A. Once there was a guy named Zeke who had so much pride he could never admit he was wrong.
1. One day Zeke wandered into the blacksmith shop with sawdust all over the floor.
2. A few minutes before Zeke arrived, the blacksmith had been working on an uncooperative horseshoe, and had beat on it until it went from red-hot to black.
3. The blacksmith decided to give up on it and tossed it over into the sawdust on the floor.
4. Just then Zeke walked in, looked down and saw the horseshoe, but not knowing it was still hot, picked it up – and as you would expect, Zeke dropped it immediately.
5. The old blacksmith looked over his glasses and said, “Kinda hot, ain’t it, Zeke?”
6. Unwilling to admit his mistake, Zeke said, “Nope, just doesn’t take me long to look at a horseshoe.” (Charles Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, pg. 466).
B. Once there was a freshly promoted lieutenant who wanted to impress the first private to enter his new office, so he pretended to be on the phone with the general so that the private would know he was somebody important.
1. “Yes, sir, General, you can count on me!” said the lieutenant and then he hung up the phone.
2. Then the lieutenant asked the private what he could do for him.
3. The private said, “I don’t need anything from you, Sir, I am just here to connect your phone.”
C. What in the world is it that causes us to act like the two men in those stories?
1. The answer is pride.
2. Pride is a complicated emotion that can be very helpful, or extremely harmful.
3. God has created us with the capacity to feel the emotion of pride so that we can benefit from good pride and avoid the destructive nature of bad pride.
4. In his classic book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis devotes a chapter to pride called “The Greatest Sin in the World.”
a. With his characteristic insight and clarity, Lewis demonstrates that pride is that “greatest sin.”
b. Lewis describes the right kind of pride as “I’m proud of my son” and the wrong kind of pride as “I have to be the best. I have to be number one.”
c. After discussing all the subtle nuances and the ins and outs of pride, Lewis ends the chapter saying: “If you have read this and you’re convinced that this does not apply to you, then it certainly does apply to you.”
D. So if we find ourselves thinking that we don’t have a problem with the emotion of pride, then we better watch out, because pride can be a great deceiver.
1. I remember many years ago, a very unkempt man attended our worship service – his clothing was tattered and dirty, and his hair and beard were long and scraggly.
2. After worship, I went up to him to introduce myself to him.
3. What I didn’t know is that in addition to his look of poverty and homelessness, he was a severe stutterer.
4. I extended my hand to him and said, “Hello, I’m David, what’s your name.”
5. With great difficulty, he replied, “My name is John and you are prideful.”
6. The whole experience was surreal, and after an initial thought of: “how dare you…” my spirit within acknowledged: “perhaps this is God’s message for me, from a very unusual source.”
E. Before we focus on the dangers of pride, let’s spend a minute on the good side of pride.
1. Good pride is a feeling of a reasonable or a justifiable self-respect.
2. Good pride is a desire to do our best, to work hard and to take pride in our work.
3. Good pride is the feeling we get when we see our children doing well, we are proud and thankful for them.
4. Good pride says, “God made me, God has gifted me, I’m valuable and useful. I can and should feel good about myself, in light of all this.”
F. Here are a few biblical examples where good pride is discussed in a positive light.
1. Good pride allows us to feel pride in something we’ve done well.
a. This kind of pride isn’t boastful or self-centered, but is a feeling of satisfaction over what we’ve accomplished.
b. The writer of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament declared, “Nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works” (Ecclesiastes 3:22, NKJV).
2. The apostle Paul expresses a positive kind of pride when speaking of the feelings of pride that Christians can have about themselves or others.
a. In 2 Cor. 5:12, Paul wrote: We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart.
b. Paul wrote this about the Christians in Corinth: I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions. (2 Cor. 7:4)
3. When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he explained to them another aspect of positive pride: Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else. (Gal. 6:4)
a. Good pride is a proper assessment of ourselves in reference only to ourselves, not in comparison with others.
4. God wants us to feel good about ourselves, because we are His creation and when we honor God and use the lives and gifts He has given us for good, then we should take pride in that.
G. But sinful pride—the kind the Bible condemns—is far different from that good pride.
1. Sinful pride is self-centered and boastful, and makes us take credit for everything we are and everything we do.
2. Instead of realizing that we are dependent on God, in our pride we ignore God and believe we can get along without Him.
