Now That's a Conundrum
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Story about choosing the text
Read quote from Last week’s sermon.
Greg said, “Invite your friends, relatives, neighbors, and co-workers...
Were you here last week? Last week I said, “Invite your friends, relatives, neighbors and co-workers to our annual Invite a friend service and Thanksgiving Dinner.
Monday morning I Came into the office and prayerfully began to consider what I would preach on this week. As I usually do, I checked the lectionary to see what texts were chosen for this time of yer. The lectionary is a book that has taken scripture and divided it up over a three year period. Some, churches turn to the lectionary every week to decide what scripture will used for service. Anyway I have a few, and I happened on the “Book of Common Prayer, 1979 version, for no particular reason at all, and turned to the text and it was turned to , and remember I had just preached Sunday so my words were fresh in my head, and I read,
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say.
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Luke 14:12
Transition
Do not invite your friends and relatives? Now that is a conundrum. What do we do do with those two seemingly incompatible ideas? Do we invite people, or Do we not invite people? Is Church growth bad? Is that even what Jesus is talking about?
In order to answer those questions we need to look at the the full passage and see what Jesus was talking about. This morning turn with me to , and let’s see what Jesus said, and how it may apply to us as we prepare for the annual “invite-a Friend” worship and dinner. So please join me in prayer as we begin.
Prayer
Luke chapter 14 can be broken up into several segments. We can divide it up into the following sections.
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say.
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
“ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
can be looked at as several sections.
Luke chapter 14
1-6 Healing on Sabbath
1-6 Healing on Sabbath
7-11 Parable to the Guests
12-14 Parable to the Host
14-24 Parable to All
opens with Jesus attending a dinner at the house of a prominent Pharisee.
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.
There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body.
Luke
Luke writes that Jesus was being carefully watched. There is something that is less than genuine going on here. The Pharisees are up to something.
The Healing on the Sabbath
The Healing on the Sabbath
This situation that is going in , it is still quite common today. It probably happens more than you realize. For many years I was out in the business world, and I am well familar with this type of meeting, let me explain.
This happens all the time in Business. There are three types of business meetings. The first, is very straight forward and genuine. You know what to expect. It is a friendly meeting. People are pleasant to one another. There is not much of a negotiation necessary, it usually occurs over lunch, and so many fun stories are exchanged, that you barely get to the business. Then there is the hostile type, again at least it is straight forward and you know what you are getting into. You can be prepared. Usually there is not a meal. One group marches in and sits on one side of the conference table, the other side sits at the other and right from the beginning the negotiations begin. But there is another type, perhaps the most insidious. The ambush, the snake in the grass, the blindside. This one is where one party really tries to gain the upper hand and take advantage of the other party. It is hard to believe people do this, but believe me they do, unfortunately all to often. They invite someone to lunch, and it starts pleasant enough, how was your vacation, been hunting, that kind of thing the, out of nowhere they make a massive, often exaggerated, and sometimes even false accusation. It is designed to get them back on their heels. A first punch.That is what is going on here. The Pharisees are being a bit less than genuine.
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.
There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body.
Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
Hey Jesus, old buddy, ya got a great ministry going there, why don’t you come to dinner, on the Sabbath?
Pharisees set it up to see what happens
Then this man, is brought in front of Him. Some translations say dropsy, today we call edema. It is a build-up of fluid in the body. It is caused by an organ failure, like heart or kidney failure.
is placed right in front of Jesus
The Pharisees, you see are experts of the law, so what they are doing is testing Jesus. , God has a law. It says rest on the Sabbath. If you are really God surely you are holy and from God you going to follow the law right? Kick this poor guy out.
The Pharisees, you remember are experts of the law, so what they are doing is testing Jesus. God has a law. It says rest on the Sabbath. If you really are God, or at least a representative of God surely you are going to follow the law right? They are waiting to see if Jesus will kick this poor guy out.
In Jewish culture at that time, sickness, uncleaness, the unfortunate were often associated with sin. It was often thought of as their, or even their parents fault for being in that position. This sinner had no business here among the Holy Pharisees, right? Jesus here is your opportunity to show how good and Holy you are kick this guy out.
