Pride / Humility

Did you hear about the minister who said he had a wonderful sermon on humility but was waiting for a large crowd before preaching it?

Perhaps you heard about the story of two ducks and a frog who lived happily together in a farm pond. The best of friends, the three would amuse themselves and play together in their waterhole. When the hot summer days came, however, the pond began to dry up, and soon it was evident they would have to move. This was no problem for the ducks, who could easily fly to another pond. But the frog was stuck. So, it was decided that they would put a stick in the bill of each duck that the frog could hang onto with his mouth as they flew to another pond. The plan worked well – so well, in fact, that as they were flying along a farmer looked up in admiration and mused, “Well, isn’t that a clever idea! I wonder who thought of it?” The frog said, “I did.”

This morning we begin discussing the first of the Seven Deadly Sins – pride, and Godly Virtues – humility. There are positive aspects of pride: we can be proud of a job well done or proud of our children. The pride God opposes is an excessive belief in one’s own abilities or worth. It has been called the sin from which all others arise.

Have you ever wondered how a worm get inside an apple? Perhaps you think the worm burrows in from the outside. No, scientists have discovered that the worm comes from inside. But how does he get in there? Simple! An insect lays an egg in the apple blossom. Sometime later, the worm hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats his way out. Pride, like the worn, begins in the heart and works out through a person’s thoughts, words, and actions. Pride, it’ll get the best of us every time.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:1-10)

James had in mind the conflict that leads to split churches. One commentator says of this passage,

Along with his earlier description James paints a picture of a Christian community deeply divided, composed of a variety of groups, some of them marked by different combinations of unwholesome practices. The church is beset by jealousy, selfish ambition, slander, anger, a willingness to depart from received teaching, and a host of other ills that follow the pattern of their culture. The fact that James refers to no specific dispute might signal to us a situation so rife with tensions that the church was at a standstill. In any event, the conflict is clearly within the Christian community, as this is certainly the meaning of “among you.”

James draws a sharp contrast between the last verses of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4. Chapter 3 ends speaking of the character of wisdom “that comes from heaven.” Such wisdom is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” Then James asks what causes fights and quarrels? But he already knows. They come from desires that battle within. James paints a picture of someone striving against both God and others. James paints a picture of someone more interested in their own concerns than the needs of others. James paints a picture of pride. And James addresses it in verse 6:

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

What is the problem with pride?

First, the proud think too highly of themselves.

Those who are proud think more of themselves than they should. They have an unreasonable or inordinate amount of self-esteem.

A Company commander had a young soldier, an E-4, who refused to clean his room. The soldier told his 1SG that cleaning rooms was beneath a soldier of his rank. The Commander called him into his office and asked what rank should clean rooms. The soldier replied, “None above an E-3.” The Commander stated: “You are now an E-3; so, go clean your room.”

As I mentioned last week, the opposite of pride is not humility but shame. God may oppose the proud, but he isn’t look for us to have a poor self-image. God wants us to see ourselves honestly, as he does. There are some who are unwilling to recognize and use the abilities they have, while proud over emphasize their strengths and want everyone else to recognize them.

G Gordon Liddy, when released from prison said, “I have found within myself all I need and all I ever shall need. I am a man of great faith, but my faith is in George Gordon Liddy. I have never failed me.”

Benjamin Franklin made a list of thirteen virtues he wanted to develop in his life. They included among others:

Silence: avoiding meaningless conversation and saying only that which would benefit others,

Frugality: waste nothing, and

Industry: don’t waste time and always be doing something useful.

Franklin set up a book with a page for each virtue. Working on a different virtue each week, he make notes of how he failed to live up to that virtue. For many years he worked on that book. However, as he made progress, he found himself struggling with yet another defect – pride. Benjamin Franklin wrote,

There is perhaps no one of natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it. Struggle with it. Stifle it. Mortify it as much as one pleases. It is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself…even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.

Pride has the uncanny ability of sticking its head up when we least expect it.

