SO YOU REALLY THINK YOU ARE SO HUMBLE? : PART 2
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Turning The Other Cheek, Christian Fellowships, Sideshows Of
The Spiritually Dead, Pride And Saving Face, Guarding Our
Tongue, Godly Exhortation And Correction , Accountable To
God, The Galatian Compromise, Hard Sayings, Manpleasing,
Absoluteness And Authority Of God's Word, Harsh Legalism vs
Love And Mercy, Light Of The Gentiles, Conversion Of Paul
I find it rather interesting how our pride causes us to
react differently depending upon the situation in which we
find ourselves. For example, some dedicated Christians have
no problem when they are verbally challenged, attacked and
criticized by unbelieving people of the world. For the most
part, it is usually easy for us to endure this kind of
persecution, because in our heart and mind we rationalize,
'Oh, they are just blind children of the world who don't
understand our Christian faith. They don't know the Lord or
His Word, and that is why they act that way'. Because we
adopt this attitude, it is fairly easy for us to, as we say
in American slang, 'let their words roll off of our back'.
The verse that comes to my mind is the following:
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
(1 Corinthians 2:14)
In other words, we know that their hurtful words are spoken
out of ignorance of God's Word, and because they may not
even have the Spirit of God, and thus no real spiritual
discernment, so we don't let them bother us too much. In
fact, sometimes, we have a tendency to become rather proud
of the fact that we are able to, as Jesus said, 'turn the
other cheek' with the people of the world:
"And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also
the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to
take thy coat also." (Luke 6:29)
We feel so good and holy about ourselves. In a symbolic
sense, we self-righteously give ourselves a little pat on
the back and tell ourselves that we are being such a good
Christian example to the world. Because of our pride, we
sometimes convince ourselves that we have no problem dealing
with criticism and other forms of verbal persecution. This
kind of attitude can be very dangerous, because as we saw
earlier, the heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked; who can know it?
As proof of the above, consider that when we are closely
involved in some form of Christian fellowship, such as with
a church congregation, or with a prayer group, or with a
Bible study group, our reaction to such hurtful words can be
very different. Unlike the children of the world, such
fellowships are normally full of Christians who do know the
Lord, and who do know His Word. The spiritual standard in
such gatherings of the Saints is normally much higher than
that of the world, particularly if they are relatively small
fellowships. In some cases, there is much greater spiritual
intimacy and unity, although not always.
If you personally are involved in such a fellowship, you
must maintain a seriousness about your relationship with the
Lord; and you must realize that you are not just there to be
entertained, or to be flattered. In other words, not only
should you be there to be encouraged, to be inspired, and to
be fed spiritually, but you should also occasionally expect
to be corrected when necessary, and to be motivated to do
more for the Lord. In other words, you should be there to
grow spiritually, to make progress in your life and walk
with the Lord; and this is not always easy. It requires a
great deal of personal humility. There is no room for pride
in such an environment.
Sadly, as I explain in some of my other articles, this is
where part of the problem lies; because quite a few churches
today are merely circus sideshows. They are there for the
appearance only; they are there to entertain and to flatter
only; they are not there to meet the spiritual needs of the
congregation. They are cold, and they are dead. In fact,
some people who attend such churches are no longer even
interested in the spiritual aspects of their lives anyway.
They are as spiritually dead as the dead stones of which
their church is made. This is what the Lord was referring to
when He told one person who wanted to follow Him, to let the
dead bury the dead. Jesus was referring to letting the
spiritually dead bury the physical dead, being as a
physically dead person cannot possibly bury another dead
person:
"And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me
first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him,
Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead."
