除掉你的驕傲 Pry out Your Pride March 1, 2009

INTRODUCTION

Today we will talk about a problem we all have. Some people are more seriously affected by this problem than others. The more you deny about the existence of this problem in your life the more serious this problem affects you. No, I am not talking about your weight or the savings in your bank account. I am referring to pride.

Three kids are bragging about how fast their dads are. The first one said, “My dad is really fast. He can dash 100 meters in less than 15 seconds.” Then the second kid reacted, “My dad is faster than your dad. When he shoots an arrow he can run to the target and grab the arrow before it hits the target.” The third kid responded in contempt, “Those are nothing compared to my dad. He gets off work at 5 but he can manage to get home by 4:30.”

We will begin our study by looking at the definition of pride in the Bible. Then we will examine how pride is demonstrated in our life. Lastly we will learn how we should guard our hearts so that we will not be overcome by pride.

EXPLANATION

1. 驕傲的定義Profession of Pride

How does the Bible look at pride? Let us consider the three Greek words that used to describe pride in the New Testament.

All the three words appear in 2 Timothy 3:1-5: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

First, there is the word “boastful.” It talks about those who pursue after the possessions and honor of life for the purpose of showing off to others.

The same word appears in 1 John 2:15-16 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” In that sense the NIV properly elaborates the meaning by adding “what he has and does.”

I confessed that I was overcome with this kind of pride when my wife and I bought our first new car. At that time we were still living in an apartment. We could see our new car parking outside through our balcony window. Whenever our neighbors stopped and examined this brand new car my heart was filled with pride. It did not take long before God’s discipline came. The first bump on the door was like a slash on my arm. My wife rebuked me for paying too much attention to this earthy thing. It was not until the second or the third bump before I confessed before the Lord. After all, that car was given to us by Him and we should use it for His glory.

As we go back to the Timothy passage the second word for pride is rendered “proud” in verse 2. It describes to the state of overestimating oneself and thus treating others with contempt.

The third word for pride in 2 Tim. 3:4 is translated as “conceited” in the NIV. It refers to the condition of being inflated with pride. Such persons are blinded by their pride.

In 1692, Harvard College adopted as its motto Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae —“Truth for Christ and the Church.” Its emblem showed three books, one face down to symbolize the limitation of human knowledge. But in recent decades that book has been turned face up to represent the unlimited capacity of the human mind. And the motto has been changed to Veritas—“Truth.” The pursuit of knowledge is a good thing. But the failure to admit a limitation on human wisdom and to humble before God who is the source of all truth can easily lead to pride.

Without a question, it is obvious that pride is a sin. In fact pride is ranked number one in Proverbs 6:16-19 among the seven things that the Lord hates: “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: ¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, ¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”

2. 驕傲的表現 Expression of Pride

How is pride expressed in our lives? Let us consider a prominent Biblical character. King Saul had a humble beginning. A timid young man became a mighty warrior. But when Saul had all the power in his hand he forgot that his mission was to lead the Israelites to follow God. So goes the saying: “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Just like the people he led Saul did not like God to be his king. In 1 Samuel 15 after the battle with the Amalekites God handed a pick slip to Saul through Samuel the prophet. As we are about to see pride plays a decisive role in the downfall of Saul. God made His command clearly through Samuel in verses 2-3: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. ³ Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” Many people, Christians included are stumbled by the idea of God commanding the Israelites to completely destroy another nation. Let me try to give a short answer to such a difficult question. A very important thing we need to bear in mind is that God’s command to destroy a whole nation occurred only during the Canaan conquest. The land was filled with people like the Amalekites who worshipped the false gods. Because of that they had all sorts of wicked practices like infant offering or despicable sexual conducts that were detestable to God. God did not want the Israelites to follow what the local residents practiced. A thorough way to take care of the problem was to remove all those people. The spiritual implication is that when we deal with sin it is to be complete. If you want to know more about the background, please refer to Exodus 17:8-16 and Deuteronomy 20.

Saul’s response to God’s command reveals several signs of his pride. As we look at them one by one let us do some self-examination before the Lord and see if these signs dominate our lives as well.