On other occasions Jesus has healed on the Sabbath, so perhaps Jesus won’t kick out this sinner, perhaps he will heal Him. Then the Pharisees can show that it is Jesus that is sinner for doing work orn the Sabbath. Either way, the Pharisees are showing off their belief that they are somehow spiritually better than others.
Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
Jesus, recognizing the situation instead decides to ask the lawyers a question. He obviously sees right through their little scheme, perhaps letting them know he is on to them. Kinda like church politics in the first century. So Jesus ask them is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? And cue the crickets.....
At this pointJesus decides to ask the lawyers a question. He obviously sees right through their little scheme so he asks them, Is it lawful or not? -Cue the crickets
They don’t answer
But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
Jesus heals Him. Jesus has compassion on this man. Compassion over the the Pharisees and teaching us that it is always right to show compassion, even on the Sabbath. Then Jesus asks the Pharisees another question.
Jesus Heals Him and sends him away
Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?”
And they had nothing to say.
He asks them again
Nothing to say- just crickets. Jesus cut right to there heart. He points out that they are disingenuous, they are hypocrites, they are less than forthright. When the situation benefits them, then it is another story. When it benefits them they have no problem with violating the sabbath. And when Jesus points that out- Cue the crickets.
No one has anything to say-hush of conviction?
Summary
The scene here is really
Jesus has turned the tables. The whole things was a set-up, from the beginning. The Pharisees had no intention of honestly having Jesus over for a meal in the first place. They had other plans. If a den of lions invites a mouse for dinner, chances are it is because he is the entree.
The confrontation over the Sabbath happens quite a bit between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees are so busy searching for the mistake, that they miss the miracle. There was a miracle right in front of them. That should have been evidence itself. Jesus warns them. He cuts them to the bone by pointing out there hypocritical nature,
This is another instance of the same
Jesu points out
He cuts them so deep that they remain silent. It is like is someone bringing up tithing at a bible study right. Dead quiet, everyone is looking down, then someone coughs.
The thought that they are Holy, they know the law of Sabbath is spiritual pride. The spiritual pride of the Pharisees blinds them to the work of God. It takes away their Compassion, and leads to hypocrisy.
This is a lesson in Compassion.
The Pharisees lack 2 things. They not Authentic, and they are not Compassionate.
The point is Pharisees that your HEART must be in the right place. Your heart wasn’t in the right place when you tried to set me up, and your heart isn’t in the right place over this Sabbath thing.
Healing on the Sabbath
Authentic
Compassion
Next, Jesus tells a Parable to the guests
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:
“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.
If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.
But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.
For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:
“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.
If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.
But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.
For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Parable to the Guests
Parable to the Guests
Again this parable is not that far from us. Let me borrow from the business world again.
I have witnessed this story a number of times. Sometimes a business groups will put together a luncheon. Like the Minneapolis Realtor Association or something. They hire a well know speaker, and for a reasonable price, you receive a decent lunch and what is the underlying reason is that you have an opportunity to visit with a few business leaders. People go to those things to make contacts. It is an opportunity to for a relationship or a business deal, and everyone stocks thier pockets with business cards. It is sometimes called a netwrking liuncheon, have you heard of those things, or attended?
Luke 14:
Picture a banquet room full of business men and woman, and everyone is trying to mingle, and search for the seat that will provide the best opportunity to make contacts. Sometimes a new person, will get lucky and get a chance to sit next to a bigger established business person. Nervously the new guy sips his water and attempts to start up a conversation that may lead to business. Unfortunately, what happens quite often, is someone else more important comes along and the new guy is quickly dumped, with very little contact. The more important person is asked to join the table and the little guy is politely asked if he could move a few chairs down so that theses two people can talk. It is all done politely. But believe me this happens often and people in that environment don’t even think twice about it. The person that had to get up and move was put back in their place. For a minute there they were important, the potential was on the horizon, but reality set in.
The best thing that can happen at one those things is this. An established group is having a conversation, and they notice you. SO someone from the group says hey everyone allow me to introduce to Jim. Jim has done some work for us before and we really like what he did, Jim come over and join us I want you to meet these fellas.
The best thing that can happen at one those things goes like this. An established group is having a conversation, and someone you know in the group notices you. Someone from the group says hey everyone allow me to introduce to Jim. Jim has done some work for us before and we really like what he did, Jim come over and join us I want you to meet these fellas. Business cards are exchange, relationships are built, and Jim is feeling pretty good.
