THE
TIGHT GRIP OF ARROGANCE
Love
is Not Proud I
Corinthians 13
Evidence of an over inflated opinion of ourselves comes from the College
Board that administers the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the SAT exam, which
millions of high school students take each year. On that test there are a
number of other questions besides the ones about math and English which the
students are asked to answer. For instance, they are asked to evaluate their
leadership ability. Recently in an exam, seventy percent of the students rated themselves as
above average in leadership, and only two percent as below average. Sixty
percent rated themselves as above average in athletics while only six percent
said below. When they rated themselves as to how easy they were to get along
with, 25 percent said they were in the top one percent, sixty percent said they
were in the top ten percent, and absolutely no one said he was below average in
being easy to get along with.
Obviously
high school students have a very high opinion of themselves; they have pride in
themselves, at t times they appear to be rude to others. Now is this the kind
of pride that says, "I have something to offer this world to make it a
better place," or is it the kind of pride that says, "I’m better than
you"? We hope its pride that offers to build a better world; otherwise, it
is arrogance.”[1]
Let’s not just blame the students saying, they are arrogant or proud, if we are
not watchful, we too can be in the “TIGHT GRIP OF ARROGANCE.
In our
series on the Most Excellent Way, so far we have looked at: Love is being patient,
Love is kind, Loved does not envy and Love does not boast. Today we will look
at another aspect of what love does not do. Love is not proud or arrogant. For
our study I am using the word arrogance, in order to show the difference
between what the bible describes as pride and the pride we take in our
achievements and accomplishments. According to scriptures pride or arrogance is
much more evil and that is what makes us to stumble and fall. Let’s see the
context in which the Apostle Paul exhorted believers not to be proud or
arrogant.
THE BACKGROUND:
The
apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthian believers prompted by a report
received by one of the house group leaders. That report contained, how people
were bragging and boasting, tolerating sexual immorality and how divided they
were. It also referred to some people who remained arrogant. As a responsible
church planter, Paul addressed some of these problems initially through his
letters and later on by visiting them in person.
Let’s
see the level of arrogance that was prevailing in the Corinthian church. I
Corinth 4:6, “what is written, in order that no one of you might become
arrogant (puffed up) in behalf of one against the other.” I Cor 4: 18-21, “Now
some have become arrogant (puffed up), as though I were not coming to you. But
I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out not the words
of those who are arrogant but their power.” For the kingdom of God does not
consist in words but in power. What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a
rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness? Here we see Paul’s rebuke of those
who speak arrogantly and indiscriminately. Some were even asserting their
rights “to say or do anything” without realizing that not everything is
beneficial and constructive. Can you imagine, some rich people were even
humiliating the poor, at the Lord’s Supper? Let’s look at the biblical view of
arrogance.
I THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF ARROGANCE
Arrogance or pride
first found its place in the heart of the anointed cherub Lucifer who later on
became Satan. Ezekiel 28: 17, “Your heart became proud on account of your
beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you
to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.” After having been thrown down upon the earth,
Satan used arrogance which was the main cause for his down fall to cause many
stumble and fall. The scripture give us many such examples where God humbled
arrogant people.
For example,
consider how arrogance of heart has brought down a sovereign king of the great
empire Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar built a huge golden image of himself and
mandated everyone to bow down and worship his golden statue. Those who refused
to worship were thrown into a fiery furnace. A year has passed after that
decree. One day King Nebuchadnezzar looked at the great city of Babylon from
his palace, and his heart began to be puffed up.
“Is not this
the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power and
for the glory of my majesty? While he was still speaking God punished him saying,
“you will be driven away from your people and live with the wild animals; you
will eat grass like the OX. Daniel
4:28-32
In the OT,
the Hebrew word “Zadown” appears
eleven times and has a range of meanings, including: pride, haughtiness,
arrogance, insolence, rebelliousness. This kind of pride presumes to have more
authority than is warranted. King Nebuchadnezzar presumed more authority than
what had been given to him hence God humbled him.