A. 我行我素 My Way or No Way

Saul followed his own judgment rather than God’s command. Verses 7-9 read: “Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. ⁸ He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.” Saul picked and chose what he liked to do instead of following God’s command wholeheartedly.

As you serve in the church do you always insist on your way of doing things? You say to yourself: I don’t need anyone because I can do it all. You prefer to work on your own and find it bothersome to work in a team. You like to give advice but it is hard for you to receive advice.

B. 炫耀己功 “I did it!” Syndrome

Saul did not give glory to God for his victory. Instead, he sought after his own glory. Verses 12-13 tell us that: “Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, ‘Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.’ When Samuel reached him, Saul said, ‘The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions.’” He wanted people to remember his name for what he did.

Are you eager to serve in a prominent position so that other can easily see you? There may not be anything wrong if you feel good about something you did. But would your heart turn sour if the people around you fail to praise you for your accomplishment? You do not only want things to get done but also want people to recognize that it is done by you.

C. 錯不在我Not my fault

When Samuel confronted Saul with his sin he refused to admit it. On the contrary he tried to justify his wrong-doings. In verses 15 and 21 he blamed the soldiers for keeping the best of the sheep and cattle so that they could be sacrificed to the Lord. When he finally admitted his sin once again he shifted the blame to the people in verse 24: “I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.”

When the Holy Spirit convicts you of your wrong-doing do you find ways to justify it or shift the blame to others? Are you willing to say: “I am sorry and please forgive me” to a brother or sister you have offended? Or do you try to argue by saying: “I did wrong because you wronged me first?”

D. 死要面子 Face “Lift” A Must-Have

Even after God declared that Saul’s throne would be taken away and given to his successor his focus still remained at seeking after his own face. Saul replied Samuel in verse 30: “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”

Do you take pleasure in hearing someone mention your name? Do you care more about titles, honors, certificates than how others know you as a person? Do you put too much attention on using something external to prove your self-worth? Do you feel ashamed of yourself because you make less than others, your house is smaller than others or your kid attends a lesser known college?

A prideful person like Saul cares only about himself. He does not only disregard others he also closes his eyes to God.

3. 驕傲的對付Suppression of Pride

How should we deal with our pride? If pride is the sin of over-esteeming oneself then the antidote for pride would be to humility. There is another Saul in the New Testament whose name was later changed to Paul. There were a lot of things Paul could have taken pride for. Look at Philippians 3:4-6: “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.” Paul claimed that he was a pure-breed Jew. Since he was born he had done everything right according to the law. He graduated from the Hebrew University with an honor degree. He received training from the best instructor to become a teacher of the law. On the top of all that he tried to persecute those who follow Christ, a cultic movement in the eyes of the Jews at that time, for the love of God. From background, family, education to social status Paul was a perfect person. Who can challenge him?

But the day Christ revealed to him on the road to Damascus Paul understood that he had been following the wrong crowd. He continues his testimony in Philippians 3:7-9: “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” In the past Paul compared himself with the people around him and felt prideful. But when he met Christ and looked at himself from God’s perspective he realized that he had nothing to brag about. He did not and could not earn his righteous status before God by his own effort. It was all because of God’s grace in Christ. All the prestige he had became meaningless in comparison to the richness of the knowledge of Christ. What does Paul take pride in now?

Being a servant of Christ for the work of the gospel Paul disregarded all his Jewish heritage and privilege but willing submit to Christ as he says in Galatians 6:14-15: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.”

Paul’s example shows us how we can practice humility in the body of Christ. First we have to see ourselves through the eyes of God. It is only when we go back to the cross can we re-affirm our true identity. We were sinners but Christ chose us before the foundation of the world. We are saved by grace through faith apart from our good work. Everything we have is from God. We do not need anything else to prove our self-worth. On the contrary we should gladly enjoy what we have received from God and wisely use the resources we have for His glory.

Then we consider ourselves in relation to our brothers and sisters. Paul says in Romans 12:3 that: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” In the following context Paul reminds us about the different spiritual gifts each believer receives from God. There should not be any lone ranger in the church because we need one another to make up the body of Christ.

Then in Philippians 2:3-4 Paul adds: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” If we can truly humble ourselves before one another and to consider the interests of others than our church will be a church of love.