The Humble Pimp Slap

Foreword

So, what is a pimp slap you might ask? Well a pimp slap is a slap delivered with the back of the hand with a large amount of force. The purpose of the pimp slap is to exercise dominance and remind someone who is actually call the shots.

The purpose of this blog is not to glorify the pimp slap to actually demonstrate how a revelation of grace allows humility to always come in and pimp slap you back to your senses.

As a man, a husband and a father I am constantly reminded that I am not the authoritative source or voice on anything. I am dependent on the wisdom of my elders, the support of my wife and children and the support of those around me.

How you ask? Humility comes round and gives me an almighty pimp slap when I am ‘feeling myself’ a little too much. Sometimes we believe our own hype and we think that we are the ones making the proverbial ‘magic’ happen. We couldn’t be further from the truth in those moments and when you are actively living under grace, you are able to eat a slice of humble pie served up warm by the holy spirit.

Reading

Ephesians 4:2

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

Philippians 2:3 - 11

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out for only 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.

When he appeared in human form, 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, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Context

At the time of his writing is Philippians 2, Paul was in prison yet again and there is a suggestion that this was one of his later imprisonments as there is a tone of impending death in his letters to the early churches. This tone is not a woeful tone of self-pity but one of conclusion and satisfaction in the completion of ones mission. It cannot be said whether this was the point prior to his death but I think it was clear that he knew that he was coming towards the end of his mission. Epaphroditus had come to Paul with a gift from the church in Philippi to show their support of Paul during his current stint on imprisonment and he had made known to Paul some of the challenges and inner turmoil of the fellowship in Philippi. In his letter to the Philippians Paul seeks to give some advice to the church in Philippi to help them work through their difficulties and to encourage them as the sought to live as followers of Christ amongst the gentiles.

Living Under Grace

I may sound like a broken record but I cannot stress how important it is to have a firm understanding of God’s gift of grace before one can really have an appreciation of this life as a follower of Christ. Our whole salvation is predicated on grace and it is the foundation of our faith. The unmerited favour combined with divine mercy is what puts us in a position to live free of condemnation and come into the presence of God even though we were and are still sinners by our inherent nature.

The gift of grace has given us freedom from the law but does not do away with the law as Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 – 20:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

I think some people can easily misunderstand freedom from the law as the law no longer stands but that is not what that means. It means that under the law you sin you die, unless you offer some form of recompense unto God. It meant people were trapped in a never ending cycle of sin and death and sacrifice because they constantly broke the law and needed to make an offering to restore their position unto God.

The gift of grace whereby which Jesus died for all and took their sin as his own and offered himself as the onetime everlasting sacrifice that will forever restore all to God means that the cycle of sin and death is broken because there is no need for a constant sacrifice. When death steps into the picture Jesus steps in a says “no, I paid for that sin. I conquered you and the grave and therefore have set all my people free from your power!”. This is the freedom from the law that we have. The law came from God so the law in itself is holy, we are the ones that are unable to live up to that holy standard because of our inherently sinful nature. Our flesh seeks to please itself and lusts for its own pleasures. So much so that Paul found himself constant pleading with all the churches to fight that nature and to seek to do all that they can to be more Christ like.

So what does grace have to do with humility? Well, grace to me is underpinned by an underserved position of merit. We didn’t get what we deserved and we still don’t get what we deserve. Instead we receive the opposite. As we enter into salvation, we enter into a new life with Christ Jesus. Romans 6:3 – 4:

Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

Psalms 16:11 says:

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

So what we get is access to eternal life and the pleasures that come with it when what we should have actually received is death and the suffering that comes with eternal separation from God.

Based on this, we who have been shown much grace have no right to lord an undeserved position over anyone who is or is not in relationship with Jesus. There was a point where we were distant from him and we did not really walk in right standing with him. Many of us are still dealing with afflictions of sin that we have not been able to shake even though we are walking with him. So what makes us any better than someone who has not yet realised that there is a Father who can help them deal with the heavy load that they are carrying? Nothing. We didn’t do anything to deserve his mercy and his forgiveness, it as a gift imparted onto us.

Slapped by Humility

So I titled this post “the humble pimp slap” because when that moment comes and you are ‘checked’ by the holy spirit, it feels like someone slapping you and it gives you this gut wrenching feeling which makes you take a long hard look at yourself and decide if you are living up to what it says in Philippians 2:3-11.

Many of us can be selfish and very self-absorbed, wanting to make everything about us or have our voice heard in a matter. We can sometimes extend this to a point where we are so focused on ‘proving our point’ that we neglect the importance of patience, compassion and love.

Yesterday night as I was scrolling through my YouTube notifications I came across something that completely threw me. I felt as though something had complete gone wrong on YouTube or they have a new algorithm that made them create some content that catered to me so specifically it was scary. In actuality it was none of that. It was something some may call a coincidence and others, divine appointment.

So what is this ‘something’ I am being so cagey about? Well, it was a video posted by Elevation Church and the still image was Charlamagne da’ god speaking with Steven Furtik. You can’t get two guys who, on the surface, are more polar opposite than these two and here they were. Obviously I had to click and watch the video and I was not disappointed.

The concept was really quite simple. Both men are of very similar age and have both become public figures. Both are highly successful in what they do but the most interesting thing is that they both come from the same small town and went to the same high school and had different life experiences in this small town which resulted in creating two men who are so focused on their callings that it is a joy to watch.

