Pride Versus Humility​ - 260203

SPEAKER A Hello, I'm Clive Nash. Welcome to Let God Speak. Today our panel will discuss two contrasting qualities: pride versus humility. One of the characters created by the famous 19th century author Charles Dickens was Uriah Heep. Uriah Heep was proud of his humility. He would proclaim that he was very humble. Sadly, we have an example in the Bible of one who became proud while living in the sinless environment of heaven. I refer to Satan himself. Since the fall into sin, the human race has been infected with the trend to pride and selfishness. But there is a divine answer to this problem. We shall try to unpack this today. Well, on our panel today we have Kaysie Vokurka and Rosemary Malkiewycz. Good to have you with us today. I'm looking forward to our discussion. We always have a lively time together, don't we? SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER A Yeah, but before we begin the actual topic for today, let's take time to pray. Our loving Father in heaven, we just thank you that you have given us the Bible as our guide for this life and the life to come. And as we wrestle, as it were, with these two contrasting issues today, pride and humility, we just pray that you will guide us as we continue the discussion, that we might be a blessing to people who are listening and viewing. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, Kaysie, my first question is for you. Is, do we have it like the human nature is like a tendency to try and prove ourselves, you know, try and do a bit of self-promotion? What do you think? SPEAKER C Yeah, I think so, because we have, all of us have a sense of a need to feel valued, to feel like we're worth something. And if we lack that, we tend to try and compensate or build ourselves up, whether it's self-promotion or attention seeking or something something like that. But it's very interesting because the Bible gives us a grounding on which we can base our worth. And we find this in Isaiah 43, verse 1, which says, but now thus says the Lord who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. And so the key things there, you know, God has created us and then He redeemed us, and this shows that we are of tremendous worth to God. You know, He made us, so He put all of the thought into that, but then He sacrificed Christ, you know, God gave His life to bring us back to loyalty to Him. So we don't have to prove our worth because God has proved that we are worth something to Him and we are of value. And yeah, this is, something we can really treasure in our hearts. SPEAKER A This word pride arose me. How would you define pride? SPEAKER B Well, there's different types of pride. There's actually a healthy pride, pride in achievements, etc., that doesn't negate other people. But then there's the negative pride, and the Australian, one of the Australian dictionaries puts it this way: Pride is a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority. And it's an exaggerated, egotistical, or inflated sense of superiority above others. So that's what the dictionary ideas are. But pride is something that is cherished in the heart and displayed in the acts of the person. And let's have a look at Isaiah 14:12-13 to find out where it began. It says, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, the son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart, "I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mountain of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north." And the next verse actually says, "I will be like the Most High." So in the Garden of Eden, Satan deceived Adam and Eve into thinking that there was something better than God was giving them. They doubted God's word from what He said, and they believed actually what Satan told them. And he seduced them into thinking that they could be like God, they could be gods themselves, because that's what he wanted. So pride is a terrible— SPEAKER A and I notice your emphasis on the word 'I' as you're reading those texts there. Like some people say, 'I' is in the middle of sin, the word sin and pride. And pride, yes, it isn't it? That's true. But this sort of egotistical attitude is quite the contrary to the attitude of Jesus, isn't it, Kaysie? SPEAKER C Absolutely, yeah. We have incredible picture of who Jesus is in character in the Bible, and a nice summary is found in Philippians 2:5-8, which says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God," that's an important point, "did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, But made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And so here we see someone who is equal with God in the highest point, or the highest position you could have, right? And yet that means nothing when there is a need to go and save someone else. And so Jesus basically took a breathtaking step of self-sacrifice to save us. And so this is the picture of God's character. Then we can find a summary of a contrasting character by looking at 1 John 2 and verses 5 to 17, which says, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. And so we can see here the world merely is representing all that stands in opposition to God and His ways. But John is clearly pointing out here that the