You may consider yourself pretty smart. If others would ask your advice, the world would be a better place. Politics, spiritual matters, relationships, academics, employment—you could really clue people in. Hmmm. Maybe you’re right and maybe not.
Truth: God has not assigned you the mission of educating everyone you know. Those in positions of leadership will someday answer for how they’ve helped guide those for whom they’re responsible, but at this point in your life you don’t have many situations that require you to be responsible for others. You may think you’re smarter than most and find yourself telling others what to do in jobs, dating, organization, schedules, parents, church, classes, sports, or entertainment. You may feel that everyone around you would benefit from all your insight, but a very important quality of a growing, God-glorifying Christian is teachability.
Luke 9 and Mark 9 relate the disciples’ argument about their individual greatness, so we know this was a touchy subject for them. In Matthew 18:1, they ask Jesus, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus begins his response by saying, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven”(Matthew 18:3). A primary requirement for joining God’s kingdom is recognition of our own unworthiness. If we count on our own value to gain us a place in heaven, we won’t make it there. See “THE FIRST STEP” page on this blog for an expanded discussion.
But beyond explaining this requirement for entrance to the kingdom of heaven, Jesus returns to the disciples’ question. He does not comment on their intelligence or training or skills or parents or natural abilities or appearance or endured trials but instead clarifies that greatness in the kingdom will be based on humility: “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”(Matthew 18:4). Think about this: a child knows that he doesn’t know everything, but he’s curious and wants to learn; a child generally trusts authority; a child usually doesn’t put on airs or act fake; a child doesn’t presume to be the teacher. These are great qualities. At this point in your life, even in those areas where others have indicated that you’re gifted, there is much you don’t know. Consider how ready you are to admit this, how eager you are to learn, how genuinely you present yourself, and how respectful you are to authority and teachers. Do you recognize that others have experience and training which you don’t have and that you could learn from them? Do you accept that God has allowed people to be in positions of instruction and authority over you? Do you welcome learning situations as opportunities to grow, even if they could initially reveal your ignorance or lack of ability?
Being teachable doesn’t mean we believe everything we’re told—that’s being gullible, and we shouldn’t be gullible in a deceitful and sinful world. Seeing ourselves realistically, however, as people who don’t know everything about God and his Word and being excited to listen and study—this indicates that we’re humbling ourselves as children. In fact, if we recognize our ignorance, God says we’re great.