“And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.” (Isaiah 2:17, ESV)
Isaiah speaks of a glorious day, a day when the Lord shall defeat the quintessential sin in our lives once-and-for-all. What is the quintessential sin? It is pride. From the time of Satan’s rebellion, the fall of Adam and Eve, until today pride has been the underpinning of all sin and rebellion against God.
Consider the gravity of this sin. Satan’s temptation of Eve was that she could have the knowledge of God and be like God. Adam partook as well in rebellion to the direct command of God, which has its roots in pride. Man’s refusal to submit to the supreme authority of God clearly is an issue of pride. Thus, all disobedience to God and the Holy Scriptures is rooted in pride.
Pride has influenced every natural person born throughout human history. It produces the most heinous of sins. Pride manifests itself in covetousness, jealousy, greed, strife, division, etc. Pride shackles people from progressing in their journey with God towards Christ likeness. Pride hinders our productivity in life and in our service for the Lord. Pride causes people to be opinionated and summarily reject the thoughts and ideas of others without consideration.
Pride is the most deceptive of sins for it masks itself, causing people to think they do not struggle with it. Thus, people flawed with pride will proclaim their own humility. These same people are quick to point out the splinter in another’s eye without pulling the beam out of their own eye.
Perhaps the most vile and destructive form of pride is spiritual pride. Spiritual pride is a plague that oppresses the church. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for manifesting the spirit of self-righteousness, which is pride.
How does spiritual pride hinder the church? Have you not seen ministries in churches that have long passed their usefulness and yet, are there just because someone in the church started it? Have you never heard this statement, “We never did it that way before?” Have you not seen people impose their personal preferences not caring for the preferences of others? Have you not heard of people that when they could not get their own way left a church?
In this age we will constantly struggle with this most basic of sins. Our greatest fault is to downplay or overlook the fact that every person, whether non-believer, Christian, church leader or pastor, struggles with pride. It is not until we admit that we struggle with pride that we will be alert to the devil’s evil schemes aimed at hindering us in life and ministry. Once we are alert to the subtle ways pride weaves its way into our lives and our churches, we can combat this in the spiritual plane. Victory is possible over it for Christ defeated pride for us.
Yes, I do look forward to the day of which Isaiah speaks, a day when we will no longer have to fight pride. In that day we will exalt Christ alone. We will no longer exalt others or ourselves. However, until that glorious day we must stay alert and fight this sin of pride, resisting it by God’s grace. Isaiah concludes with this same thought.
“Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?” (Isaiah 2:22, ESV)
Let us not exalt ourselves, but rather He who gave us life. Fight the problem of spiritual pride!
Renewing the Heart 