Pride and Humility - Which One Defines Us?

This morning my Bible lesson is a story that always amazes us. Mark 9:33-37 is the story in which Jesus catches the disciples in a pride filled moment. Take a look.

Mark 9:33-35
And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”  But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.  And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

I love this story. I find it humorous that when Jesus asks them what they have been discussing they just ignore Him and refuse to answer. It’s funny because the man asking the question already knows the answer, He’s God and they know it. The parallel verse from Luke 9:47 explains that “Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side.” The response of Jesus is classic. He just sits down and gets to the point of revealing their prideful hearts.

We read these stories and wonder how the disciples could be so dense. Jesus is the epitome of humility and they have been under His teaching for a good while and yet they are arguing over which one of them is the greatest.

But who are we to criticize? Many of us have been following Christ a very long time. I have. Yet pride continues to plague us as well. Jesus doesn’t need to know the reasoning of our hearts, He could simply open our Facebook pages where we fill the internet with stories about us. We post this dreadful thing called the selfie and what could possibly defy the concept of humility more? I do it. Just yesterday I put up a post that seemed to be humorous but at its core was my deep-seated desire for approval of others. The world of psychology has convinced us that our problems are rooted in a lack of self-esteem but that is simply not true. We are filled with self-esteem and a desire for more, just as the disciples were. And its destroying this culture. We are the me, me, me culture.

The Bible is replete with instruction against pride. Humility is the hallmark of the true Christian life, yet it is a rare trait amongst even Christians today. This morning we need to go back to the Bible and be reminded of what it says about pride.

Pride defiles us. Look at the other things pride is lumped together with. Be careful judging the sins of others; we aren’t really any better.

Mark 7:20-23
And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.  For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Pride disgraces us.

Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

 

Pride stirs up strife.

Proverbs 28:25
He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife, But he who trusts in the LORD will be prospered.

 Pride will bring judgment.

Proverbs 16:5
Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

Pride is an abomination to the Lord. That ought to scare the pride right out of us and it ought to break our hearts.

God does not want us to be prideful in any way of any thing we do. In truth, we didn’t even do it; He did.

Isaiah 66:2
"For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

God has made clear what He expects of us.

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

Jesus warned us.

Luke 14:11
"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Paul exhorted us.

Philippians 2:3
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

James instructed us.

James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Jesus set the example as Paul explained.

Philippians 2:5-8
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. There is that word again; obedient. Humility is not an option for the Christian and if we made it real in our lives we would change the world.

I am guilty. How about you?

The writer of Hebrews speaks to our hearts and I close with that reading. We all need to regroup and refocus. This is a good place to start for none of us are where we ought to be.

Hebrews 12:1-4
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.  In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Is It I Lord?

It appears to be human nature that when we are a part of something for a long time we become complacent. We think we know everything there is to know about it. We become proud and we lose sight of the possibility of failure. Certainly time and experience give us reason to be confident in our own abilities. Sometimes doing a job and doing it well requires we carry ourselves with confidence. But the life of a Christian should not be compared with the ways of the world.

Listening to a sermon last night on a study of communion and what we commonly call the Last Supper, I caught something in God’s Word, that though I’ve read and heard many times over, brought a fresh insight into my mind. Listen to the story.

Matthew 26:20-22
When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.  And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”  And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”

Jesus has just announced that someone in His closest collection of friends is about to betray Him. As these twelve men hear this each and every one of them suddenly lose the festive mood of the Passover Meal and become filled with sorrow. Being upset over this terrible prediction of treason is a normal reaction. But then did you catch what happened? They “began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”

“Is it I Lord?” Why would each and every one of these twelve men ask that question? Hadn’t they faithfully followed Jesus for some three years or so? We can understand why Judas would feel guilty; he WAS about to betray Jesus. But what led the other eleven to question their own loyalty now?

God does nothing out of randomness and this story is not just there for us to look at in wonder at the weakness of the disciples. The greater question we must ask of ourselves is this; is it I Lord Jesus? Am I going to spend years of my life serving God and believing in Jesus only to in the end to betray Him in some form of Christian treason?

The simple answer from scripture is no. The reason we won’t fall completely into rejection of Jesus is that we aren’t His by our own efforts. We are His because God has chosen us. Far too many Christians refuse to accept the doctrine of election. But it is a crucial doctrine that when properly understood gives us assurance of salvation. My point here is not to teach the doctrine of election, you must read God’s Word and let the Holy Spirit lead you to the truth. But it is important to know that we need to stop placing faith in self and only place it in Christ. Most of us have sang hymns such as In Christ Alone, yet we live out our lives in a state of sorrow because we keep trying to do all this in our own power. Or we live our lives with our heads held up way too high thinking we have got this Christian thing down.

The truth is and the Bible is clear on this; we are going to fall and stumble. There are clear Biblical warnings.

2 Peter 3:17
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness…

The Bible is also replete with the stories of men who did stumble and fall and often after God had used them in mighty ways. There is no greater example than Peter, who just hours after insisting to Jesus that he would go to the bitter end for Him denied he even knew the man, much less was he willing to stand up and die for Him.

The lesson is a simple one. We need to humble ourselves before Almighty God and confess our weaknesses. We need to acknowledge our own sinfulness. One of the best ways to do this is to read God’s Word continually from beginning to end. It has been rightly said that the Bible is like a mirror; it shows us who we are. But only if we look into it deeply can it reveal the true self, because a superficial glance does not show the wrinkles and the scars.

We must beware of pride.

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

The truth is this; if we are Christ’s then we will persevere.

John 6:37-39
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

But this does not mean we cannot slip off the path and fall to temptation.

I don’t know what was going on in each of the minds of the eleven disciples that night. Maybe they each had some secret sin they were holding on to. Most of us do.

Maybe simply being in the presence of Jesus made them aware of their own humanness and they realized how prideful they had become. Maybe they were remembering the arguments over which of them was the greatest. How often do we look down on someone in the pew next to us?

What matters to us is that we humble ourselves before Almighty God and ask Him to be the power that saves us and the power that sustain us. He is.  Let Him take control. Put your faith only in Him. In Christ alone my hope is found. How about you?