Cultural Reflections – The Problem of Pride
I was reading an article about a disgraced youth pastor who had been accused of sexual assault by youth in the church where he has served. What is concerning about this is that it happened in the church, and it was allegedly perpetrated by a long serving pastor. Without going into detail, I think what we can learn from this is to always stay humble. Pride is the opposite of humility.
Sin Happens
Pride causes us to think that we are doing well, when the reality is that it takes one moment of unguarded thought and sin can get a foothold. Sin happens when we lose the knowledge that we are fallen and prone to sin. I am not yet fully sanctified, neither are you. In Luke 18, Jesus relates the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who are praying. The Pharisee praises himself because of his personal righteousness, but the tax collector says this:
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
Luke 18:13 ESV
This is the attitude of a person who takes sin seriously. This is also the attitude of someone who will be careful not to fall into the same sin again. No, this doesn’t make one sinless, but the knowledge that I could fall into sin again makes me vigilant against it. When I take holiness for granted, I begin to assume that what I do could never be sin. That is usually a prelude to something destructive in my life.
The attitude of the tax collector was humility, the bible has a bunch to say about humility. The attitude of humility is a cornerstone of the Christian life.
He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
Psalms 25:9 ESV
God values humility in His people. A humble person recognizes who they are, who God is, and why they need Jesus so badly. Do you want to steer clear of sins pitfalls? Become a humble person.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
1 Peter 5:6 ESV
Remember, we are sinners, and we need Jesus, more now than ever before!
For His glory and our good!
Pastor Jonathan Welch
