Lately I have had this strange urge to look into the topic of pride. It all started after I saw a quote from C.S. Lewis that reads, “According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. It was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” But after reading that, I was reminded of a Bible class lesson I had @ LCU about 5 years ago, in which the teacher made the argument that God is a very proud God, however, the pride of man is a far cry from the pride of God. This morning I want to first off look at some of the ways we express pride that the Lord Himself frequently does, but then I want to show how His pride differs from that which we ourselves experience.
I call the first expression of pride the “I Am Expression.” This one phrase “I Am” can be a very potent expression. “I am the President of this or that company.” “I am the captain of this or that team.” “I am the preacher this morning.” All these phrases express a pride in the speaker’s position, and with that comes an unexpressed demand of respect. We should be careful about the way we use these “I Am” expressions. But God Himself uses these exact words simply for His name. EXODUS 3:14 On several other occasions God claims “I Am the Lord your God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” This is a phrase that we hear regularly throughout the Old Testament. In my study, it seems to me that every other verse in the book of Leviticus ends with the phrase “I AM THE LORD.” Jesus even plays on this claim in the book of John. John 8:58 says “"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" And in John 10:30 Jesus makes the claim that He is God. However, back in John 8:50 Jesus says I am not seeking glory for myself.” In that same verse, Jesus does however prove to us that God is a prideful God when He says “but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.”
The second expression of pride I believe is the “That’s My Name Expression.” If we look closely at our lives, we are always trying to make a name for ourselves. We want people to hear or think of our names, and have a certain picture of who we are. Most of us strive to build a good name for ourselves. Actors, Athletes, and Businessmen are very concerned with their names, and very often their names can become very popular/valuable. Consider a plain t-shirt or a simple pair of shoes. Print the name of a famous athlete, Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan for instance, along with their endorsement and you have a product that every one wants, and is worth about 10-20x more than it was before. Autographs boost the value of common, mundane items. Names carry a great deal of pride.
Unfortunately God doesn’t care about your name, He only cares about His. Consider Abram and Jacob. God changed both of these men’s names. GENESIS 17:5, GEN. 32:28 Think about the stories and the histories these men had, but God didn’t care about the names they had built up for themselves. He changed them without any reservations. But consider God’s consideration of His own name. EXODUS 3:15, 20:7, 33:19, LEV. 19:12. God takes His name so seriously that in Lev. 24:16 it reads “anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.” That’s some serious pride in a name if you ask me.
But now I want us to look at what exactly the “Pride of the Lord” looks like. Much like joy, love, and everything else, man’s version of pride is a far cry from that of the Lord. In the case of pride, it tends to get us into trouble more than it gives us the result of greatness which we are looking for. Like C.S. Lewis said, it leads to every other sin and it was through pride that the devil became the devil. Look where pride got Moses, Samson, even Adam and Eve fell to a small seed of pride. Through the “Pride of Man” many people become alienated and oppressed. But the “Pride of the Lord” lifts people up and helps those in need. The difference between the “Pride of Man” and the “Pride of the Lord” is that Man prides himself for himself while the Lord prides Himself for His children.
Consider the Israelites story in the book of Exodus. In Exodus 5:2, Pharaoh claims that he does not know the Lord. But in Exodus 7:5, 14:4, and 14:18 God says that He is doing these things so that the Egyptians would know that He is the Lord. Joshua 4:24 says “He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God." And Joshua 1:9 says Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." How much more peace this claim brings knowing that God has so much pride in Himself that all the peoples of earth would know and fear Him.
The reason God cares so little for our names and so much for His is because He places His name on His children, making their names greater than they would be without Him. Remember our example of athletes, products and endorsements. God endorses us. God’s name is so great because of the great pride He has taken in building it up that He can take a worthless product, a sinner like me, and make it worthy of righteousness through His name. God does not want us to misuse or profane His name because He does not want to disgrace us when He places His name on us.
Pride is dangerous. As human beings we are incapable of practicing it like God does, and therefore we twist and tarnish its true beauty. Back in John 8:54 Jesus says “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.” 2 Cor. 10:17-18 says “But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” I argue that it is good to have a little pride, but that pride need only be in God. Consider the Israelite army as they take the land of Canaan. After every won battle the victory cry was “FOR THE LORD!” Consider the men who marched around the walls of Jericho. It was not by their marching that the walls fell and they may have had a sense of pride in their victory, is was not in their marching, but in the fact that God was with them and would do mighty works for them. We should only express pride with a phrase like “I am a child of God,” and also in actions that will help build up His name. Only through our pride in God, through our desire to glorify Him, can we ourselves be glorified by Him.
0 comments:
Post a Comment