Christian Humility in an Age of Polarization

Imagine we were sitting down at a local coffee shop, getting to know each other for the first time. As I sip my coffee with steamed oat milk, I begin to share about my family, my wife Brittany, and our four kids. I start by talking about how much I love my wife and how we met, but before I can finish, someone overhearing our conversation gets agitated and comes over and starts to accuse me of hating my children. Confused, I reply, “How did you come to that conclusion?” They respond, “Because you kept talking about your wife and never said anything about your kids!” 

I know what you’re probably thinking right now. This is absurd. How could someone make that assumption? While this is an exaggerated example, it highlights the cultural context we find ourselves in—an age of polarization.

Polarization can be defined as “the act of dividing something, especially something that contains different people or opinions, into two completely opposing groups.”

The outcome of polarization is division. We have truly found ourselves in an age of polarization, and this does not exclude the household of God.

Polarization is taking place on the public forums of Instagram, TikTok, CNN, and Fox. You may have even found yourself engulfed in a fierce debate on a Facebook post. It’s even happening around the dinner table when families come together to celebrate holidays. What is creating this polarization? Take your pick from politics, issues of justice, questions and concerns about gender, and the list goes on and on. We’re left wondering if there is a way to overcome the disunity of polarization and experience unity amid a diversity of opinions and views. 

The good news is that the Bible has an answer for this. It requires us to reclaim an ancient virtue that was foundational to the Christian life and has been severely neglected today: the virtue of humility. 

In an age of polarization that divides, Christ-like humility has the power to unite. 

The initial response to humility may range from skepticism to flat-out rejection. In fact, this was likely how the first-century church viewed humility within a Greco-Roman cultural context.

One of the prominent Greek words we translate as “humble” (tapeinophrosynē) could also be translated as “self-abasement” or “lowliness.” In Greek, there are words that are related to each other that convey the concept of humility, and this type of thing is referred to as “word groups.” 

Markus Barth, a renowned Swiss New Testament scholar who lived during the second half of the 1900s, shared this insight about the humility word group, “The entire word group which belongs with tapeinophrosynē, according to its usage in common Greek, is used in a negative sense and means a low slavish orientation.”

The culture at the time of the first-century church was highly competitive and focused on self-exaltation (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). So anyone who had a low social status, who was weak or lowly, was considered “humble,” and it almost always had a negative connotation. 

Given this cultural climate, imagine how shocking and disruptive it was when Paul told the church in Rome, “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble [tapeinos]. Do not be wise in your own estimation” (Romans 12:16).

There had to have been some jaws on the floor. I can picture people sliding out the door of that house church thinking, These people have lost their minds. Ain’t nobody got time for dat.

This isn’t the only time Paul said something like this. It was a consistent theme throughout his letters—he taught it to the churches in Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae.

When we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast [tapeinos], comforted us by the arrival of Titus.
2 Corinthians 7:5–6

I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility [tapeinophrosynē] and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:1–3

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility [tapeinophrosynē] consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3–4

As God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility [tapeinophrosynē], gentleness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12

He will transform the body of our humble [tapeinōseōs] condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.
Philippians 3:21

Why would the apostle Paul call the church back then and today into a life of humility? Because it was humility that Jesus Himself modeled for us in the incarnation and exemplified on the cross. It was the invitation of the humble Christ that moved an ancient society polarized and disunified into unity within the family of God (Ephesians 2:18-22).

The payoff of Christ-like humility is a type of resilience that isn’t dependent on our ability but finds its power in the infinite ability of Jesus. The more we look to Christ, the more we fight against the polarizing way of the world as we become conformed to the likeness of Jesus. This is the power of humility in a polarized world.

Humility is simply a three-part movement, and the order matters. 

First, Humility is an awareness of God. Second, If we know who God is, we can know who we are. Third, if we are fully aware of God and ourselves, we will be equipped to rightly relate to others. Humility moves us away from the disunity that comes with self-absorption and into the unity that is possible only with self-awareness. When this happens, we can recognize the extremes within our culture that polarize us into divisive positions at odds with one another. With the self-awareness of humility, we can learn to find common ground. In areas where we remain in disagreement, we can still learn to honor, cherish, and respect the image of God within those we are at odds with.

For the Christian, this means humility teaches us how to be:

1. Confident in our convictions.
2. Compassionate in our communication.
3. Committed to the Kingdom of Christ above all else.

We stand against our society’s polarization by modeling our unity around Christ, even in the midst of disagreement.

We find ourselves prompted into a posture of compassion even in the midst of various disagreements. 

And above all, we are reminded that we are first and foremost citizens of the Kingdom of God. 

In a culture full of polarization leading to separation and division, reclaiming the ancient virtue of humility can lead us into unification as we remember who we are, whose we are, and how we are to live in the world as a winsome witness of Christ and His coming Kingdom.