3. Ezekiel the prophet was sent to the king of Tyre with a message of judgment against his pride:
“Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.” Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god. (Ezek. 28:2)
4. We might not have a full-blown case of pride like the king of Tyre, but our case can be just as destructive.
5. Our pride can cause us to turn away from God or refuse to acknowledge God as we should.
6. Pride can blind us to the fact that all our abilities, achievements, possessions, and relationships are not due to ourselves, but to the gifts and grace of God.
7. This kind of pride can causes us to act arrogantly, to have an inflated view of ourselves, to be conceited, and judgmental.
8. Someone has said, “Pride is the idolatrous worship of self. It is the national religion of hell.” (Mary Lewis)
H. Throughout the Bible we see this fundamental principle repeated: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
1. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
a. I like the way The Message renders this verse, “First pride, then the crash – the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.”
2. Proverbs 3:34 says, “He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.”
3. In Isaiah 13:11, God declares: “I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.”
4. The apostle Peter wrote: “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Pt. 5:5b-6)
5. The Bible has a number of powerful examples of God carrying out this principle – let’s spend a few minutes with a few of these examples so we can learn from their mistakes.
I. We don’t have to go very far from opening page of the Bible to find our first example - Eve.
1. In Genesis 3 we learn the story of the sin of the first woman and man whom God created.
2. As you know, God put them in a beautiful garden, with lots of freedom, and only one restriction. “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen. 2:16-17)
3. When the serpent tempted Eve, he played upon her pride.
a. He said to her that although God said she would die if she ate the fruit, that’s not true.
b. He told her that what would happen is that she would have her eyes opened and would be like God knowing good and evil.
4. It was pride then that caused her to want to be like God, and so she took the fruit and ate it and gave it to Adam and he ate it.
5. As you know, God was not happy about that and confronted them.
a. Adam blamed Eve, and even blamed God for making Eve.
b. The woman blamed the serpent.
c. But God held them all accountable.
d. He cursed the serpent and He punished Adam and Eve.
e. They were forced to leave the garden, and the rest of their lives were to be filled with pain, toil and eventual death.
6. The sin of pride is very costly, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
J. In Acts 12, we are told the very short story of how feelings of pride destroyed King Herod.
1. One day while Herod, the puppet king the Jewish nation, was wearing his royal robes, sitting on his throne, being all important, he delivered a speech to the crowd.
2. The people shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” (Incidentally, just in case you are wondering, when I preach, no one says that about me. And that’s a good thing!)
3. You talk about heaping praise on a person! What do you think was going on in Herod’s mind?
4. The Bible says, “Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” (12:23)
5. God doesn’t often bring punishment that swiftly, so I wonder if sinful pride had been an ongoing problem in Herod’s life and this was just the final straw.
6. Nevertheless, this is a powerful example of the biblical truth: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
K. The clearest example of all is the story of King Nebuchadnezzar - His story is found in Daniel 4.
1. Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon and had been used by God to take Israel into captivity.
2. Later, Nebuchadnezzar’s made an image of gold, 90 feet high and 9 feet wide, and forced everyone to bow down to it.
a. You will recall that the three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to do so, and were thrown into the fiery furnace.
b. But God saved them from the fire and taught Nebuchadnezzar in important lesson about God, but the lesson wasn’t enough to keep Nebuchadnezzar out of trouble with pride.
3. Later God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream that troubled and frightened him greatly.
a. He tried to get his magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners to interpret the dream, but they could not.
b. Finally, he called upon a Hebrew named Daniel to interpret the dream.
4. The dream was a strange one about a tree that would be cut down, with only the stump remaining.
a. The stump would be drenched with the dew of heaven, he would live with the animals among the plants of the earth, and his mind would be changed from that of a man to that of an animal, till seven times pass by for him.
b. Daniel explained that the king was the tree that was so tall and strong and beautiful, that Nebuchadnezzar had become great and strong, and his dominion extended to distant parts of the earth.
c. But just like the tree had been cut down, so would Nebuchadnezzar be brought down.
d. Nebuchadnezzar would be driven from his people and would live with the wild animals, eating grass like cattle and being drenched with the dew from heaven.
e. He would be in that state for seven years, until he acknowledged that Heaven rules and then his kingdom would be restored to him.
