He introduced himself as the “Rev. Dr.” The way he said it made me know he wanted me to inquire about his degree, so I did. When he told me where he had attended and the degree he held from that institution, I knew he was a fraud. That particular school did not even have a degree program in that field of study! Later I learned that this man had left a pastorate when his fraudulent claims were uncovered. I have never claimed a degree I did not earn, but I find myself acting the part of a proud fool occasionally. I hear words designed to impress coming from my mouth, or present myself as a hero in my own story.
What makes us do such things? That ancient sin called Pride! We all want to be voted ‘most liked,’ or ‘most successful,’ or ‘coolest guy’ don’t we? From the moment we become aware of ourselves as toddlers, we play the ‘look at me’ game, first with Mommy and Daddy, then with friends, and then for the world around us. It’s been said often that ‘we buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like.’ Dave Ramsey, the financial guru, makes this wry observation: “I'm not against people having new cars. I'm against them having you. We spend a tremendous amount impressing somebody at the stoplight who we'll never meet. It makes you broke and keeps you broke.”
Pride robs us of ourselves. It makes us frauds, pretenders, wanna-be’s who are incapable of living contentedly right where we are. It sabotages our ability to experience joy today by convincing us that we need to be someone else to really be ‘it’ – whatever we think that may be. The Bible tells me that Jesus was a person not known for His ‘cool’ factor! "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isaiah 53:2-3, NIV) He was born a nobody, came from nowhere, had no degrees. Yet, God lifted Him up. Jesus was "in very nature God, (but, He) did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:6-7, NIV) "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name!" (Philippians 2:9, NIV)
Disciple, find joy in being yourself. If God makes you a king, then be a good one. If He makes you a servant, then do it well. Those who are richest in joy are those who know who they are and who have learned to ‘live in their own skin.’ Contentment is a choice we can make, by letting go of pride. It’s not the same as complacency. Many people have given up on life and settled for mediocrity, calling that contentment. We press on to become all that Christ has called us to be, but not to earn applause of those around us. Our focus always must be to please the One who knows us best and loves us most!
Choose humility as your way of life. Humility is not to be confused with being a doormat, nor is it refusing excellence! We are not being humble when we will not accept legitimate affirmation or appreciation. Humility is simply being content to belong to God while being confident in His promise and the strength of the Spirit.
Here’s a word from the Word for those who would turn their back on pride and take up humility.
"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." (1 John 2:15-17, NLT)
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