lust of the flesh and the eyes, which basically is self-indulgence, and the pride of life, which is basically self-love, all of these selfish-focused, self-focused attitudes are in contrast and at odds with God. And so these are the two opposing characters that we are exploring. SPEAKER A Now you hinted before, Rosemary, that there is a positive kind of pride, you know, I'm proud of what I've been able to do or something like that. Can you expand on that? SPEAKER B Right, this positive pride is aiming for excellence, personal best. You hear people trying to get their PB, their personal best. It's competition with yourself more than competition with other people. And so it's not competitive, not comparing yourself with others, but doing the best that you personally can do and training yourself to do better. And if we go to Mark 12:31, we see what Jesus says here, because Jesus told us that we should respect ourselves. And in Mark 12:31, He said, talking about the first and second greatest commandments, "The second is like the first, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." So if we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we should have a healthy self-respect. Respect, a healthy self-esteem. Where we look after ourselves and we will look after others as well. And so that's not a bad pride, it's a healthy pride and it's to give God glory. SPEAKER A Yeah, it's a kind of like putting a value on ourselves, isn't it? I'm interested in Luke 18:10 where Jesus gives contrasting example here where He says, "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector." Kaysie, what were the different attitudes of these two people going to pray? SPEAKER C Yes, this is an incredible thing to examine when we're looking at this topic. So the Pharisees were basically members of a lay sect in Judaism that was very focused on the law, both the written law, the traditional laws that they had, and they were often portrayed in the Gospels in a negative light, but some were honorable. But this one, this Pharisee was actually very proud. And we can see that in verse 11. It says, "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.'" So he is saying, "Look at me, I am so good. I'm not like these people." And notice what it says there. He prayed with himself. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER C It's like his prayer didn't go farther than himself. Even though he addressed God, it was all focused on him, all focused on, you know, his own goodness. And so self-adoration, self-worship, that's basically where his mind was at. And then when we continue, he says, I fast twice a week. This is verse 12. I give tithes of all that I possess. So he's focus on the fact that he's done all these right things. He is so great and he's not like other wicked people. So his law keeping is what he was proud of. SPEAKER A Yeah, and in contrast to the, to the other tax collector, isn't it? So what about this tax collector, Rosemary? What was his attitude? SPEAKER B Okay, let me first read Luke 18, verse 13. And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. This man saw his sin. He realized his sinfulness and how far he was from God. And he desired forgiveness and to be close to God instead. He, he wasn't prideful at all. He was humble. And we could think about it today. Maybe we could compare a businessman who has a lot of wealth and does a lot of good deeds, you know, giving to charities, etc., but he's very proud of what he does compared to, say, a drunkard in rags, you know, the sort that sleep on a park bench with their bottle of methylated spirits. And if he feels his unworthiness before God and desires forgiveness, he would be like the tax collector. And he would humble himself and realize that he's not where God wants him to be. Whereas the proud rich person could be very far from God even though people would worship him. But let's look at verse 14. Jesus said, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, the publican, the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself "Will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." So, it's a matter of pride versus humility. And Ellen White says, "It is only he who knows himself to be a sinner that Christ can save." That's a humble person. And that's in Christ's Object Lessons. So, today, too many compare themselves with others. And that is wrong. Pride will keep us out of heaven because pride doesn't feel its need of surrender and forgiveness, whereas humility leads to recognizing our sin and repent, and it is required for entrance to heaven. SPEAKER A Luke has another interesting quote from Jesus in chapter 14, Luke 14, and Verse 8 and 9. "When you're invited by anyone to a wedding feast," Jesus said, "do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him, and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place." I remember I can give you an example of that happening to me actually on a train in Germany I think it was. I didn't realize that there was a booking system and I had an unbooked ticket. You have to move, sorry, you can't sit here. It's a bit embarrassing and here's Jesus referring to this, isn't he? So what advice did Jesus give with this example here, Kaysie? SPEAKER C Yeah, I love this example because it's so practical. It's showing you, you know, Here's how it might look in everyday life. And this is certainly, yeah, something for us to learn from. If we read a little bit further on, Jesus expands on it in verse 10 and 11 of chapter 14. It says, but when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, friend, go up higher. Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And so this was a mindset shift really, because in the thinking of, say, the Greeks and the Romans at the time, they tended to avoid humility. They thought, you know, let's go for the highest places. But Jesus doesn't think that way, and he is instead teaching us that associated with humility is honor, and that it's more honorable to take a humble place than to seek a place that is the most exalted. So this is a real lesson for us. And in Proverbs 3:34, it talks about how God gives grace to the humble. And so humility is a quality to be prized. SPEAKER A Yeah, when I think about myself, you know, in comparison with Jesus, um, Is it possible, Rosemary, that I might despair about the contrast? SPEAKER B Yes, but it should give us hope because somebody who is humble is teachable, and God wants people who are teachable. And it prepares us to come to Jesus for salvation because if we don't humble our hearts, we won't come. And if we look at 1 John 1:9, it says, "If we confess our sins," and you have to be humble to do that, "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So humility assures us that we can come to God and be forgiven. And if we go to James 4:10, it says, "Humble yourself." Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up. So that's a promise that if we choose to humble ourselves and don't leave it for God to do it, because that was not very nice and can be very embarrassing, we will have a close relationship with God. And also Luke 20:18 tells us, 'Whoever falls on this, that stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.' So those who fall on the stone, which is Jesus in humility, will be, they're humbling themselves and they'll be forgiven like the tax collector. But those who choose to not fall on that stone, that stone will grind them to powder. Because they're too pride, they will not be saved. They'll lose their salvation. SPEAKER A Okay, thanks for that comment. I'm going to have a look at a verse in Acts chapter 17 and particularly verse 22. Acts 7, verse 22: Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. So did Moses take the root of power and pomp, Kaysie? SPEAKER C Well, no, he actually chose the path of humility even though he did have every opportunity to take the path of pride because he was brought up in the courts of Egypt and he could have been a governor in Egypt. But it's interesting what it says in Hebrews 11:24-26. It summarizes Moses' choice. It says, by faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. And so we can see, you know, he did spend 40 years in Egypt and he learned, he was educated in Egypt, but then he actually spent another 40 years unlearning and was just with his family caring for sheep. And this experience prepared him to then be a humble leader of Israel that led them out of Egypt into Canaan. And this was the result of his choice of humility. SPEAKER A Yeah, but, but, Rosary, when God called Moses to go and deliver his people from Egypt, he wasn't very self-confident then, was he? SPEAKER B No, he wasn't, because he'd been raised in the court and in Egypt. But the Egyptians looked down on shepherds. They were like dirt. And so, Moses had that attitude. And so, God sends him out to become a shepherd. I mean, talk about a way to, to bring a person down to humility and take away the pride that they've had. Because for 40 years, he had to look after sheep and they weren't his sheep. They were his father-in-law's sheep. So, he didn't even own them. But he had to look after the terrible sheep. And so, God allowed him to do that so he could learn humility. And of course, going back to Egypt, 40 years in Midian, he didn't necessarily remember all the language so well after 40 years. And he said, "I can't speak." And so, he was humble, but God could use him because he was humbled. God used him to lead the people out of Egypt, And though he died and didn't get to go into the Promised Land, God raised him again, took him to heaven, and that's why he came back to speak to Jesus. What a wonderful way God treated him in allowing him to have that fantastic opportunity. SPEAKER A Okay, so can you think of a text that kind of sums up the attitude of Moses? SPEAKER C There's an excellent one in Numbers 12:3. 