relationship to man: it is man’s attitude before the face of God. Humility is a religious virtue. It encourages man to acknowledge his condition, the condition of man as a God-created being. The idea that God is everything and man is nothing does not disturb the humble man. On the contrary, he is uplifted by the idea that God has chosen to call him into being.
The ancient Greeks highly esteemed the virtue of generosity. Still, they failed to grasp the true meaning of humility because they needed the concept of creatio ex nihilo – creation out of nothing. The mystery of creatio ex nihilo contributes to the Judeo-Christian tradition, although it can also be derived by natural reason. Humility enables man to relate to God; it is the habit of living in truth – the truth of one’s metaphysical disposition and virtues and weaknesses. Humility is an attitude that enables one to relate to other people. Through humility, leaders gain spontaneous respect for what is divine in every creature. This reverence encourages service to others. Leaders serve God present in people. If they act consistently, they develop a habit of service.
The opposite of humility is pride, the fruit of which is not life in truth, but a life of error; its fruit is not service but selfishness. I lose touch with reality if I fail to understand the fundamental truths about myself and others. Pride turns our inferiority into fiction, makes us blind to the beauty of service to others. People who succumb to this existential blindness need what the Greeks called metanoia – a true conversion of the heart. Metanoia (literally “beyond the mind”) pushes us beyond our ordinary thoughts and feelings, leading to a complete change of perspective, a new formulation of life’s goals, and a modification of life itself. Modern psychology calls this a “paradigm shift” or “breakthrough”. Neither of these terms, however, do not do justice to the magnitude of the transformation that is required to overcome the existential alienation caused by pride.
Humility and generosity
Generosity (striving of the spirit for great things) and humility (humility before God and what is Godly in others) go hand in hand
hand in hand and cannot be separated. Jesus Christ did not need to strive for greatness during his ministry on earth, as we perceive it from our human perspective. In Him, the but God met with man so that man could achieve lasting happiness. Nor did he need to humble himself before God and what is God in other people, but as it turned out, that was part of the fulfilment of his extraordinary mission for humanity: he took on the nature of a servant who died on the cross and offered his body to humanity as spiritual food. Unfortunately, humility has, in the meantime, taken on pejorative connotations. The humble person is often considered to be without ambition and nobility, undeserving of respect. Many Christians, by their behavior, promote a false understanding of humility. Some are too prone to give in to “fate” or the judgment of the wicked; they do not realize that deep respect for what is Godly in others is not the same as servility to authority. Some need more courage to strive for excellence in their personal and professional lives. They ignore Jesus’ call to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
They pretend it is better to sin.
