“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

In the eighteenth century there was a very heated debate between two theological heavyweights—George Whitfield and John Wesley. It was about the nature of election and salvation. I’ll save the details for another day. My point is that these were well-known leaders. People were taking sides. The emotional temperature was rising.

Someone asked Whitfield a pointed question—whether or not he would see John Wesley in heaven. He said “No.”

But then he went on to explain further: “No, he’ll be so close to the throne [of God] and me so far in the back that I won’t be able to see him.”*

What an answer! In other words, even though they had a serious disagreement, Whitfield was able to acknowledge that Wesley was still a child of God who would spend forever with his Redeemer.

But there’s more. Whitfield’s answer revealed something further about his heart. He put his opponent, John Wesley, in front of himself. Now, I’m pretty sure there isn’t priority seating in the throne room of God in heaven. But by saying Wesley would be very close to the front, and that he would be far in the back, demonstrated the principle quoted in Philippians 2:3-4 quoted earlier. Whitfield demonstrated the grace and power of humility even in the throws of heated conflict. 

Humility.

Everywhere you look these days there is conflict. There are arguments, polarizing views, and all-around nastiness. But guess what? We are still called to be humble. 

Paul wrote those words in Philippians 2 in the first century. He had endured horrible things. So did Jesus. And yet the call remains—both then and now—to exemplify the grace and truth of Christ.

Notes:

-*Jeff Medders: Humble Calvinism (The Good Book Company, 2019), 27.
-Bible quotes are from the ESV.