Jim wasn’t pushy, he wasn’t self-exalting and it worked out well.
It happens all the time. What is the message of this parable to the guests,? What are supposed to learn from that. Jesus directly gives us the message at the very end of the parable.
For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Don’t exalt yourself. Get rid of that pride. Humility. No one likes a know-it-all, especially God. Be humble do not exalt yourself spiritually. We must be humble.
Transition to Next Section.
God will do the exalting . There is no place in God’s kingdom for self-exaltation. Humility.
We will add it to our list.
Luke 14:1-11
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.
There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body.
Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?”
And they had nothing to say.
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:
“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.
If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.
But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.
For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
We must be humble God will exalt those who deserve exalting. There is no place in God’s kingdom for self-exaltation.
Luke 14:1-11
Authentic
Compassion
Humility
Now Jesus aims at the host, the Pharisee. Here Jesus is saying to them, instead of worrying so much about the mistakes, instead of being concerned with your place at the spiritual table, maybe it is time you focus on who you are inviting.
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Parable to the Host
Parable to the Host
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Interesting, Jesus says,
Luke 14:12
Why does Jesus say don’t invite your friends, brothers, sisters and relatives? Because that is not true generosity. True generosity is giving with out expecting to get anything in return. If you invite your sister for Christmas, you might expect her have next Christmas at her house.
Being hospitable to our friends, neighbors and relatives is not commendable it is expected. You should be already are showing them hospitality, you already are in a relationship with them.
True and authentic generosity is giving without expecting anything in return, at least in this life. That is what Jesus is getting at.
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (, NIV)
Jesus says to invite the have-nots. Invite the people that don’t have the privileges, the money, the opportunities, that you may have. They have so little you will not be rewarded by them. Jesus is telling those at the dinner, that they need to be so authentically humble and generous, that they are willing to invite people, who cannot pay them back.
Compassionate. Authentic. Humble and generous, that is what teaches us.
A Church that is
Authentic
Compassionate
Jesus is telling those at the dinner, that they need to be so authentically humble and generous, that they are willing to invite people, who cannot pay them back.
We aren’t really inviting people
Humble
Generous
So we get back to the question that I started with should we invite our friends, neighbors and relatives?
The Bible often makes a parallel with those that are physically poor, or blind or lame, and those that are spiritually poor, and blind, and lame. These are the people that do not have the HOPE that you have, The Hope of Jesus Christ. If our friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives are spiritually blind, or poor or lame, or without hope. It is not just that we should invite them, WE MUST invite them.
Jesus is calling the church to be authentic, compassionate, humble and generous, and the world is watching. Sometimes we as Christians think the world is watching to see if we mess up.
Several weeks ago, during one of our everyday faith class, we discussed briefly how the outside world views Christians. The discussion goes along these lines. We have to be very careful we don’t mess up, becauase the non-Christians are watching for us to do something wrong and then when we do they will be turned off of Christianity.
.
Several weeks ago, during the everyday faith class, we discussed how the outside world views Christians.
Sometimes Christians hear that non-christians are watching them. They have to be careful that they do not sin, or we ill give Jesus a bad name. You have heard that kind of thing right? It is the guy with the fish sticker and road rage. Well I certainly do not recommend a fish sticker for people prone to road rage but what I do want to point out is that in the beginning of , It was the Pharisees that we watching to see if Jesus messed up., not the non-believers More often than not the Christians are the one that are watching other Christians to see if their behavior lines up.
In the begining of , It was the Pharisees that we watching to see if Jesus messed up. More often than not non-christians are far more concerned with authenticity, than perfection. It is the hypocrisy that they see in christians that is distasteful to them. A humble, and authentic, person who is honest about their sin, and their need for Christ is what the Gospel life is about. We are a people in NEED of Christ, who are slowly becoming better than we were.
What non-christians are far more concerned with is hypocrisy. To a non-christian authenticity is more important than perfection. A non-christian is living a life of sin, they need to know that you what Christians struggle with sin too. It is the pretending that we are perfect. It is the hypocrisy that they see in christians that is distasteful to them.
