Filed under: Christian Living, Theology | Tags: humanism, Humility, narcissism, Pride, self-centeredness
“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you’re looking down, you can’t see something that’s above you.” – C.S. Lewis
I am well aware that “Pride goeth before a fall,” but lately I have thinking about what causes pride to be such a powerful vice. I have long held to C.S. Lewis’ idea that “evil is only spoiled goodness.” That is to say that evil does not exist on it’s own, but is only a corruption of things that were made to be good. I believe that this idea is both logical and biblical, and it leads me to consider: “What is the pure fulfillment of my corrupted desire which cause me to sin?”
The case of pride is an extremely complicated sin to consider because it is so pervasive in our society. Everything in our society preaches that at the end of the day the number one priority is you. Pop psychology teaches that the most important thing is to love yourself. Popular culture teaches that the person with the most toys wins. The brilliant Garrison Keillor refers to popular websites MySpace and Facebook as “exercises in narcissism.” Even philanthropic exhibitions such as Oprah’s Big Give completely ignore Christ’s teaching, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:3-4). Even charity has become further opportunity for ego inflation.
This complete obsession with the self is also moving into churches as sermons move from having Jesus as the main character to having people as the main character. I recently heard a very influential pastor teaching on Jesus’ walking on the water saying:
I always assumed that Peter doubts Jesus. But Jesus isn’t sinking. Who does Peter doubt? He doubts himself. He loses faith in himself that he can actually be like his rabbi. Jesus wouldn’t have called him if he didn’t think he could be like him.
I’m sorry, but short of talking about flying spaghetti monsters, I don’t think there is a worse interpretation of this story from Matthew 14. This story is not about Peter’s faith in Peter, it’s about Peter’s faith in Jesus. In fact, I don’t think that the placement of this story is a coincidence. In Matthew’s gospel, this story comes only one chapter after Jesus’ parable of the “Sower and the Soils.” Peter began to sink as “he saw the wind” and “was afraid” (Matthew 14:30). I think in this instance Peter might be a parallel to the seed that fell in the rocky soil which Jesus explains, “yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matthew 13:21).
I say all of this only to show that people are completely and utterly focused on themselves. But I do not consider this to be a sign of hopelessness. Thomas Traherne once wrote that, “The noble inclination whereby man thirsteth after riches and dominion, is his highest virtue.” This may seem counter intuitive. It seems like the selfish focus of seeking money and power should be a vice which should be abhorred. But Traherne makes it more clear with the whole quote:
The noble inclination whereby man thirsteth after riches and dominion, is his highest virtue, when rightly guided; and carries him as in a triumphant chariot, to his sovereign happiness. Men are made miserable only by abusing it. Taking a false way to satisfy it, they pursue the wind.
I think what Traherne is getting at is the fact that the part of every person which makes us want money and power, is the same part of every person which makes them desire God. Riches and dominion were never meant to fulfill the deepest desires of our heart. We think being seen, recognized and envied by all people will ultimately make us happy, and in thinking so way we have never been so wrong and never been so right. Being in famous in front of people will never make us happy, and in the case of many celebrities, might make us go insane. However, it is about being known, by the one who knows us better than we know ourselves…God.
About this intimacy with God the Apostle Paul writes, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). For Paul, a large part about being in a relationship with God is being known by him. Jesus says much the same when he states:
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
(Matthew 7:22-23)
Apparently it is actually of the utmost importance to be known by God. I think this is why the gospel stands in such stark opposition to self-centeredness. If the focus is on our own comfort, we will never know true contentment. If the focus is on our own appearance, we can never recognize the true beauty of God. If the focus of our worship is on the created and not the creator, we are idolaters and pagans (Romans 1:25). If I am too busy worrying about my own glory, Jesus will ask us, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God” (John 5:44)?
So what is the answer to this self-centeredness? The gospel. The gospel of a king of came to serve. The gospel of the sinless who became sin. The gospel of the Creator suffering at the hands of the created. The gospel which “opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). C.S. Lewis once wrote, “‘Nothing, not even what is lowest and most bestial, will not be raised again if it submits to death.’” This is the gospel. Losing our lives that we may be found in Him. Only then will we find any significance.