5. Daniel advised the king that he should renounce his sins, do what is right and be kind to the oppressed, and maybe God would relent.
6. We don’t know what Nebuchadnezzar did, but 12 months later, he was walking on the roof of his royal place in Babylon, when he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (4:30)
7. Here we have a classic example of bad, sinful pride.
a. Nebuchadnezzar refused to acknowledge his indebtedness to God.
b. He exalted himself and strutted on top of his palace like a male peacock in full array.
c. And then the bomb dropped…
8. While Nebuchadnezzar’s words were still on his lips, a voice from heaven declared, “This is exactly what I tried to warn you about in that dream.”
a. Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled.
b. He was driven away from his people, he ate grass like cattle, his body was drenched with dew and his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle, and his nails like the claws of a bird.
c. He was in that state for seven years, but at the end of that time, Nebuchadnezzar raised his eyes toward heaven, and his sanity was restored and he praised, honored and glorified God.
d. His position and splendor were returned to him, and he became even greater than before.
9. But listen to the lesson that Nebuchadnezzar had learned about God, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride, he is able to humble.” (4:37)
L. The final example I want to point to is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18.
1. It’s a story that Jesus told, and I saved it for last because it not only gives us a good, bad example, but the story also contains a good, good example.
2. Luke introduces the story with this statement: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:” (18:9)
3. Jesus said that men went up to the temple to pray.
4. One man was a Pharisee - which means that he was a very religious man with an upstanding reputation in the community.
5. The other man was a tax collector - which means that he was hated by the people, because of the shady and underhanded tactics of tax collectors. (You know how much we like IRS agents.)
6. The story goes: The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God I thank you that I’m not like other people – robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I’m a good guy, I fast and I tithe.”
7. Meanwhile, the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, “God have mercy on me. Forgive me for I am a sinner.”
8. So, from God’s vantage point, who was the good guy and who was the bad guy?
9. Jesus concluded: “The tax man rather than the Pharisee went home right with God, because one man was full of pride, while the other was humble.”
10. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (18:14)
M. As I bring this sermon to a close, let me give us something to work with.
1. I trust that we all want to feel healthy and good pride, and all of us want to avoid developing feelings of bad pride.
2. It seems that the key to doing so is to develop humility.
N. As we reflect on the examples we have looked at today, two lessons become very clear.
1. First, God will go to great lengths to show us that He is Lord.
2. Second, God’s purpose in dealing with our pride is always for our good and His glory.
3. God loves us too much to allow our pride to go unchecked.
4. He will sometimes go to great lengths to get our attention and cause us to acknowledge our dependence on Him.
5. As much as that might hurt at times or as confusing as it might be, God wants us to surrender our bad pride and let go of the reins and trust God to lead our lives.
O. I have to admit that some of my greatest spiritual challenges have been in the areas of pride, ego and self-centeredness.
1. I’m thankful for the help that God and others have given me, to help keep me from being destroyed by the effects of feelings of bad pride.
2. Nevertheless, the temptations to trust in myself, to take credit for my accomplishments, to compare myself with others, and in general to think of myself more highly than I ought, are ever with me and I have to keep them in check.
P. The cure for sinful pride and its effects is humility which leads to good pride.
1. We must learn to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand (1 Peter. 5:6).
2. Humility recognizes that what I am and what I can ultimately be is by the grace of God.
3. Humility is not about humiliation or low self-esteem, rather, it is a right, God-given esteem.
4. Humility is not denying the power or ability you have, but admitting that that power or ability comes from God and attempting to use it for God’s glory.
Q. To keep pride in check and have the right kind of humility, I try to do the following:
1. I try to be conscious of my ongoing need for God.
2. I put my trust in God’s mercy, and not in my achievements.
3. Instead of comparing myself with others, I try to see myself and others through God’s eyes.
4. This will make a huge difference in our relationship with God and our relationships with others.
R. I heard about a kids club and their clubhouse they had made out of cardboard.
1. The kids had come up with some important rules that they hung in their clubhouse.
a. #1 – Nobody act big. #2 – Nobody act small. #3 – Everybody act medium.
2. Not bad theology.
3. Good feelings of pride shouldn’t made us feel too big or too small, but feel right in God’s sight.
Resources:
“Avoiding the Mistake of Pride” Sermon by David Owens
