TD Jakes - You Cannot Have Unity Without Humility
When you understand the text, you will understand humility. Philippians 2:4 and 11 is a message not just in divinity, not just about the Godhead, not just that He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, not just that He was both fully God and fully man; it is a message in humility. It is given to us in the hopes the writer conveys to the Philippians who lived in a diverse society of a cosmopolitan group of people, that he might bring them into a place of unity. Because you cannot have unity without humility, and the reason we don’t have any unity in this country—though we call ourselves the United States of America—is that we have lost our minds to power, and nobody has the humility.
Without humility, you can never have unity. If you want unity in your house, you’ve got to have humility. If you want unity in your country, you’ve got to have humility. If you want unity in your office, you’ve got to have humility. You can’t have everyone walking around with a T-shirt that says, «I’m a…» The Bible says, «Do not merely look out for your own personal interests but for the interests of other people.» Forget about you. This narcissistic attitude that it’s all about you; they did it to you. Your daddy left your mama, and you said he did it to you. No, he left your mama. I’m not saying it didn’t hurt you; I’m not saying it didn’t change your life, but he wasn’t aiming at you. Everything is not about you. Everything bad that happens is not about you, and everything good that happens is not about you. Can I go deeper? The Bible wants you to have the same attitude as Jesus. The same attitude.
The Bible cares about your attitude; your attitude determines your altitude. I don’t care how smart you are; if you have a bad attitude, it will stunt your altitude. I don’t care how fine you are; they will be attracted to how cute you are, but as soon as they meet you and discover your attitude, you can’t be cute enough to camouflage a bad attitude. You don’t stay married to people for 50 years because they’re fine; you stay married to someone for 50 years because their attitude is one of service. You’re working on the wrong thing. If we could take some of the money you spend on those eyelashes that are as long as Egypt—I’m not saying you can’t have them; go ahead and put them on—I’m just saying you’re working on the wrong stuff.
If we could take some of that money that you’re spending on other things to camouflage, and understand that the beauty you have is a meek and quiet spirit and a kind heart, if you would understand that lasts longer than baldness, beards, and biceps and triceps. We go to the gym every day; we hardly ever read our Bible or help anybody along the way because we take every selfie. We’re working on things that do not work. You have to have this attitude, and the Bible wouldn’t tell you to have it if it were automatic. It is not just natural to have a good attitude because I never have to ask you to be what is natural to you. I would never have to ask you to be Black because that is inescapable.
If I ask you for something, it only indicates that you have an option. Your attitude is within your control; you can change your attitude. If there’s anybody here who’s ever had to change your attitude, you ought to shout me down right now! So, the Bible says look to Jesus as your example in selfless humility. The Old King James Version said, «who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made of Himself no reputation and took on Himself the form of a servant,» not because He didn’t know who He was, but because He knew who He was. He was strong enough to lay down who He was and put on the form of a servant, which is why He wrapped Himself in a towel. The towel is a type of Him showing what He was when He took on flesh; He came to serve.
The lion became a lamb; the Divine became a servant. He who sat up high came down low and was born in a manger that He might show us that He is stronger as a lamb than He was as a lion. I feel like preaching this gospel in this place! We are headed in the wrong direction; everybody’s trying to roar, but who God wants to bless is the lamb. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain from the foundations of the world! He said, «I know I’m God; I don’t need you to tell me I’m God, but I took on the form of a servant.»
Now look at how opposite that is: we are servants acting like gods, and He’s a God acting like a servant. He says, «If you get my attitude, I will change your whole life.» The Bible states that He took on the form of a servant; that’s His birth, and then became even more obedient to His Father and died. It is amazing that God would become a man; that’s humble all by Himself. For the first time, He got sleepy as God; He never took a nap as God. He never got rest as God. He sat on the circle of the earth as God; He commanded winds and waves. As God, He said, «Let there be light,» and there was light. But as man, He needed milk; as man, He needed a stranger.
As man, He needed a woman. As man, we find Him asleep on a boat. He took on the form of a servant, and that’s what He’s acting out when He wraps Himself in a towel. He’s showing you that He wrapped Himself in flesh. What do you need to wrap up in to change the trajectory of your life? And He became obedient unto death, and death is the trip switch. If you can die to your own ego, if you can die to your own significance, if you can die to your own selfish needs, if you can die to your visions of grandeur, if you can die to the point that you stop thinking more highly of yourself than you ought, if you can just die—nobody’s preaching about dying anymore. In the old church, we used to preach, «If I die now, I don’t have to die no more,» and we’d be shouting about that.
Ain’t nobody shouting about dying now, because nobody wants to give up anything. Everybody wants to gain something. What can I get from knowing you? Jesus said, «If any man shall be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me.» You become my disciple at the point you die, because if you can get your ego and your pride healed enough to find a dying place—maybe the reason you’re going through the trouble you’re going through right now is that God is trying to kill your pride and your ego so you can find a dying place. I’ve got to find a place that I can die. The Bible said that when they hung Him on the cross, «No man takes my life; I lay it down.» «And if I lay it down"—look at how bad He is—"I can pick it back up again.»
That’s how come I can get down, because if you mess with me, I always know I can get up. It says He had set His face to go to Jerusalem; He wasn’t going to rest till He found His dying place. Where Samson rested in the lap of Delilah, Jesus—the ultimate judge—rested His head on the cross. They hung Him high, and they stretched Him wide. He hung His head, and for me, for me, He died. And the Bible says, «Because He went so low, God has highly exalted Him.» Watch this: you’re trying to get a great name, and gave Him a name that was exalted above every name—every name, every name—so that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess! Jesus, how did you get a great name? He said, «I didn’t get it by trying to be high; I got it by going down low.»
And I got so low that I didn’t have to exalt myself, but God became my booking agent, and He has highly exalted me and gave me a name that at the name of Jesus—at the name of who? At the name of Jesus—every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. Whatever you’re wrestling with, if it’s got a name, there’s a name above it! The name of Jesus is greater than any president. The name of Jesus is greater than any king. The name of Jesus is greater than any witch. The name of Jesus is greater than Baal. The name of Jesus is greater than Buddha. The name of Jesus is greater than Asherah. The name of Jesus is greater than Diana. The name of Jesus is greater than Zeus. The name of Jesus is greater than cancer. The name of Jesus is greater than leukemia. The name of Jesus is greater than Hitler. The name of Jesus is greater than any name! I’ve seen the Pharaohs come, and I’ve seen the Pharaohs go, but the name of Jesus is a strong tower where the righteous run therein and are safe. If you know anything about it, somebody call His name!