(Matthew 8:21-22)
Some people within organized religion are only interested in
creating the right appearance, and in giving the right
impression, in order to maintain their standing within the
community. They don't want their priest, pastor or minister
to rock the boat. They love to have things just the way they
are; but this is nothing new. The corruption and compromise
of organized religion has been going on for literally
thousands of years. Many of the Old Testament messengers,
like the young Prophet Jeremiah, warned us about it; and the
Apostle Paul likewise warned us that the very same situation
would exist in the Last Days. Consider the following verses:
"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by
their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will
ye do in the end thereof?" (Jeremiah 5:31)
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall
turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
What a sad picture of modern Christianity! Thank the Lord
that, while this appears to be the prevailing attitude
amongst many churches, there are still some dedicated
Christians who are sincerely seeking to please the Lord and
do His Will. These are the kinds of Christians with which we
are concerned insofar as this topic of pride is concerned.
You see, the fact that we are amongst other Christians in
our fellowships, makes a difference in how we choose to
react to suggestions and lessons, and even criticisms, which
may be presented to us. While it may be easy to ignore or to
disregard words which are launched at us by the unbelieving
world, when a well-meaning brother or a sister in the faith
says something which hurts or offends us, or which strikes a
chord with us in some way, we often tend to just fall apart.
The facade of false humility which we present to the outside
world quickly disappears, and up go our walls of pride. The
reason we do this is because we feel we have to save face.
We have to protect our image. It is the very same syndrome
of self-preservation. Our thin Christian veneer has been
scratched, and everyone gets a look at the horrors within;
but we don't want them to see those things, do we?
One thing we have already seen in this series, is that we
are all sinners; we all make mistakes; even we Christians.
Sometimes we do indeed say or do things which are hurtful
and unloving. The Apostle Paul battled with the evilness of
his own flesh, so why shouldn't we have to do the same?
Sometimes these offenses are intentional, and sometimes not.
Sometimes we simply do not take the time to prayerfully
consider the results before we say or do certain things. Oft
times we are distracted by other stressful situations
occurring in our lives, and so we blurt out certain remarks
which are filled with emotions which were not intended. In
other words, we let our wrath or frustration be felt by the
wrong person. This is not to justify such errors; after all,
the Book of Proverbs is filled with such counsel as the
following:
"In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he
that refraineth his lips is wise." (Proverbs 10:19)
"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir
up anger." (Proverbs 15:1)
"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul
from troubles." (Proverbs 21:23)
Clearly then, we would all be much wiser if we would just
let the stress or the anger of the moment pass before we
speak, if we even choose to speak at all. At the same time,
those whom we have offended need to put aside their wounded
pride and realize that they too have undoubtedly been guilty
of the very same thing at some point in their life, and
probably on more than one occasion. What it all comes down
to is our sinful human condition. When it comes to bridling
our tongue, as the Apostle James wrote, none of us is
perfect:
"If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not
his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion
is vain." (James 1:26)
"For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in
word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the
whole body." (James 3:2)
Instead of yielding to our pride and firing back an equally
provocative answer which is only bound to make matters
worse, we would do better to just turn the other cheek and
keep quiet; but oh how our pride prevents us from doing
this! We just have to have the last word, don't we? We have
to re-enforce our ego and repair our damaged self esteem. We
have to prove to everyone that we are right, and the other
person is wrong. They are the guilty party, and not us! How
it must anger the Lord and sadden His Heart when He sees us
acting in this manner. I discuss this topic of offenses and
forgiveness more in-depth in the article 'Love, Mercy,
Forgiveness And Chastisement. One of the key verses from
that article which really sums up the entire issue is the
following:
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
(Ephesians 4:32)
For those of us who find ourselves in the position of being
a shepherd of one of the flocks of the Lord, whether we like
it or not, sometimes we are faced with the responsibility of
having to correct another brother or sister who has erred in
the faith. Knowing what a terrible mess we are ourselves,
this is not an easy task; nevertheless, it is a vital part,
as well as a Scripturally-sound part, of being a shepherd of
God's heritage. We are obligated by the Lord to fulfill this
responsibility, regardless of how uncomfortable it may make
us feel. Consider the following verses:
"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance
of his friend." (Proverbs 27:17)
"He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour
than he that flattereth with the tongue." (Proverbs 28:23)
"But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day;
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin." (Hebrews 3:13)
"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit
yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must
give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with
grief: for that is unprofitable for you." (Hebrews 13:17)
"Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one
convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the
sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)
Looking at my personal situation, as a sheperd of one of the
Lord's small flocks, I could easily do as some worldly
preachers and church leaders do, and simply flatter people
as the above verse states. I could just tell them what they
want to hear. I could just tell them that they are okay
spiritually. It would fit right in with the 'I'm okay,
you're okay' mentality which has been prevalent since the
sixties. As Jeremiah wrote, some people love to have it so.
