Faith vs Pride

Thus says the Lord,

"Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom,

And let not the mightly man boast of his might,

let not a rich man boast of his riches;

but let him who boasts boast of this,

that he understands and knows Me,

that I am the Lord who exercises

Lovingkindness, justics, and righteousness on earth;

for I delight in these things," declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Excerpts from Faith in Future Grace vs Pride
Future Grace by John Piper

Humility is not a popular trait in the modern world.
It's not touted in the talk shows or celebrated in valedictory speeches or commended in diversity seminars or listed with corporate core values. And if you go to the massive self-help section of your sprawling mall bookstore, you won't find many titles celebrating humility.

The basic reason for this is not hard to find: humility can only survive in the presence of God. When God goes, humility goes. In fact, you might say that humility follows God like a shadow. We can expect to find humility applauded in our society about as often as we find God applauded.

In the local news paper (Minneapolis Star Tribune, sept 12 1994) a guest editorial captured the atmosphere of our time that asphyxiates humility:

There are some who naively cling to the nostalgic memory of God. The average churchgoer takes a few hours out of the week to experience the sacred... But the rest of the time, he is immersed in a society that no longer acknowledges God as an omniscient and omnipotent force to be loved and worshipped... Today we are too spohisticated for God. We can stand on our own; we are prepared and ready to choose and define our own existence.

In this atmosphere, humility cannot survive. It disappears with God. When God is neglected, the runner-up god takes his place, namely man. And that, by definities, is the opposite of humility, namely, the haughty spirit called pride.

An appetite for God in the heart

Trusting God and being arrogant are opposites:" An arrogant man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper" Pro 28:25. Stephen Charnock said," A proud faith is as much a contradiction as a humble devil." To see why faith and pride are opposites we need to remind ourselves what faith is.

The heart of biblical faith in Jesus is coming to him for the satisfaction of all that God is for us in him. Jesus said in John 6:35 "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in my shall never thirst." Unbelief is turning away from Jesus in order to seek satisfaction in other things.

Belief is not merely an agreement with facts in the head; it is also an appetite for God in the heart, which fastens on Jesus for satisfaction. In the very first verse up on the top of this blog post-- the bible mentions 3 things which God names his great competitors for the boast of the human heart. Each one-- Wisdom, might and riches- tempts us to take satisfaction in ourselves-- our intelligence, our strength, our material resources. Each one lures us away from trusting God as the superior satisfaction above them all.

When knowledge puffs up

The apostle Paul warns that "knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies" 1 Cor 8:1. This does not mean he favours ignorance and irrationality: "Do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature" 1Cor 14:20

G.K Chesterson, the British Catholic Journalist-author who died in 1936, warned that in the 20th Century we are not clear about the relationship between intellectual conviction and pride.

What we suffer from ... is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert-- himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt-- the Divine Reason.

Paul is not calling into question the necessity of firm conviction and true knowledge. Nevertheless is he keenly aware that what we know- or think we know- can lure us away from resting in God's wisdom and lead us toward boasting in our own.

The organ of knowledge was given to us that we might know God and how the world relates to God. One of the first things we learn, when we know him as we ought, is the Word of Jesus: "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" Matt 16:17.
All true knowledge depends on God. "Who has been [God's] counselor... for from him and through him are all things" Rom 11:34,36
God gave us minds not only to know, but to know how we ought to know.

We know the way we ought to know when we boast in the Source of all knowing-- God. Not in our fragile little chip-- our limited understanding and knowledge-- with its tiny, God-designed circuitry. When we boast in our wisdom we show that we have turned from God to trust in ourselves.

Deut 8:11-17
Beware lest, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart becomes proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery... In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart," My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth."

The bible never tires of telling us, "The king is not saved by a mighty army; a warrior is not delievered by great strength" Ps 33:16-17. You can have all these which you buy with your wealth, but unless the Lord decides to give you deliverance and victory, they will be useless in the day of battle. That's why the next few verses in Psalms 33 point to an alternative treasure for our trust: "Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His loving kindness... He is our help and shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name. ps 33:18-21.

This is the remedy for pride.