Pride
"Through pride the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every vice, it's the complete anti-God state of mind." -C.S. Lewis
One of things I love about Spring and Summer other than pollen and sneezing every 3 seconds is being able outside after being in hibernation for the winter. I enjoy getting up and going out on the deck and listen to creation wake up and "talk" to each other. I'll take my Bible with me and whatever book I'm reading and sit and meditate on things. For a while now I've known I wanted to write on pride but have been waiting for God to reveal what about pride to write. I started to really think about it in Theatre Appreciation class (what else is new right? I told you that class changed my life). We watched "Oedipus", and my professor kinda lectured that Oedipus' major character flaw was pride. Then I got to thinking, pride sneaks up on us sometimes and we don't even know it's pride that is affecting certain areas of our lives.
Pride is referred to as one of the seven deadly sins. Why? Well like C.S. Lewis states in the above quote, "through pride the devil became the devil." We often use Isaiah 14:12-15 as a parallel to Satan:
It is dangerous territory to trod when we start trying to be higher than God. So this morning as I sat on my deck I was thinking about the book I just finished reading called, "Radical Together." And I was thinking about the selfish pride we possess in our churches today. I asked God to lead somewhere in the Bible this morning that shows an example of pride. So God lead me to Genesis 11, the story of the tower of Babel. I want to focus on verse 4-6 which states:
The tower of Bable was a great human accomplishment. But it was a monument to the people themselves rather than to God; it was to their greatness. But isn't that exactly what is happening in some of our churches? We have become so self-centered. We organize OUR churches as if God exists to meet OUR needs, cater to OUR comforts, and appeal to OUR preferences. Discussions in the church revolve around what WE WANT rather than what HE WILLS. The church becomes a means of self-entertainment and a monument to self-sufficiency. We need to realize that as a church; a body of believers, it is impossible for us to accomplish his purpose in our own strength.
So often, churches do not want to invite others in because it is THEIR church, there is no room for an outsider. They built a tower so it would bring them together and keep them from scattering all over the world. However, that was not God's plan. I've never really understood why God would see this as a bad thing, that nothing would be impossible for them. You see as followers of Christ, our dependency is in Christ our Savior. He delights in showing his glory by giving us everything we need for the accomplishment of his purpose. When we see ourselves as completely dependent, desperate children of God who love exclusively for him, then we will give ourselves in total abandonment to him for his great purpose in the world: the declaration of his gospel and the demonstration of his glory to all the peoples of the earth. We want to stay comfortable in our churches speaking the same language, but God is saying, "No! You need to go and scatter throughout the world and take my name to the streets!" Get off the pew, get off the couch, and go!
We need to also pray, one way to get rid of pride is to humble yourself before an Almighty God and realize He doesn't need you, that is why we are dependent on Him. He is the one who sustains and upholds our lives. Humbled by the reality of a self-existent, self-sustaining, self-sufficient God, chooses us. God does not need you, God does not need me, not my church, our conferences, conventions, programs, building...none of it. Do you know why God involves us in his grand, global purpose? Because He loves us, and has chosen to show his power through us.
A.W. Tozer wrote a book entitled, The Knowledge of the Holy, in it he writes this:
I'll close with a quote from a pastor I like, Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He challenges my thinking. This is important for people understand: "Insecurity is not humility. Confidence is not pride. Don't let religion make you timid. Be bold in Jesus."
One of things I love about Spring and Summer other than pollen and sneezing every 3 seconds is being able outside after being in hibernation for the winter. I enjoy getting up and going out on the deck and listen to creation wake up and "talk" to each other. I'll take my Bible with me and whatever book I'm reading and sit and meditate on things. For a while now I've known I wanted to write on pride but have been waiting for God to reveal what about pride to write. I started to really think about it in Theatre Appreciation class (what else is new right? I told you that class changed my life). We watched "Oedipus", and my professor kinda lectured that Oedipus' major character flaw was pride. Then I got to thinking, pride sneaks up on us sometimes and we don't even know it's pride that is affecting certain areas of our lives.
Pride is referred to as one of the seven deadly sins. Why? Well like C.S. Lewis states in the above quote, "through pride the devil became the devil." We often use Isaiah 14:12-15 as a parallel to Satan:
"How you are fallen from Heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.'
It is dangerous territory to trod when we start trying to be higher than God. So this morning as I sat on my deck I was thinking about the book I just finished reading called, "Radical Together." And I was thinking about the selfish pride we possess in our churches today. I asked God to lead somewhere in the Bible this morning that shows an example of pride. So God lead me to Genesis 11, the story of the tower of Babel. I want to focus on verse 4-6 which states:
"Let's build a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies-a monument to our greatness! This will bring us together and keep is from scattering all over the world." But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. "Look!" he said. "If they can accomplish this when they have just begun to take advantage of their common language and political unity, just think of what will do later. Nothing will be impossible for them!"
The tower of Bable was a great human accomplishment. But it was a monument to the people themselves rather than to God; it was to their greatness. But isn't that exactly what is happening in some of our churches? We have become so self-centered. We organize OUR churches as if God exists to meet OUR needs, cater to OUR comforts, and appeal to OUR preferences. Discussions in the church revolve around what WE WANT rather than what HE WILLS. The church becomes a means of self-entertainment and a monument to self-sufficiency. We need to realize that as a church; a body of believers, it is impossible for us to accomplish his purpose in our own strength.
So often, churches do not want to invite others in because it is THEIR church, there is no room for an outsider. They built a tower so it would bring them together and keep them from scattering all over the world. However, that was not God's plan. I've never really understood why God would see this as a bad thing, that nothing would be impossible for them. You see as followers of Christ, our dependency is in Christ our Savior. He delights in showing his glory by giving us everything we need for the accomplishment of his purpose. When we see ourselves as completely dependent, desperate children of God who love exclusively for him, then we will give ourselves in total abandonment to him for his great purpose in the world: the declaration of his gospel and the demonstration of his glory to all the peoples of the earth. We want to stay comfortable in our churches speaking the same language, but God is saying, "No! You need to go and scatter throughout the world and take my name to the streets!" Get off the pew, get off the couch, and go!
We need to also pray, one way to get rid of pride is to humble yourself before an Almighty God and realize He doesn't need you, that is why we are dependent on Him. He is the one who sustains and upholds our lives. Humbled by the reality of a self-existent, self-sustaining, self-sufficient God, chooses us. God does not need you, God does not need me, not my church, our conferences, conventions, programs, building...none of it. Do you know why God involves us in his grand, global purpose? Because He loves us, and has chosen to show his power through us.
A.W. Tozer wrote a book entitled, The Knowledge of the Holy, in it he writes this:
Almighty God, just because He is almighty, needs no support. The picture of a nervous, ingratiating God fawning over men to win their favor is not a pleasant one; yet if we look at the popular conception of God that is precisely what we see. Twentieth-century Christianity has put God on charity. So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say enjoyable, to believe that we are necessary to God...
I'll close with a quote from a pastor I like, Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He challenges my thinking. This is important for people understand: "Insecurity is not humility. Confidence is not pride. Don't let religion make you timid. Be bold in Jesus."
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