Their spiritual leaders are paid to not rock the boat; to
simply be politically correct and preach what is in fashion.
They aren't paid to talk about the things which make people
feel uncomfortable. They aren't paid to expose spiritual
improprieties in the lives of their flock. If they did, they
would quickly find themselves looking for another job!
Thankfully, I find myself in a position where I don't have
to worry about such things, because I am not paid for
preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't need to watch
my mouth for fear of losing my paycheck. I can preach the
full Gospel of Jesus Christ unhindered. The worst that could
possibly happen is that I might lose a few of my readers;
and this has indeed happened, but His Truth goes marching
on. In the Gospels we discover that even Jesus lost some of
His followers, or potential followers, when He said or did
things which were too difficult for them to receive. Such
was the case with His 'eat my flesh, drink my blood' sermon:
"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you...Many therefore of his
disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard
saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his
disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this
offend you?...From that time many of his disciples went
back, and walked no more with him." (John 6:53, 60-61, 66)
As the previous verses clearly point out, if we don't tell
people the truth, if we fail to fulfill our responsibilities
as shepherds, God will not overlook such things; because as
the Apostle Paul states, we are accountable for their souls;
we are accountable for telling them not what they want to
hear, but rather what they need to hear, regardless of how
uncomfortable it makes us feel; no matter how uncomfortable
it makes them feel, and no matter how unpopular it may make
us with them. As Paul wrote:
"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the
truth?" (Galatians 4:16)
Paul wrote these words right after he had blasted the
Galatians for compromising their new-found Christian faith
with the Law-observing Jews who had snuck into the midst of
their fellowship, and had convinced them that circumcision,
and other observances of the Mosaic Law, were still
necessary for Salvation. This compromise upset Paul very
much, and he did not hesitate to tell them exactly what he
thought. In one verse, he goes so far as to ask them who has
bewitched them that they are no longer obeying the Gospel of
Jesus Christ:
"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should
not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been
evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I
learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the
law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having
begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in
vain." (Galatians 3:1-4)
Paul was one 'tough cookie' as we say in American slang; but
what he wrote, he wrote in love, because he truly cared for
the spiritual welfare of those whom he had helped win to the
Faith. Like Paul, I too can sometimes be a bit rough with
those with whom I am dealing; but don't think for a minute
that I am not ever-conscious of my own sinful condition. It
is difficult to point out a problem to another person when
we know that we have been guilty of the very same thing
ourselves. Satan is very quick to accuse us of being
hypocrites. Oh, he is a pro when it comes to pouring on the
condemnation! 'Who are you to tell them that they are wrong?
Who are you to tell them how to live their lives? Who are
you to tell them what their sins are? Are you any better,
you hypocrite?'; and on and on he goes. Of course we aren't
any better! We are all sinners; but that still does not
relieve us of the responsibility that God has given us as
shepherds of His flocks!
Sadly, sometimes we listen to the Devil and we don't do what
God expects us to do. We fail the Lord, and we fail them. We
become manpleasers instead of God pleasers. We become more
concerned about the opinions of men, just like the Scribes
and the Pharisees, instead of only being concerned with what
God thinks. I know that I personally have done this on a
number of occasions. I did or didn't do or say something
because of the way I knew some people would react to it. I
bowed to pressure. I put their opinion above God's opininon.