A humble, and authentic, person who is honest about their sin, and their need for Christ is what the Gospel life is about. We are a people in NEED of Christ, who are slowly becoming better than we were. We are not yet a perfect people.
Too often Churches and Christians are caught up in Spiritual Pride and are so afraid of having their own sin exposed among their fellow Christians that they attempt to hide it and conceal it. As a result people see right through it.
So this is how this comes off as Christians try and approach those with out hope.
What happens is the Church comes across as a group of people who know better than they do. The Church appears to them as a group of people who want to fix them up, so they can become one of them.
Too often Church generosity extends only as far as it will grow the footprint.
But that isn’t what God wants His Church to be. God wants his people to be an authentic generous and humble church. So what does that look like.
God wants an authentic generous humble church looks like-We are going to invite those that do not have hope. We are going to find those whose marriages are in trouble, are without work, do not know God, who chase after the next drink or the next dollar, or the next business deal, and we are going to invite them in and feed them.
It look like a Church that invites those that do not have hope. It looks like a group of people that find people whose marriages are in trouble, who are without work, do not know God, who are busy chasing after the next drink or the next dollar, or the next business deal, and then they invite them in, and have compassion on them and feed them.
It is a church who is not going to judge them or look down on them, because we realize that we were at one time in the same place as they were. Maybe not exactly the same circumstances, but one way or the other we were ourselves spiritually crippled, spiritually blind and spiritually poor.
A church that is compassionate, and humble and generous offers those without hope our very best, and does so without looking down on them. It is a church that knows that they cannot fix anyone, but can introduce everyone to God who can. It is a church that is so authentically in love with Jesus that anyone who comes around doesn’t waste there time searching for the mistake, but instead sees the miracles that God is doing when, the poor become rich, and when the lame walk and when the blind will see.
And if during that process God does decide to grow His church well that’s great. But being authentic, compassionate, humble and generous means that our hearts are caring for the PERSON that God brings us and not the membership number.
How does God feel about Church growth. The answer is that God loves his church to be full. He would love see it overflow, but he wants it to overflow with people whose hearts are aligned with his. He is far more interested in the heart of his church, than numbers of his church. He had a whole Nation whose hearts were far from him, and he cut them off.
Brothers and Sisters do we look like that Church? I don’t know I can’t see your heart. I can only see mine, and sometimes I am not as authentic, compassionate, humble, and generous as I should be. Maybe we are close, maybe we far, I don’t know.
But for us to get that place, to truly get to that place is hard, and it will be painful. We each have to get out of our own way, and each of us needs to search our own hearts to make sure that we ourselves are living that life. Don’t look at your fellow church member, or the church as whole, and look for where it is wrong. Instead search your own heart, and see where you may have strayed from those ideals.
We have to die to our own desires, our own pride, our own hypocrisy, and we will have to nail it to the cross. We have to be willing to kill our pride, and be able to humbly admit that we still sin, and we still struggle. We may need to admit that we don’t have God all figured out, that we don’t have all the answers. We have to admit that sometimes when we exhibit generosity we do so with an attitude that we may get something back. We have to humbly admit that sometimes we are so caught up in looking at who is following the rules and who is not that we have missed the miracles that God is doing, sometimes right in front of us.
When you are trying to kill the sins of pride, and hypocrisy in your heart you must replace them with the good things that Jesus talks about. Sure confess your sins to God, then replace them. It you are struggling with hypocrisy, try being authentic with a fellow brother or sister in the Church. If you are struggling with spiritual pride, read a position different than your own, if you are with humility, go out of your way to relate to someone you believe is less than you. If you are not as generous as you should be try practicing some extravagant generosity, even when you know you won’t be paid back.
And we cannot do that on our own. We need the help of the Holy Spirit. He is the one that convicts us of our sins of pride, hypocrisy and selfishness, as well as being the one that helps us to nail those sins to the cross and live a life that is free of those things. I urge you seek after Jesus, plead with the Holy Spirit to help you lead that life, and allow God to work through you.
We cannot even do that on our own without the Help of the Holy Spirit. He is the one that convicts us of our sins of pride, and hypocrsy and selfishness, as well as being the one that helps us to nail those sins to the cross and live a life that id free of those things.So I urge you seek after Jeusus, pleasd with the Holy SPirit to help you lead that life, and allow God to work through you.
In Jesus name
