The Problem with Christian Pride

Pride magnifies the faults of other Christians and diminishes their graces, while it diminishes the faults and magnifies the graces of its subject. Spiritual Pride drastically hinders revival because it padlocks the spirit, shutting the soul off in its own darkness and blocking it from dealing not only with pride itself but with every other area of the flesh. Because spiritual pride is so secretive, it is hard to detect except through its effects. Under the guise of prophetic righteousness, pride can move awakened believers to censorious attacks on other Christians. Richard Lovelace PRIDE, then, is more than the first of the seven deadly sins; it is itself the essence of all sin. For it is the stubborn refusal to let God be God, with the corresponding ambition to take his place. It is the attempt to dethrone God and enthrone ourselves. Sin is self-deification. But God says that, since he is God and he alone, he will not share his glory with any other (e.g., Isa 42:8, 48:11). A neglected but indispensable ingredient of Christian spirituality is humility. As Richard Baxter put it, "humility is not a mere ornament of a Christian, but an essential part of the new creature." Indeed, perhaps at no point does the gospel come into more violent collision with the world than in its insistence on humility as the paramount virtue. The wisdom of the world despises humility. Western culture has been greatly influenced, often unconsciously, by the power-philosophy of Nietzsche, who envisaged the emergence of "a daring and ruler race." His hero was the Übermensch, tough, brash, masculine and overbearing, who would become a "lord of the earth." But if the ideal of Nietzsche was the superman, the ideal of Jesus was the little child. There is no possibility of finding a compromise between these alternative models; we are obliged to choose.John Stott Yahweh is the only God and Savior, and there is no other, that he desires — even requires — every knee to bow to him (Isa 45:22-23). Worship is due to him; it is not due to us. Taken from Alive to God, edited by J.I. Packer and Loren Wilkinson. Sanctification and Humility The same double epigram, which Jesus applied to justification, James went on to apply to sanctification, although in slightly different words: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (Jas 4:6, quoting Pr 3:34). Again, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up" (Jas 4:10). The context of this summons is the temptation to be a friend of the world and so an enemy of God. James is clear that God's grace is amply sufficient to enable us to live a godly life and to keep ourselves "from being polluted by the world" (Jas 1:27). But God gives his grace only to the humble, who admit their dependence on it. If, therefore, we hope for his grace to lift us up to holiness, we must "humble [ourselves] before the Lord" (Jas 4:10). Taken from Alive to God, edited by J.I. Packer and Loren Wilkinson. The pride of life: The Greek word alazoneia refers to being proud when you really have nothing to be proud about. For example, it would have been used to speak of a pauper who showed his friends when they came to town a fleet of ships that he claimed to own, when in reality none of them belonged to him. He would be bragging about something he didn't have. It's one thing to have something great and brag about it; it's something else to have nothing and brag about it. The pride of life puts on a big show for other people. A person might be able to get by with a certain item, but he may want to get a better item to impress people with. People often live just a little beyond what they can afford because they want others to think they have more than they have. Such a motive is boastful. John MacArthur We live in a proud and egotistical generation. People continually promote themselves. John MacArthur People are now twisting the Bible to promote pride and self- esteem. John MacArthur The Bible is very clear about the sin of pride. a) The definitions of pride (1) Proverbs 21:4--"A proud heart ... [is] sin." (2) Proverbs 16:5--"Every one who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord." (3) Proverbs 8:13--"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride, and arrogance." (4) Romans 1:30--Pride is a mark of the reprobate mind. (5) 1 Timothy 3:6--Pride comes from the devil. (6) 1 John 2:16--Pride is a part of the world. (7) 1 Timothy 6:3-4--Pride characterizes false teachers. b) The downfall of pride (1) James 4:6--"God resists the proud." (2) Isaiah 23:9--God brings the proud into contempt. (3) Psalm 31:23--The proud will be judged. (4) Exodus 18:11--The proud will be subdued. (5) Psalm 18:27--The proud will be brought low. (6) Daniel 4:37--The proud will be abased. (7) Luke 1:51--The proud will be scattered. (8) Malachi 4:1--The proud will be punished. 2. The exaltation of humility Humility is exalted as a virtue in the Bible. We need to understand that in terms of our experience as well. a) Micah 6:8--"What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" b) Psalm 138:6--"Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly." c) Psalm 10:17--"Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble." d) Proverbs 15:33--"Before honor is humility." The Lord lifts up the humble (James 4:10). Colossians 3:12 instructs us to put on humility. First Peter 5:5 tells us to be clothed with humility. And Ephesians 4:1-2 says we are to walk in humility. If you desire honor and glory from God, you must display humility first. That is contrary to our earthly philosophy, which exalts pride. Jesus emphasized humility in Matthew 18:3-4 when He said that anyone who would come into His Kingdom must humble himself as a little child. They needed to learn to deny themselves. That's a mark of a true follower of Jesus Christ. He tried to get the same message across to the rich young ruler when he said, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasures in heaven; and come and follow me" (Matt. 19:21). But the man wouldn't do it. That was a profound lesson about the requirements for entering into the Kingdom--humility, self-denial, and abandonment. John MacArthur John Piper--"Today the first and greatest commandment is, `Thou shalt love thyself.' And the explanation for almost every interpersonal problem is thought to lie in someone's low self- esteem. Sermons, articles, and books have pushed this idea into the Christian mind. It is a rare congregation, for example, that does not stumble over the `vermicular theology' of Isaac Watts's `Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed': `Would He devote that sacred head/For such a worm as I?'" ("Is Self-Love Biblical?" Christianity Today, 12 August 1977, p. 6). People don't like that. One of the letters written to the editor at Moody Monthly in response to an article I wrote on Robert Schuller's book Self Esteem said, "MacArthur has become a victim of worm theology." That's not a popular thing in a day when men promote themselves. John Stott--"A chorus of many voices is chanting in unison today that I must at all costs love myself" ("Must I Really Love Myself?" Christianity Today, 5 May 1978, p. 34). Saint Augustine--"Two cities have been formed by two loves; the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God, the heavenly by the love of God even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord" (The City of God XIV, 28). John Calvin--"For so blindly do we all rush in the direction of self-love that everyone thinks he has a good reason for exalting himself and despising all others in comparison" (Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1966], 2:10). Calvin offers a cure for the problem: "There is no other remedy than to pluck up by the roots those most noxious pests, self-love and love of victory .... This the doctrine of Scripture does. For it teaches us to remember, that the endowments which God has bestowed upon us are not our own, but His free gifts, and that those who plume themselves upon them betray their ingratitude" (Ibid). Our Lord tells us not to seek greatness by political power play. Don't try to climb the ladder of success based on who you know. Don't seek it by audacious ambition--don't overstate your abilities. Don't seek it by dominant dictatorship--don't try to pull rank on people. And don't use your personality to manipulate others. If you want to be great, learn the lesson that Jesus teaches in Matthew 20:22. Before honor comes humility. Before you can wear the crown, you have to drink the cup. The way to exaltation is the way of humility. Seek to know God and walk humbly with Him. Matthew 20:26-28 gives us the way to greatness in the Kingdom: "It shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." John MacArthur