Instead of telling them what they really needed to hear,
what I knew would really help them if they received it, I
put friendship first, or I placed my pride first.
Let me tell you, once you become a manpleaser, it is hard to
break out of that mold. Once you get caught in that rut,
your wheels just keep spinning in the mud, and you lose your
spiritual effectiveness for the Lord. As leaders of the
Lord's flocks, we must have some godly conviction burning in
our hearts, or else we will be rolled over every time. The
only way to get that godly conviction, is by knowing the
Word of God. When you know the Word of God, and you stand
upon the Word of God, and you quote the Word of God, then
you know that you are right; because God's Word is never
wrong! In fact, as I have pointed out quite a few times
before, God's Word is so important to Him, that He has
magnified it above His very Name:
"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name
for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast
magnified thy word above all thy name." (Psalms 138:2)
When you are forced to deal with certain problems in your
particular fellowship, you must ask the Lord for His wisdom
as James says, and you must give them God's Word, and not
just your own human counsel. Maybe they can argue against
your word and what you think is right or wrong, but they
certainly can't argue against God's Word if they know what
is good for them. Consider these verses:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him." (James 1:5)
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
As I point out in 'Exposing The Judge Not Fallacy', when you
quote the straight Word of God, you bring people to a
decision. They have to either accept the authority of God's
Word, or else they have to reject it. There is no middle of
the road about it. Of course, there is an inherent danger
here which I feel that I should point out to you; and that
is this: The Scribes and the Pharisees of old also knew the
Scriptures. In fact, they knew them better than anyone else.
Time and time again we find them questioning Jesus about a
certain law found in the writings of Moses. They were pros;
they were legalists; they were just like our modern-day
prosecuting attorneys; but they were wrong! Why? Jesus
exposed their sin quite thoroughly when He told them such
things as the following:
"And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his
disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and
sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They
that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy,
and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance." (Matthew 9:11-13)
"But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold,
thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the
sabbath day...But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will
have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned
the guiltless." (Matthew 12:2, 7)
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay
tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the
weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith:
these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other
undone." (Matthew 23:23)
You see, the Scribes and the Pharisees were right about a
lot of the things which they said and did; at least as far
as the Mosaic Law was concerned; however, where they were
wrong was in the spirit in which they administered the Law
to the people. Instead of being loving and merciful, they
were harsh, cold and cruel. They only used the Mosaic Law as
a sword to cut people to the heart and to tear them down,
instead of to lovingly woo them into the Kingdom of God. The
Lord accused them of this very thing when He said:
"But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go
in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to
go in." (Matthew 23:13)
The Scribes and the Pharisees used the Law to emphasize
their own righteousness while condemning and oppressing the
common people through the same. In other words, they boasted
of their own goodness by comparing themselves to the common
people whom they made to feel condemned and lost through
their interpretation of the Law. All of this was in direct
contradiction to what we find written in the Epistles of
Paul and Peter:
"For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare
ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they
measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves
among themselves, are not wise." (2 Corinthians 10:12)
"Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the
oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for
filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords
over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock."
(1 Peter 5:2-3)
This is why the people loved Jesus so much; because His
approach was the exact opposite of that of the Scribes and
the Pharisees. He told the people the same things as the
Scribes and the Pharisees, but His delivery was totally
different. He tempered everything He said with love, so that
He gave people hope. Whereas the Scribes and the Pharisees
only offered them gloom and darkness, Jesus offered them
Light and Salvation. When Joseph and Mary went to the Temple
in Jerusalem to have Jesus circumcised on His eighth day of
life, the old man Simeon referred to Jesus as:
"A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy
people Israel. " (Luke 2:32)
In one of his final sermons in Jerusalem, when he appeared
before King Agrippa just prior to being sent to Rome, The
Apostle Paul said in part:
"That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first
that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto
the people, and to the Gentiles." (Acts 26:23)
Both Matthew and Paul also quoted from the prophecies of the
Prophet Isaiah concerning the fact that Jesus would offer
hope and Salvation to the Gentile world:
"And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse,
and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him
shall the Gentiles trust." (Romans 15:12)
These are but a few of the many verses which describe how
Jesus came to be the Light and the Salvation of the world.