Filed under: Biblical Studies, Theology | Tags: Easter, Gospel of Luke, Old Testament, Parable, Resurrection, Rich Man and Lazarus
In my own personal devotional preparation for Easter, I have been reading through the Gospels. It is two days past Easter Sunday, but I was reading through the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus from the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke and it hit me just how pertinent this passage is to understanding the gravity of Easter. If you haven’t read Jesus’ parable about the rich man and Lazarus, go read Luke 16:19-31. Then come back and read my comments.
I will start from the end of the parable. When I think about Easter and the resurrection stories of Jesus, it tends to be a joyful reflection on Christ conquering Satan, sin, and death (and it well should be). However, there is a verse from this parable that gives me chills.
He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
(Luke 16:31)
Now let’s rewind. Jesus tells the story of a rich man who lived his life in the lap of luxury, and a poor man named Lazarus who lived in misery. Both men die and Lazarus is delivered to the bosom of Abraham (heaven) and the rich man goes to hades. The rich man first asks for mercy (which he does not receive) and then he asks for the ghost of Lazarus to go to his brothers so that they will believe and be saved from the oncoming torment. Whenever I read this passage I cannot help but be reminded of the ghost Jacob Marley visiting Ebenezer Scrooge to warn him about the consequences of his evil deeds. Maybe Charles Dickens was reflecting on this passage of scripture when he penned A Christmas Carol because even after being visited by a spectre, Scrooge does not believe that he need change his life. Regardless, Jesus answers the rich man that if his brothers did not believe Moses and the prophets they will not change their minds when a dead man comes to life.
This parable forces me to reflect on many passages of scripture. Such as when Christ tells the scribes that they “search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). These men who knew the Hebrew Bible more than anyone were incapable of recognizing the fulfillment of scripture when it came in the flesh. Even more troubling to me is part of the Sermon on the Mount.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:17-19)
What is so daunting about this passage is the call to know God and cherish God’s law. Having spent a significant around Christian culture, I am well versed in the Christian bumpersticker philosophy that Jesus is about “relationship not religion.” I get sick to my stomach when I here this because I wonder if they understand what the seriousness of a disciple’s relationship with Jesus.
Most of all, I think there are three significant things I take away from Jesus parable in light of Easter.
1. Easter was not God’s plan B.
When Jesus speaks of men not being “convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31b), he is making a theological statement about belief and the resurrection. The first statement he is making is about hardened hearts. Jesus is trying to explain that it is not evidence that will prevent people from believing in him, it is the hardness of their heart towards the Gospel. Secondly, I think Jesus is alluding to the fact that the Old Testament already spells out how to identify the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah.
Psalm 22 and Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12 (among others) are clearly to be seen as predictions about the Messiah. What Jesus wants them to understand is that his death and resurrection will come as no surprise to those who are paying attention. God has known all along that Jesus was the plan for redemption.
2. Jesus’ Bible was the Old Testament.
This fact is overlooked by so many Christians it is remarkable. It is amazing to me that people think they can understand Jesus and the New Testament without knowing anything about the Old Testament. When Jesus tells Satan, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), he is not at that time referring to the Gospels or the Pauline Epistles, he is talking about the Old Testament (and even quoting Deuteronomy 8:3). Many Christians think the Old Testament is stale and boring, but Jesus saw it as his very sustenance.
3. There are very real restrictions that will keep people from believing in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
In Matthew 13:13, Jesus tells his disciples, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (actually quoting Isaiah 6:9 here). If Jesus is instinent that dead men coming back to life will not be enough evidence for people to believe, then we must take faith very serious. In listing some spiritual gifts, Paul includes faith (1 Corinthians 12:9) and in Ephesians he emphasizes the point saying, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). For believers, this should be a humbling reminder that we cannot even take pride in our faith. We should be reminded that, “no one seeks for God (Romans 3:11)” and apart from the Spirit’s work in us we would still be slaves to sin (Romans 6:22). Let us be thankful and humble in the knowledge that his blessing has fallen upon us.
With that said, we must also be reminded that there are those who will not believe. We can give them as many copies of The Case For Christ as we can get our hands on, but they will not repent and believe. I do not bring this up as some call to “Puritan uncertainty” wherby we doubt our election and devote ourselves to worry. Far from that, we should pray for God’s mercy and revelation to our friends. Easter has come and gone for another year, but the empty tomb is still empty and is still powerful. Let us be aware of our failure and deficiency before a sovereign God, and let us be transformed by Christ in such a way that men would see our “good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
