Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn — Learning Humility

Brenda Quinn and Richard Foster join Nathan to talk about Richard’s new book, Learning Humility: A Year of Searching for a Vanishing Virtue.

Show Notes

[4:38] Dad, could you give us an overview?

[9:38] Brenda, what was your journey like as you were reading the chapters and how did this work for you as a Christ follower and a pastor?

[17:08] Dad, the humble mumble – could you explain that? How did spending this year and writing the book tie into that?

[18:44] Brenda, as a pastor, I’m sure you get lots of compliments. How do you handle those when people have nice things to say about you?

[21:21] A lot of people don’t know how to say I’m sorry or own up to things. And that potentially stems from (a lack of) humility, doesn’t it, that my ego is fragile enough that I can’t handle critique?

[22:45] Humility is really about freedom, would you agree?

[25:21] You were in an environment (in the university) where people not only ask you, but they expect you to have the answers. And it can be the same in ministry. Brenda, in your context, where is the freedom you experience as you learn humility?

[27:55] Dad, what surprised you in writing this book and spending the year on it?

[29:45] What would you say to someone listening to this, or they’ve read the book, and they say “I’m in, I want to grow in humility”? What should they do? Where’s a good place to start?

[32:59] But we can certainly get better, right? There’s improvement to be made.

[33:43] For people who read the book, what would your hope be?

[36:01] The thing I found really helpful about the book, that snuck up on me, was the allure. Why wouldn’t I want that? Seeing it as an invitation to freedom, to become our true selves, the self that God created us to be.

Resources

• Learning Humility: A Year of Searching for a Vanishing Virtue, by Richard Foster
• Humility, a Renovaré resource with selections from Learning Humility and Humility (by Andrew Murray)