Second, the proud sit in judgment of others.

That is part of the cause for struggles and fights. We get into trouble and cause divisions when we compare ourselves with others.

A Sunday school teacher was explaining the parable of the Pharisee and Publican. You remember the story.

One day two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. When the Pharisee prayed, he prayed like this: “Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.” While the Pharisee was praying, the tax collector slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, “God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.” Jesus ended the parable commenting, “This tax collector, not the other, went home made right with God. Everyone who makes himself great will be made humble. But everyone who makes himself humble will be made great.”

When the Sunday school teacher has finished explaining the parable, he turned to his class and said, “Children, let’s bow our heads and thank God we’re not like the Pharisee!”

James says there is an arrogance even in the prayers of the proud.

It’s easy for us to compare ourselves to others and to judge the motives of others. It’s easy for us to hear a sermon and listen for someone else. It’s easy for us to see how others need to change and miss our own need. This condition is best known as pride: seeing the faults of others while ignoring our own.

Jesus described this condition when he asked why we try to remove a speck of sawdust from the eye of another while we have an entire log in our own.

Jude tells us that the archangel Michael would not even judge the devil. He knew that only God is in a position to do so. What we need is to take the words of John 8:7 to heart.

If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.

The proud have no room for God.

Pride makes its own agenda without any consideration of God and others. If we are not careful, pride will rob us of the humble attitude that allows God to give us his wisdom.

The story is told of a rich man in Springfield, Illinois, who insisted that a certain poor man owed him $2.50. When the claim was denied, the rich man decided to sue him. He contacted a young lawyer named Lincoln, who at first hesitated to take the case. On second thought he agreed-if he'd be paid a fee of $10 cash in advance. The client readily produced the money, whereupon Lincoln went to the poor man and offered him $5.00 if he would immediately settle the alleged debt. Thus Lincoln received $5 for himself, the poor man got $2.50, and the claim was satisfied. The rich man foolishly paid three times the original debt, just to gain his rights.

The easiest thing to do in trials is to allow our pride to flare up and begin fighting for what we believe is rightfully ours. Pride may cause us to start thinking, “Why should I have to endure this difficulty?” We may even begin praying for God to give us what we think we rightfully deserve. The motive of a proud person’s prayer is to get their will done in heaven. In prayer they ask God for their requests, which are usually plans to a selfish end. This kind of pride closes its ears to God’s wisdom and its eyes to its own reflection in the mirror of God’s Word. When it knows to do good, it refuses to obey.

There is a Scottish prayer that says,

O Lord, grant that we may be right always, for Thou knowest we will never change our minds.

On the other hand, is humility. God contrasts the proud with the humble. Who are the humble?

First, the humble have an honest view of themselves.

The humble don’t need to brag about strengths nor must they deny accomplishments. They simply let their record speak for itself.

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all.

Winston Churchill was once asked, “Doesn’t it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech, the hall is packed to overflowing?” “It’s quite flattering,” replied Sir Winston. “But whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big.” Churchill wouldn’t allow popularity to go to his head.

Andrew Murray said of humility,

Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is for me to have no trouble; never to be fretted or vexed or irritated or sore or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be at peace as in a deep sea of calmness when all around is trouble. It is the fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ’s redemptive work on Calvary’s cross, manifested in those of His own who are definitely subject to the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Paul understood humility. His letters demonstrate he knew the authority he had as an apostle and wasn’t afraid to use it. But his letters also show he had an honest appraisal of himself. Paul says of himself:

I am the least of the apostles – 1 Corinthians 15:9,

I am the very least of all the saints – Ephesians 3:8, and

I am the foremost of sinners – 1 Timothy 1:15

Paul recognized his faults and didn’t try to defend them.

Lincoln once got caught up in a situation where he wanted to please a politician, so he issued a command to transfer certain regiments. When the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, received the order, he refused to carry it out. He said that the President was a fool. Lincoln was told what Stanton had said, and he replied, “If Stanton said I’m a fool, then I must be, for he is nearly always right. I’ll see for myself.” As the two men talked, the President quickly realized that his decision was a serious mistake, and without hesitation he withdrew it.

