Precluded By The Presence Of Pride
Part 57 - Luke 14:1-14 (ESV) - Pastor Tim Kroeker
James 4:6:
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
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In his classic apologetic work, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis describes the core beliefs of historic Christian faith. In chapter 8, entitled “The Great Sin,” Lewis writes, “I now come to the part of Christian morals where they differ most sharply from all other morals. There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else and of which hardly any people…ever imagine that they are guilty themselves.”
The vice to which Lewis refers is pride. Pride can be a difficult to define. The dictionary defines pride as both “reasonable self-esteem” and “exaggerated self-esteem.” Taking pride in your work is certainly virtuous. But, you’ve probably worked with an arrogant coworker who thought he was better than everyone else. It’s one thing to be proud of your child’s accomplishments. But, no one wants to be around a braggadocios parent.
While we may use the word in a variety of ways, the Bible defines pride as sin. Pride in the Bible is conceived of as arrogance or conceit. And everyone, whether a Christian or not, would agree with C.S. Lewis, when we see it in other people, it’s ugly.
As we continue reading in our salvation story Jesus points out the problem with pride. The scribes and the Pharisees were scrambling to grab prominent places around the dinner table, exchanging privileges amongst themselves. These weren’t just bad manners. Their pride would keep them from entering into the kingdom of God. We too should test ourselves for the presence of pride.
