C.J. on Pride

So, given my personal history, what groundless self-assurance could possibly motivate me to lift the hood that day to examine my engine? The only thing I actually know how to do is check whether the container for window-washer fluid needs refilling. So I checked that - with great authority. (It was more than half full.)

Then I shut the hood (also with great authority) and, proud fool that I am, got back into the car and turned the ignition once more - as if my having merely stared at the engine was sufficient to repair it; as if the broken parts were now calling to one another, "He's seen us! Get back together, quick!"

Yet as I turned the key again, the same violent shriek issued forth.

Only at this point did I finally go back in the house to do what I should have done earlier: I telephoned the repair shop to notify them of my car's condition - fully ready to pass along to them my firm conviction that the problem was not the window-washer fluid container.

Now you might assume that in a normal being, such ineptness couldn't possibly coexist with any significant measure of pride. Someone as unskilled as I am would, naturally, be humble right? However, without a doubt I can assure you that both incompetence and pride are very evident in my life.

The sad fact is that none of us are immune to the logic-defying, blinding effects of pride. Though it shows up in different forms and to differing degrees, it infects us all. The real issue here is not if pride exists in your heart; it's where pride exists and how pride is being expressed in your life. Scripture shows us that pride is strongly and dangerously rooted in our lives, far more than most of us care to admit or even think about.

John Stott has clearly thought about this and wrote the following: "At every stage of our Christian development and in every sphere of our Christian discipleship, pride is the greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend."

We've seen promise of humility - the gracious support of God. But we must also be aware of the great perils of pride - not just occasionally or under certain circumstances, but at every stage and in every sphere. Throughout our time on this earth, and in every arena of our lives, you and I share a common greatest enemy: pride.

-C.J. Mahaney-

-Kyle-