A place at the table
"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." (Romans 12:3)
“Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land...’" (Deuteronomy 9:4)
November 22, 2025
On a recent Sunday morning, I looked around at those gathered for the Lord's supper and was so thankful to have a place, seated with these fellow believers around his table. Just to be there with the family of God, to be a member of the Body, it was enough for me. Despite everything else going on in the world at the time, I was content.
Many of us are prone to compare ourselves with others. Before I became a Christian, I did this a lot, always looking around to see where I was in the social pecking order and trying to get ahead. I looked down on those whom I deemed less intelligent, less clever, less skilled than me, and I was envious (and resentful) toward those whom I thought were better than me.
This can come over into the Christian life. As a young believer, I was proud of my knowledge of the Bible and of my experience in ministry. Later, when my circle widened, I realized that I was not really, well, anything special. I had only been a big fish in a little pond. And I had begun to meet so many people who were better than me in every category: in holiness, in knowledge, in wisdom, in giftedness, in prayer, and in service -- not to mention, smarter, funnier, and better looking than me.
When you think you are something special, any failure (especially when seen by others) can be devastating to your self-image. I was reminded of this when I read again the following passage from The Horse and His Boy, a volume in The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis. In the story, Bree, a talking horse, on his way to live in Narnia, becomes painfully aware of his cowardice, which was revealed in a dangerous situation that he and his companions faced. He was embarrassed to find out that he was not as brave as he thought. Sulking, and feeling disgraced, he said he wanted to return to his former life among the non-speaking horses. Nearby, a hermit with whom they were staying comes up to him...
"My good Horse," said the Hermit, who had approached them unnoticed because his bare feet made so little noise on that sweet, dewy grass. "My good Horse, you've lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you're nobody special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another." (From The Horse and His Boy)
Sometimes, like Bree, we may be crushed by our own failures, because we really thought that we were better than that. We can also be resentful of others who do better than we do. We may even think that there was something special, or some unique potential about us that caused God to call us in the first place. As someone once said, "The only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin which made it necessary."
The Israelites, going into the promised land, were not to think that it was because they were special (worthy, deserving) or righteous in themselves, that God should give them the land. Or that they were comparably better than the Amorites and Canaanites (who were exceedingly wicked), for the Israelites themselves had also lapsed into idolatry along the way. Similarly, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman believers not to think too highly of themselves, but to "think with sober judgment" (Rom 12:3), knowing that the Lord had assigned each a place in the body. And he said, "Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding." (2 Cor 10:12)
All of this is related to humility, which at its core is, thinking with sober judgment. It is to see things from God's point of view, which may shatter our imagined importance, but is also immensely uplifting and liberating. C. S. Lewis once said, "Humility, after the first shock, is a cheerful virtue." If we are in Christ, then we have acceptance with God, and we have a calling, and we have a place of usefulness. And that is enough.
One of the ongoing lessons in my life is to realize that I'm not anything special, in the sense that I'm more important or more worthy, or that my gifts and talents are ultimately more valuable than others. We're on our way to a world where every one of us will be in the Lord's presence, and will see him, and will speak to him face-to-face. All that is partial will be done away, for the perfect has come. Meanwhile, today we have our own part to play.
It is enough for me to have a part in this, a place at his table, a seat in his family. It's a privilege to have a place of service to the Lord, no matter how it may compare to the gifts of others. As the hermit said to Bree, "As long as you know you're nobody special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole..."
IN OTHER READING.
-- "We should tell others about God’s salvation through song every time the church gathers." (Matt Boswell)
-- "But a full reckoning of the remarkable cultural outpouring that shaped me as a young Christian must also note the quiet victories. That world shaped a resilient faith among young believers in a secular age, and many of us have benefited greatly." (Trevin Wax, looking back on the contemporary Christian scene of the 1990s.)
-- From men's prayer today, an updated report on the persecution of Christians around the world.
FINAL QUOTE.
"Humility, after the first shock, is a cheerful virtue." (C. S. Lewis)
That’s all for this week!
Sandy
Afterwords is an occasional newsletter on topics of interest to me (Sandy Young) since my retirement from full-time pastoral ministry. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.