"Humility is not a popular human trait in the modern world. It’s not touted in the talk shows or celebrated in valedictory speeches or commended in diversity seminars or listed with corporate core values. And if you go to the massive self-help section of your sprawling mall bookstore, you won’t find many titles celebrating humility. The basic reason for this is not hard to find: humility can only survive in the presence of God. When God goes, humility goes. In fact you might say that humility follows God like a shadow. We can expect to find humility applauded in our society about as often as we find God applauded. In my local newspaper recently a guest editorial captured the atmosphere of our time that asphyxiates humility: There are some who naively cling to the nostalgic memory of God. The average churchgoer takes a few hours out of the week to experience the sacred… But the rest of the time, he is immersed in a society that no longer acknowledges God as an omniscient and omnipotent force to be loved and worshiped… Today we are too sophisticated for God. We can stand on our own; we are prepared and ready to choose and define our own existence.1 In this atmosphere humility cannot survive. It disappears with God. When God is neglected, the runner-up god takes his place, namely man. And that, by definition, is the opposite of humility, namely, the haughty spirit called pride. So the atmosphere we breathe is hostile to humility."


Piper, John (2009-10-21). Future Grace (Kindle Locations 1337-1350). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

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