Humility is having an honest view of self and willing to admit when wrong.

Second, the humble seek God’s help.

They seek God’s wisdom, not the wisdom of the world. The humble seeks God’s wisdom, listen to God’s word, and seek to do it.

Samuel Morse, the famous inventor of the Morse Coed, was once asked if he ever encountered situations where he didn’t know what to do. Morse responded, “More than once, and whenever I could not see my way clearly, I knelt down and prayed to God for light and understanding.” Morse received many honors from his invention of the telegraph but felt undeserving. He would comment, “I have made a valuable application of electricity not because I was superior to other men but solely because God, who meant it for mankind, must reveal it to someone and he was pleased to reveal it to me.”

George Washington Carver, the scientist who developed hundreds of useful products from the peanut, made a similar comment. Carver would say: “When I was young, I said to God, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the universe.’ But God answered, ‘That knowledge is reserved for me alone.’ So I said, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.’ Then God said, ‘Well, George, that’s more nearly your size.’ And he told me.”

James tells us to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord so that God can lift us up. And Peter tells us to clothe ourselves in humility for this same purpose.

Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. 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. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.(1 Peter 5:5-7)

God’s wisdom is designed to lift us up as we allow his wisdom to direct our lives.

How else could Joseph have forgiven his brothers. When they met him in Egypt, years after they had sold him into slavery, they expected he would seek revenge. As second in command of all Egypt, Joseph certainly held their lives in his hands. He could have sought revenge but he didn’t. Why? Because he allowed God’s wisdom to reign in his life. Joseph told his brothers,

“Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:19-21)

Joseph certainly didn’t start out very humble. But when he humbly accepted God’s will for his life, God was able to use him.

Third, and I think most importantly,

The humble receive God’s grace.

God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

As you read the stories of the kings of Israel and Judah it’s like one long soap opera. Occasionally you see a bright spot, but not often. Instead, you read about kings who rebelled against God and led the people into idolatry. One of the last of the arrogant kings was Manasseh and you can read about how God humbled him in 2 Kings 21. Manasseh had filled the streets of Jerusalem with innocent blood and had even sacrificed his own son. We are told that Manasseh led Israel to do more evil than the nations God had driven out of the land before them.

To get Manasseh’s attention, God allowed Jerusalem to be conquered and Manasseh to be taken prisoner. His captors put a hook in his nose, bound him with shackles, and made him walk to Babylon. We are then told that in his distress he humbled himself before God and prayed. And what was God’s reaction? Well, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. God was moved even by the prayers of this evil king and brought him back to Jerusalem. We are told that Manasseh then knew that the Lord is God.

God’s power for living life well is given to those who humble themselves in his sight.

Chuck Swindoll suggests three actions to increase humility in our lives: sit, stand, bow. First, sit on promoting ourselves. When God wants to use us he knows where to find us. We don’t have to wave a big flag announcing our greatness. Instead, trust God to promote your cause.

Second, stand up for others. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3-4:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

The humble see value in others – even in those who have caused them troubles – and are willing to serve them.

Third, bow low before God. As we will see tonight, we must accept God’s discipline and not resist it. Or as Peter put it, “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.”

To be honest, I feel not just a little hypocritical preaching a sermon on pride and humility. I can assure you these words aren’t meant to point out specks in your eyes, they are instead observations I have made about the planks in my own.

The Seven Deadly Sins are listed starting with the worst. I would like to be able to say that each one will get a little easier, but I doubt that will be true. Pride is however, the source of all other sins. If we are unable to get a handle on this one, we will have a hard time becoming the people God wants us to be.

Pride prevents us from seeing ourselves as we should or from seeing others as we should. Pride prevents us from apologizing or saying I’m sorry. It prevents us from building bridges and mending fences. Pride prevents us from repenting of sin. Pride is contrasted with humility. God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to humble.