Humility is not the coin of the realm right now.

The realm is the world stage, the system where power, influence, rhetoric and “flash-bang” rule. We live according to the old rule: “Whoever does not toot his own horn, his horn does not get tooted.” Self-aggrandizement has been in play for so long that we do not expect anything different.

We have seen some refreshing deviations from the practices of “seeking the limelight at all costs” and “Never say you might be wrong — never!”

A few weeks ago Simon Cowell, a popular and powerful judge of talent, dismissed a contestant from the competition. Simon had formerly declared that this contestant was probably the most qualified. After dismissing the contestant, Simon quickly realized his mistake and rather than blowing it off and covering up, he said, “I blew it. I made a mistake.” He flew to the contestant’s home, and before her family and national cameras, he admitted his mistake and pleaded with the contestant to reenter the competition. You might think, “That was just a gimmick.” But it sure looked like humility.

Whatever it was, it struck a chord with most of us.

Another instance of everything opposite the current system is Tim Tebow. Tim is a football player and a follower of Christ. He declares his faith openly. He is a fierce competitor and, on a world stage, has taken the low road in all areas of taking credit and grabbing the limelight for himself. He reflects the glory, first of all, to Almighty God, to his team mates, and others.

Does humility still work? Absolutely it does!

These examples by Simon Cowell and Tim Tebow are winning over a skeptical world that still looks askance, but cannot deny what they see as these men model humility.

Humility is the coin of God’s realm. God is creator and sustainer. He created us; he is sustaining us in every area; and he holds the final outcome in gis hands.

Most of us know of the humility of Jesus Christ described in Philippians 2:5-8. Jesus is God and humbled himself, laying aside his glory and reputation. He humbled himself all the way to the cross, and suffered and died to pay for all the sin of all mankind.

Somehow we discount what Jesus did, and we think, “Well, he was God.” We think we are different, that somehow humility will be more excruciating for us.

There was a king in ancient Israel, a man named Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the son of King Solomon who was the most powerful king in the history of the world. When Rehoboam took the throne after the death of Solomon, Rehoboam acted in arrogance and pride. The kingdom began disintegrating in front of his face. God raised up Shishak, the king of Egypt, to come and conquer Israel (2 Chron. 12:1-4). In the midst of Israel’s national crisis, a prophet of God named Shemaiah came to Israel to speak for God. His message is in 2 Chronicles 12:5: “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have forsaken me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’”

After hearing the prophet, the leaders of Israel humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous,” which simply means, “God, you are right and we are wrong.” When God saw their humility, he did not allow Shishak to destroy Jerusalem even though he did plunder their treasure (2 Chron. 12:7-9).

Could humility work today for us? It must start with our confessing, “The Lord is righteous.” As God sees people humbling themselves before His mighty hand, He just might turn away His current judgment which is causing such confusion and chaos on the national scene.

“The Lord is righteous!”