Looking Out and Up: A Call to Humble Work

I love the joke I heard as a child about the boy who received a medal for being humble, then had it taken away the next day because he pinned the medal on his jacket.

Growing up, I knew that humility was a goal, but it was a tricky one. How do you seek it and still remain humble?

As an adult, I have come to a better realization of the call of humility. The irony of the joke I just shared is that one could argue that the boy should NOT have had the medal taken away. The adults may have been confused between the words modesty and humility. What the boy may have lacked in wearing the medal was modesty, NOT humility.

Let's explore this further.

I recently read Healthy Calling: From Toxic Burnout to Sustainable Work by Ariana Molloy, which reminded me of the important difference between these two words.

Modesty is focused on avoiding attention, even to the point of belittling our accomplishments. It can appear to be a lack of confidence or be phrased as "thinking less of yourself."  It can get caught up in being consumed with one's faults and failures.  

The modest person looks down, not seeking attention.  

But humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less (C.S. Lewis). Molloy points out that an identity of humility is not looking to please people, but to please God.  The humble person is not blind to their strengths; they are looking to see how their strengths can help others.  They are self-aware without being self-consumed.  

The humble person looks out and up, seeking to connect with God and others. The humble person sees that they and others are made in God's image.  

Therefore, humility is not a personal virtue but a relational one.  A humble person prioritizes the needs of a group or relationship rather than focusing on self.  

Molloy argues that gratitude is the foundation of humility. Colossians 3:15 says that we are to recognize that we are members of one body and be thankful.  

Healthy humility involves three things.  

1. It is knowing your strengths and weaknesses.  
2. It means being teachable, embracing an openness to learning.
3. It means knowing how to step away, delegate, take a break, and remove yourself from work, trusting that it will be fine without you for a short time.  This involves a vulnerability of resting and reflecting, acting on the strong belief that EVERYONE needs refueling.

Another way to think of the three essentials of humility is know, learn, and rest.  

So what does this have to do with the call to work?  

When we work, we do it with humility, knowing that we have something to offer that is needed.  We work hard, and we do it with excellence, looking up to God as our role model for working, and to others for contributing to their flourishing.  We are aware of our strengths but it is not for us, but rather for others.  We are aware of our weaknesses and seek to partner with others with different strengths, remaining teachable by those different from ourselves, in terms of culture, age, gender, and other forms of diversity.  We are in relationships with a global people in a global marketplace where our work releases the potential of others, and the work of others releases our own potential.

It's a beautiful thing.  May God bless you this week, as you do your humble work!

Tanzania: From Charcoal to Creation Care

One of the four goals we teach every person to consider in their workplace is creation care.  While this goal has lagged behind missional and economic goals in the past, it is rapidly catching up as people see themselves as partners in caring for the world God has made.  Here is one story recently shared with me from our partner in Tanzania, relating to charcoal, which many people use for cooking.  Valuable trees that took twenty-plus years to grow are cut down for cooking without considering the environment.  But now people are looking for alternatives:

From Charcoal to Creation Care - A story from Tanzania

In a profound act of change, a former charcoal maker has purchased 100 trees, which were distributed for planting as a personal commitment to creation care. (Pictures show the handing out of trees and planting of trees) His decision to quit the charcoal trade is especially significant, as he was a key distributor who sourced from many local makers. This change is bound to inspire others in the industry to follow his lead.

In his words: 

"There was a time when these hands made charcoal—cutting down trees and wounding the earth. The land suffered, the air darkened, and creation cried out.

But now, by God’s grace, we have turned. The same hands now plant trees. Together, we have made a commitment—to care for creation, to restore what was broken and to honor the God who made all things good.

May every tree we plant be a sign of healing, hope and new beginnings."

The mandate for creation care comes from Genesis 2:15, where God commands us to "work and care" for the earth.

The Cape Town Agreement from Lausanne says this regarding creation care: 

"The earth is created, sustained, and redeemed by Christ.  We cannot claim to love God while abusing what belongs to Christ by right of creation, redemption, and inheritance.  We care for the earth and responsibly use its abundant resources, not according to the rationale of the secular world, but for the Lord's sake.  Creation care is thus a gospel issue within the Lordship of Christ.

Such love for God's creation demands that we repent of our part in the destruction, waste and pollution of the earth's resources and our collusion in the toxic idolatry of consumerism.  Instead, we commit ourselves to urgent and prophetic ecological responsibility. We support Christians whose particular missional calling is to environmental advocacy and action, as well as those committed to godly fulfilment of the mandate to provide for human welfare and needs by exercising responsible dominion and stewardship. The Bible declares God's redemptive purpose for creation itself."

Our teams celebrate this on different days and in various ways. (Pictured here is tree-planting in Kenya.)   April 22 is Earth Day, June 5 is World Environment Day, and September is the "Season of Creation" month, supported by Lausanne and many other organizations.  We are excited by this declaration as the church has ironically lagged behind the rest of the world in creation care for many years. 

We are thankful that the Global Church continues growing in its advocacy of caring for this earth, to the glory of God, and the flourishing of all neighbors!  We are also excited about all the advocacy we have been engaged with so far this year regarding farming God's way.  Below is a picture of a "black forest cake" (aka compost pile) made in Kenya with the DML Kenya team, as taught by Dr. Gaga, DML Nigeria team leader.  Yum!

Making disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples...

The Great Commission tells us that we are to make disciples, who can make disciples, who can make disciples. We need to make intergenerational disciples and build capacity in those we teach so the message doesn't rely on one person but can grow and spread.

Recently, while in Burkina Faso with DML leader Pastor Theo Pare, he mentioned a recent training of 1000 people that was done by a "third-generation disciple."  When I asked him to clarify, he said that he (first generation) had trained someone to be a DML trainer (second generation), who had then taught someone else to be a DML trainer (third generation), and that person had just done that training.  

Throughout my time with Pastor Theo, he kept referring to this or that person as second or third-generation trainers.  

It was thrilling to hear. It reminds me that we are "losing control" of the message and tracking it. I call it "Godly confusion" as people are traveling here and there to share this good news of "work as a gift" rather than "work as a burden."  Below are just a few pictures I have received over the last few weeks, as DML leaders are making disciples, who are making disciples, who are making disciples.  Please join us in thanksgiving for open doors, as well as in supplication for those spreading the message in difficult areas, and for those hearing the message of purpose and calling for their time, treasure, and talent.

DML in Congo Brazzaville:  Receiving the message for the first time from DML Cameroon leader, Sister Joy.

The DML Pakistan team is in action, bringing the message of "work as worship" to pastors in a second city this year, with three more cities planned for the remainder of 2025.

A new partnership with the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, made up of many denominations and 70,000 churches!  Three workshops were held in three cities, led by DML Kenya leader Caroline Sudi and DML Tanzania leader Anthony Kayombo.

105 new trainers in Burundi from three major denominations: The church is responding strongly in Burundi as it seeks to eradicate poverty through combined efforts in business, government, and education.

Last week's group in Egypt.