Those of you who know me well will know that from a young age I have always been drawn to charismatic preachers and especially those who are honest and transparent with their journeys. The passion of someone who really believe what they are telling you is infectious and extremely exciting to watch. I spend many hours on YouTube watching sermon after sermon because these men and women inspire me to do the one thing I ran away from for so long. These people have given me the confidence to say “enough Lord, I will stop running from your calling and just start where I am!”

Then we have the other side of me, the side that loves music and hip-hop culture. The side of me that gets excited about the construct of a 16 bar verse. The side of me that finds it extremely frustrating when talented men and women succumb to the pressures of a misogynistic industry. An industry that is filled with so much talent and potential. An industry that could use its voice to speak to many elks in society but chooses to reinforce stereotypes and the negativity that plagues urban communities.

These guys cater to both sides of me. Steven inspires me to continue to blog and write in the hopes that one day I will be invited to a stage to share the gospel with an audience and even if that day does not come, I will faithfully serve my online community with this blog.

Charlamagne speaks his mind and tells it like it is. He calls it moral honesty and that is what I love about him. It has got him into a few ‘beefs’ as celebrities don’t like to be called the ‘donkey of the day’ or told that they are doing something wrong or stupid. I see Charlamagne as a voice that challenges these artists that our children listen to. He challenges them to grow and to do what is morally right. He is honest about his past transgressions and doesn’t claim to be perfect and this is what makes him interesting to watch.

As I watched these two men from two very different worlds, who started life in the same place, I realised something. Just as it came to me they said it on screen. You cannot change your perception and what you are programmed to believe if you are not willing to listen to other perspectives.

Steven talked about being given a perception of black people that was racist and borne out of fear because that is what his father learned when he was growing up. Charlamagne spoke about having the perception that all white men are ‘the devil’ because that is what people around him told him. Both men got to a point in their lives where they had to sit up and say, that doesn’t feel right or sit right with me. Steven’s journey started at 16 when he accepted Christ as his saviour; unfortunately I didn’t catch when Charlamagne said that journey began for him.

What was resounding in the whole video was that both men felt that they were walking in their calling and that God allowed everything that happened to take place so he could get them to their calling.

As I watched and listened to them chop it up about their history and experiences it became clear to me how humbling it had to be to go back and walk the streets you walked when you were coming up and listen to the perspective of someone who you didn’t really know but had similar experiences to. To know that you are not the only person from a small town that God can put his hand on and say “I am going to use you because you will be obedient”.  That must have been a moment where both men realised that they are just where they were because they decided to put their pride aside and follow what they were being called to do. Both men spoke about starting at the bottom and just being excited about the opportunity to be around what they loved.

My parents always taught me that pride comes before the fall. They didn’t say it in those exact words but they always instilled in me to be humble. As I grew and I began to make my own choices as a man I had to make the decision as to whether I would give in when my ego wanted to puff its chest up and show that I knew a little something here and there or whether I would remain true to those values that were given to me play the position I had been given at that moment in time.

Matthew 23:12 says:

But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

I had to learn quickly to step outside of myself and to push down the desire to put someone in their place or tell them where to get. I would mutter to myself so many times “what would Jesus do?” just so I wouldn’t react to a situation. Those were the moments when things were tough, then you had the flip side. Your pride when things are happening.

I think it is a universally accepted notion that NOBODY likes a show off, let we are surrounded by so many of them and the tendency of most people is to show off what they have or what they have achieved.

Going back to the conversation between Steven and Charlamagne, they both said something that resonated with me. They said they did not feel as though they had achieved anything, they felt they had arrived at their destiny and were in the middle of their purpose. These are men that have earned millions of dollars between them, published New York Times best selling books, filled auditoriums, have a syndicated radio show, appear on television and so on. To them, they have not achieved anything, they have arrived in their destiny. When you remain humble and seek to answer the call that God has placed on you, or to fulfil the purpose he has for you in a given situation or in your life, he will speak on your behalf. In the same manner as he spoke of Job “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”

The Lord honours those who do not honour themselves. Jesus teaches a simple principle about humility in Luke 14:7 – 14:

When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honour near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honour. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

“Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honoured in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbours. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

Conclusion

Back in the days of Soul’d Out Edutainement, L.O.R.E put out a song called J.O.Y. Whilst in the studio working on the mix and putting some finishing touches on the production I asked him, what the song was about and he broke it down to me. J.O.Y stood for Jesus, Others, Yourself. This was the order he believed that scripture told us to prioritise things in life. Put God first and others before yourself. That has resonated with me since the day we recorded that song over 10 years ago.

“Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself” is what the scripture in Philippians teaches and single line speaks volumes as to how we should live. One who thinks of others as better than themselves takes on the heart of a servant. They seek to do for others above doing for themselves. They find their pleasure in enriching the lives of others instead of being obsessed with money, fame and all the proverbial trappings of success. Its like I always tell my children. The world has it all wrong, success is not defined by how rich you are it is defined by how rich you make the lives of others. I am pretty sure I mentioned this in my previous blog, if I did I make no apology for it because I truly believe it and hope that it is a message that sinks into the hearts of all the readers of my blog.

In all things lower yourself and resign yourself to humility that Christ may intervene and honour you before his Father for if we are honoured by the Father, who can bring us back down?