我常覺得人們自創的非正式節日很有趣。單單在二月就有焦糖黏黏包日、世界吞劍者日，甚至還有國際狗餅乾感恩節，而今天則是人們所定的「謙卑日」。謙卑是舉世公認的美德，當然值得慶祝。但耐人尋味的是，這個美好的品格並非一直受人尊崇。

在古時候，人們認為謙卑是個弱點，而非一種美德，因為那時人們更看重榮譽。人們很自然地都會誇耀自己的成就，希望提高身分地位，而不讓自己低人一等。謙卑意味著卑微低下，就像以下對上，奴僕對主人一樣。但歷史學家說，這一切都因耶穌被釘十架而徹底改變了。耶穌「本有上帝的形象」，卻捨棄祂神聖的地位而「取了奴僕的形象」，自甘卑微為人受死（腓立比書2章6-8節）。耶穌這種值得萬人稱頌的壯舉，使得謙卑被重新定義。到了第一世紀末，即使有些作家並不是基督徒，也因基督的作為而將謙卑視為一種美德。

如今，每當有人因謙卑而受到讚揚時，福音就巧妙地被傳開了。因為如果沒有耶穌，謙卑就不會被人認為是一種美德，更別提設立「謙卑日」了。基督為我們捨棄了祂尊貴的地位，在人類的歷史中向我們揭示上帝謙卑的特質。

I’m often amused by the unofficial holidays people come up with. February alone has a Sticky Bun Day, a Sword Swallowers Day, even a Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day! Today has been labeled Be Humble Day. Universally recognized as a virtue, humility is certainly worth celebrating. But interestingly, this hasn’t always been the case.

Humility was considered a weakness, not a virtue, in the ancient world, which prized honor instead. Boasting about one’s achievements was expected, and you sought to raise your status, never lower it. Humility meant inferiority, like a servant to a master. But all this changed, historians say, at Jesus’ crucifixion. There, the One who was “in very nature God” gave up His divine status to become “a servant” and “humbled himself” to die for others (Philippians 2:6–8). Such a praiseworthy act forced humility to be redefined. By the end of the first century, even secular writers were calling humility a virtue because of what Christ had done.

Every time someone is praised for being humble today, the gospel is being subtly preached. For without Jesus, humility wouldn’t be “good,” or a Be Humble Day even thinkable. Christ relinquished His status for us, revealing through all history the humble nature of God.