IS
BOASTING EVER ACCEPTABLE?
Love Does Not Boast I Corinthians 13:1-13
A few years back the movie the Titanic
came out. It was a box office smash. People seemed once again fascinated by
this tragedy at sea. About 1,500 people lost their lives in this ship wreck
tragedy. This great ship was said by the media to be: “Unsinkable” – even God
himself could not sink her” said one paper of the day! The Titanic was considered to be the best
technological ship in the world. She
boasted of being the fastest passenger liner in the sea. So how did she sink? An arrogant leadership ran her
full steam 20.5 knots (24 miles per hour) through an iceberg filled sea,
thinking that nothing could hurt her. They ignored warnings from other ships
and continued at full speed.
If you study why this ship sank 3 reasons
surface quickly from the Movie and from History’s investigation: 1. Pride and arrogance – of the company leaders and
the officers on board. 2. The attitude of
discontentment had set into many involved with the ship. 3. The liner’s company wanted to boast of having one of
the fastest luxury liners in the world. The company wanted to use this voyage
to promote the ship of dreams.[1] In the end, that kind of
boasting led to a watery grave for about 1500 people. It seems in the world of business, academia, sports
and politics unless we boast or brag about our achievements, successes, ratings
and poll numbers we cannot survive. But how about in the life of a believer and
in Churches, is boasting ever acceptable? Does competition and boasting exist
in churches?
Whether we notice it or not, competition and boasting certainly
exist in churches. And it resides in your heart and mine if we are honest
enough to admit it. Whether we like it or not we are living and raising our
children in a culture where boasting is very normal. But is it ever OK for
Christians to boast? How can we live differently? What is the antidote for
boasting? In our series on, “The Most Excellent Way” so far we looked at the
following: Love is Patient, Love is Kind, and Love does not Envy. Today we will
look at another aspect, of love, “LOVE DOES NOT BOAST” I Corinthians 13:4-5
THE
BACKGROUND:
What
do we know about the city of Corinth and the Church in Corinth? Corinth was an
important cosmopolitan Greek city located about fifty miles west of Athens. It
was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. Corinth was on a major trade
route and had a thriving economy. Greeks, Romans, Jews, and a mixed multitude
of sailors and merchants flocked to this crossroads. Corinth was known for its
stylish architecture. The Corinthian church might have been a bragging Church.
We get a glimpse of it’s bragging in the first few verses of I Corinthians
Chapter 13: I can only imagine, whenever they got together for worship or for
small group study one could hear subtle boasting : Some were boasting about
their association with, Paul, Apollos, Peter and even Christ. Others were bragging
about the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues, prophecy, word of wisdom and
word of knowledge, gifts of mercy, and even martyrdom. etc.
This
kind of bragging may have sounded normal to the one who was boasting but may
have irritated the rest of the congregation to an extent, it was brought to the
Apostle Paul. So he steps in addresses saying, you can brag all that you want,
but if you do not have love you amount to nothing.” Then he affirms one of the
functions of biblical love is that, “Love does not boast.”
I. THE
BOASTING TRAP
The
dictionary definition of Boasting is “talking with excessive pride and
self-satisfaction about one's achievements, possessions, or abilities. It is
bragging or gloating over, or simply showing off.” We come across braggers
everywhere! Some may not even realize they are bragging big time. An American missionary
friend of mine who lived in India for a long time and now lives back in the US,
has this to say on his culture and history blog about the highly competitive
culture of America: “Americans
seem to have a need, perhaps out of a competitive and numbers oriented culture,
to constantly make very sweeping statements about our nation and what it has
achieved. Or what we have personally accomplished or the group we belong to.”
Why
do we feel the need to boast and brag? Where is it stemming from and is it
wrong to brag? We may say well it is part of our culture, or that was how we
have been raised. Partly it may be true, but in reality boasting is not only an
American phenomenon, it is a universal problem and it is a spiritual problem.
What does the Bible say about boasting and how we can avoid this boasting trap?
II
THE BIBLICAL VIEW ON BOASTING?
