Paul wrote: ‘Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well’ (v.3-6 NLT). Paul is teaching us this important principle: ‘Don’t have an elitist attitude.’ If we’re inclined to be elitist, to combat this attitude we need to remember the truth that every advantage or favour that we enjoy is a gift from God (see 1 Corinthians 4:7). Whatever God has given us or allowed us to accomplish must never be used for our own glory. Even if we think we achieved things on our own, with our own skills and effort, read these words and take them to heart: ‘Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being…he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names’ (Philippians 2:3-9 NLT).