King Nebuchadnezzar’s story is a stark reminder
as to what will happen to those whose hearts are filled with arrogance. Many
people inadvertently take pride in their accomplishments and successes. They
attribute success to their smartness, brilliance and strength.
We see this
playing out all the time, especially among athletes during the Olympics,
celebrities, business people and among politicians. We seldom see them giving
glory to God for their achievements. Well may be, it is too much to expect from
people who do not know their God or do not have a personal relationship with
him. But how about us, who are called by God and are saved by His grace? How
are we to respond to our achievements and all our blessings? “Let’s not be
deceived, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
James 1:17
Let’s pause
and think of this scripture, is there anything you can honestly say is yours,
or I accomplished by my own strength? Absolutely, there is nothing we have that
is ours, unless it has been given to us from above. Therefore, let’s not be
arrogant, and be like King David, who gave glory to God saying, “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and
faithfulness.” Psalm 115:1-2
I. LOVE IS NOT ARROGANT
I Corinthians 13: 4-5, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant” (ESV).
Let’s define the word arrogance. Arrogance is an insulting way of thinking or behavior that comes from believing that
you are better, smarter, stronger, or more important than other people.
It is an inward emotion that can easily offend others and carries with it an
inflated ego, an attitude of superiority and condescending.
Let’s admit, in the world a lot of
people genuine think that being arrogant or projecting a superior persona is a
sign of strength. They walk around demeaning and bullying others in order to
satisfy their inflated ego. But how does God view arrogance? How does he deal
with those who are arrogant? Is it OK for us to be arrogant?
III. BREAKING THE GRIP OF ARROGANCE
God takes it seriously when people
are arrogant. Haughtiness numbers one in the list of the things that God hates
(Proverbs 6:17) A haughty spirit or having haughty eyes means we look down upon
others in a condescending way. God hates that kind of spirit. God opposes the
proud and gives grace to the humble. Whichever way you look at it, arrogance is
not acceptable to God, besides pride goes before a fall. It is for our benefit
we learn to deal with arrogance.
Let’s admit that arrogance comes in
all different shapes, sizes and forms and emerges out of a heart that’s subtly
or overtly lured toward pride. Either intentionally or unintentionally we all
can fall into the tight grip of arrogance. At times I see this propensity in my
own heart, when I notice it I need to repent of it. How are we to loosen
ourselves from the tight grip of arrogance? The only way we can break the grip
of arrogance is by cultivating an attitude of humility.
Unfortunately,
in our country not many people like to hear this word humility. Being humble is
not considered to be cool instead it is viewed as a weakness. Yet when I read the scriptures, I find
humility is something that we all must aspire for as it is the essence of what
we are to be as Christians. Let me share a few suggestions that might help us.
Firstly, consider others better than
yourself. I know it is easier said than done. As we all have a bias thinking
that we are better than others. But when we intentionally practice it by being
respectful to others and paying attention to what they have to say, we might
learn and grow in our understanding. Secondly, exercise restraint and
discretion in our conversations. We read in James 1:19, “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must
be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
Thirdly, when we do not have something constructive to say it would be
better to remain quiet as there is sin in multitude of words. Proverbs
10:19, “When words are many,
transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.”
Fourthly, If you are given to speaking arrogantly, ask God to cleanse your
tongue and have him fill you with grace, then you may speak words that will be
edifying and building others up rather than tearing them down. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your
mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it
may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29.
Finally, let’s be reminded that there is no
place for arrogance in the community of believers. If we want cultivate the
most excellent way of living, grow in grace, and be free from the grip of
arrogance, we need to look at Jesus who is our prime example, when it comes to understanding
and growing in humility. “Though, he was in
very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his
own advantage, rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a
servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a
man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and
on earth and under the earth.(Philippians 2: 6-8) Amen
[1] http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-sermoncentral-statistics-emotions-humility-temptationpride-5109.asp