Historically
speaking, boasting goes way back into the Garden of Eden, when Eve reached out
to the forbidden fruit and ate, because she wanted to gain wisdom and be like
God. Subsequently, we have seen an insatiable quest to know, to gain wisdom and
to be like God. For example, see the thought process of the survivors after the
first universal flood. They wanted to build a city and a tower that reaches to
the heavens. In other words they wanted to build the greatest city and the
tallest tower ever. For what purpose? So that they can make a name for
themselves. If that is not boasting, then what is? (Genesis 11:1-3)
Even today, there are people who use
superlatives such as (highest, largest, longest, tallest, best, brightest and
biggest) inorder to boast about their achievements and successes. People may be
overawed by your success, but God is least impressed by your boasting. Several
scriptures suggest how God views boasting:
I Samuel 2:3-5 “Don’t dare talk pretentiously, not a word of boasting,
ever! For God knows what’s going on. He takes the measure of
everything that happens.” Prov 25:14, “Like billowing
clouds that bring no rain is the person who talks big but never produces.”
Some, loudly and proudly announce what they will
do or predict what will happen in the future. Hear what the scripture says
about such bragging. “Don’t brashly
announce what you’re going to do tomorrow; you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. Don’t call
attention to yourself; let
others do that for you.” Prov 27:1-2. Let’s admit, sooner than later we get
tired of such blatant and boastful rhetoric of certain people. The bible calls
them the ungodly.
Kind David was tired of such people
during his time who were arrogant, boastful and never gave God the glory. He
used some harsh in his prayer. Psalm 12:2-4, “All the friends I depended on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; Lies slide off their oily lips. They
doubletalk with forked tongues. Slice their lips off
their faces! Pull the braggart tongues from their
mouths! I’m tired of hearing, “We can talk anyone into
anything!” Our lips manage the world.”
When we read these scriptures our
reaction would be one of, No way! Not me! Certainly boasting is not OK in the
church and ministry, but it is necessary to boast and to compete in business,
politics or sports. Let truth be told, these scriptures give us zero evidence
that boasting should exist within the Christian community. Knowing these
scriptures well, I believe the apostle Paul exhorted the Corinthian believers,
if they were to express love toward one another and live in harmony they must
not boast. He showed them the most excellent way.
If we are honest with
one another we struggle with a drive to be seen, heard, and recognized more
than others, and when we are not we get hurt. When we gather on Sunday morning
or around a small group bible study we all have a tendency to boast and let
other people know that our views or opinions are better, hence they must listen
to us. I used to have a friend, who always thought that he had the best advice
and others had no option but to listen to his advice. If that is our attitude
then it is very hard to build a loving community which is a part of our vision
statement, where we respect, honor and accept each other for who they are not
because of what they can bring into our community. What is the antidote of
boasting?
III. THE
ANTIDOTES FOR BOASTING:
To deal with our habitual
boasting we pay attention to where boasting is coming from. It does not come
from the Lord, but from the father of lies who is in the world. I John 2:15-17
“Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t
love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.
Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting
everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the
Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting,
wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.”
The
antidotes for boasting is cultivating humility the attitude of Christ and
choosing Joy, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we genuinely rejoice
for and with others, there will be no room for competition and striving. Imagine
if instead of viewing each other with a critical spirit we chose to affirm and
celebrate one another. Imagine if instead of manipulating others toward our own
agenda we chose to complement one another. When we make such choices we will
have a loving community where each one is affirmed and valued. Those who visit
us on Sundays would love to come back and be part of such community.
More
on a practical level. The
next time when we are in a group, or with our spouse, children or even a complete
stranger, let’s resist the urge to boast or self-reference. When you feel like
bragging or boasting in a conversation catch yourself and ask the Lord to give
you strength to remain quiet and overcome boasting. Consider others better than
yourself.
In
conversations, don’t always wait for others to ask you questions, you take the
initiative and ask questions, show interest on others, pay attention to what
they have to say instead of waiting for a chance to jump in and dominate the
conversation. In group study or prayer time try to be short in your responses, and
prayers. Give others a chance to speak by you remaining silent.
There
may be other creative ways to work on our habitual boasting and building a
loving community. As we choose to live
the Most Excellent Way, let’s remember, Love Does Not Boast. The antidotes for
boasting is cultivating humility and choosing Joy. Steve Macchai notes, in his
book, “Choosing joy is an option for every believer, in spite of any and all of
our life’s genuinely realistic circumstances.”
Let
me close with the words of prophet Habakkuk 3:17-19, these words are
particularly helpful when we are going through real hardship, “Though the
cherry trees don’t blossom and the strawberries don’t ripen, though the apples
are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, though the sheep pens are
sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I’m singing joyful praise to God. I’m
turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God’s Rule to prevail,
I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I’m king of the
mountain! Amen
[1] http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-michael-mccartney-stories-45884.asp