If you are interested in a more in-depth study of this
topic, allow me to encourage you to read the article, 'The
Children Of Light: Are You One Of Us?'. It will thrill your
heart.
As I point out in 'Biblical Cafeteria Or The Whole Course?',
the Scriptures clearly indicate that before his miraculous
conversion, the Apostle Paul was very much like these
self-righteous Pharisees; after all, he was one of them for
many years. He was totally overcome by the legality of the
Law; and this is why he had no problem arresting the early
Christians; and even escorting them to their deaths. Exactly
as Jesus had prophesied only a few years earlier, Paul was
convinced in his heart, that he was in fact doing God's
service by killing the first Christians:
"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time
cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth
God service." (John 16:2)
The Lord had to totally break and remold Paul during that
incident on the road to Damascus. Once He had, Paul became
an entirely new creature who administered to others in a
spirit of meekness and love, instead of with the harshness
of the Law. Knowing in his heart what a sinner he was
himself, how could he do otherwise, even when they did err
from the Way? This is why in his concluding remarks to the
brethren in Galatia, he writes:
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are
spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness;
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."
(Galatians 6:1)
What a far cry from his previous attitude when he had
deceived himself into believing that he was so good and holy
like his pharisaical brethren! I suspect that when Paul
wrote his world-renown chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, it may
actually have been his public confession of his own personal
weakness. Because of the overpowering influence of being a
legalistic Pharisee for so many years, since his youth in
fact, he must have had to constantly remind himself of his
own inadequacies in order to make sure that he tempered
everything with love. In fact, this is evident throughout
his writings as I point out in the aforementioned article.
If we do find ourselves in the position of having to
administer godly correction to someone; and if we do it in a
spirit of love and meekness as the Scriptures advise us to
do, according to that previous verse which I shared from the
Book of Proverbs, if that person's heart is right with the
Lord, they are supposed to be thankful that we had enough
love for them, that we were willing to take the time to try
to help them to see the error of their ways. In fact, the
Book of Proverbs also tells us that they are supposed to
love us for it. They are not supposed to resist us and argue
with us:
"Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise
man, and he will love thee." (Proverbs 9:8)
"He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour
than he that flattereth with the tongue." (Proverbs 28:23)
You see, a person with a healthy spiritual attitude will
say, 'Thank-you brother for helping me to see the error of
my ways. Thank-you for loving me enough that you were
willing to leave the ninety and nine and help out this one
lost sheep. Thank-you for helping me to not fall over that
cliff'. Isn't this what Jesus instructed us to do?:
"How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of
them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine,
and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone
astray?" (Matthew 18:12)
Sadly, as the previous verse from Proverbs makes clear, this
is not the way things always work out. Our attempts to
resolve an issue, or to help a certain brother or sister to
gain a needed victory in their life, are often received with
resentment. It is for this very reason that we sometimes try
to avoid correcting others because we simply do not wish to
deal with the mess which we know will inevitably follow once
a person's problem has been exposed. Godly correction is
hard work. It is a real drain on one's spirit. It can really
wear you down; particularly when the person being dealt with
is not receiving a single word you have to say; or at least
very little of it. As I pointed out earlier, quite often
their pride quickly come to the fore, and they begin to
present all of their excuses as to why they are right and
you are wrong. Oh, they will come up with what will seem
like very logical, rational and valid excuses; but are they
acceptable to the Lord?
In the third part of this four-part series, we will be
taking a close look at some of the tactics which are used in
order to try to resist godly counsel and correction. As you
will see, all of these tactics are motivated by nothing more
than that loathsome spiritual disease of pride. I hope that
you will join me.
[ Click Me ] Go To Part Three . . .