3, and it says, now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. Now that's a pretty amazing sum up of his character. You think of that like, there's no one like you in the earth kind of thing. That's what it's saying. And very humble. Some translations also say meek, use the word meek. But yeah, He was humble and his confidence was not in himself like Rosemary was saying. His confidence was actually in God. And this was the reason of his success as a leader because he was not focused on himself, he was focused on God and God was able to use him. SPEAKER A Yeah, and it's when we mistrust our own abilities that we can actually be used by God, isn't it? Let Him work through us. Thinking about the New Testament times, there were the 12 disciples, Rosemary. At one time they were arguing about which one of them was going to be the greatest. SPEAKER B Not one time, they were always arguing about that. SPEAKER A And what was the response of Jesus to that? SPEAKER B Let's read Luke 22:25-26, because this was a problem that was rearing itself continually. He said to them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you. On the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. So the greatest one should be a servant. And if we go on and look at Mark 9:37, God does— Jesus Jesus speaks even more to this. And He says in Mark 9:37, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My Name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives not Me but Him who sent Me." And then in Matthew 18:4-5, He goes on further and He says, "Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. And Jesus goes on to say we need to be as children if we're going to make it into heaven. And we can't make it into heaven when we are prideful adults. We have to humble our hearts as a child. SPEAKER A Yeah. And I think that's a consequence of our looking to Jesus, isn't it? You know, the closer we come to him, And then we realize our own failing nature, as it were. But why is pride such an issue in the Bible, Kaysie? SPEAKER C Well, there's a few reasons. One reason is it's actually a falsehood. It's actually a perception of oneself that's a lie. So that's one reason. Another reason is it's selfish, it's self-focused, it's self-admiring, and it's self-sufficient. And because of that, a person who is pride— proudful— proud often doesn't feel their own need. And that makes them very hard to help. And it makes it very hard to feel our sense of need of salvation because we must feel our need in order to want and accept what Jesus has to offer us. SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER A So who can take away our pride, Rosemary? SPEAKER B Jesus is the only one who can No one can take away our pride. But we need, when we look at Him on the cross and even His life and what He did and what He did for us, it should humble us. If it doesn't, we cannot be saved. But when it humbles us, we see our sins in comparison to Him. And Ellen White in Christ's Object Lessons writes this most beautiful prayer to start every day. Lord, take my heart for I cannot keep it. It is thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, un-Christlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere where the rich current of thy love can flow through my soul. That is a humble prayer, and that is how we need to be if we want to have a relationship and to know God. SPEAKER A Yeah, as you say, a kind of prayer that we could all pray every day, isn't it? To be submissive to God's will in our lives. What style of leadership did Jesus exhibit, Kaysie? SPEAKER C Well, he gave a principle of what it was, in what he, what he was in Luke 22:27. It says, for who is greater, he who sits at the table 'Or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table?' That's how they would have thought. Yet Jesus said, 'I am among you as the one who serves.' And so as a leader, Jesus was a servant leader. And we see that all throughout his ministry. You know, he went around healing people. He often was so busy helping other people that he didn't have time for for himself, and people were following him everywhere, and he just gave and gave and gave. And even in this instance, not long before he said this, he had just taken the lowest place and washed the feet of his disciples. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER C And then served them at the table. That's the position of a servant. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER C And that's how Jesus led, by example. SPEAKER A Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you very much, Kaysie and Rosemary. I've enjoyed our discussion today. My guests were Kaysie Vokurka and Rosemary Malkiewycz, and I'm Clive Nash. You know, friends, the nearer we come to Jesus and the more clearly we discern the purity of His character, the more clearly we shall discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the less we shall feel like exalting ourselves. God has been able to use the most unlikely people to rise to greatness in serving. He wants you and me to be just like that. With God's help, pride can be dispelled from our hearts. John Ruskin, the Victorian-era English writer, said, "I believe that the first test of a really great man is his humility." What a wonderful example of humility we have in our Saviour, Jesus Christ. And you know, today Jesus is calling you and me to, to follow me, to follow his example and to be like him, to walk in his footsteps. Well, we're glad you joined us today on Let God Speak. If you're blessed by this program, why not tell your friends? Remember, all past programs plus teacher's notes are available on our website 3abnaustralia.org.au. Email us if you wish on [email protected]. Join us again next time, and until then, may God bless you richly. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.