Maybe There is a Starting Point

When writing, it would be a good thing if the writer had some of the virtue being written about, but at the outset, let me admit that the Biblical value of true humility eludes me...yet it is vital toward achieving civility in our relationships. However, it remains an aspiration to be pursued, not a skill that has been mastered.

When reading the account of the history of Israel & Judah, I'm taken by the number of references to the king and people either "humbling themselves before God"...or...refusing to "humble themselves before God". To humble ourselves is to place ourselves in the position of enjoying the love, grace, and forgiveness of God. It is also to enjoy the relaxed posture of understanding that there can only be one God...and I am not him! To refuse to humble ourselves is to assume a false "godlike" posture of competing with the only true and living God, which can only alienate us from His great love and grace (see Proverbs 6:16-19), as well as from other people.

So what does this have to do with moving toward a more civil discourse, especially with those with whom we may have disagreements? True humility, while not being an absence of conviction, philosophy, opinion, or disagreement, takes the posture that maybe, just maybe I and those of my own particular political/philosophical party might just be incorrect (at least once in a while) and that (gasp!) those of another opposing political/philosophical party might just have truth that we would do well to listen to and ponder. Humbling ourselves before God and others will help deliver us from dismissing and demonizing those with voices dissonant from ours. Humility will enable us to speak truth with a graciousness that will make that truth attractive to those who receive it.

It's a good place to begin.