Tag: Pride

How the Gospel is Dismantling My Critical Spirit

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

All Christians have besetting sins—those which recur persistently, fatiguing the most seasoned believers. Most of us survey these well-worn battlefields of temptation and sigh.

I’ve had a critical spirit for ages. It wasn’t until recent years, however, that I realized how much it was affecting my relationships and my ability to worship God.

As I’ve tried to fight against this proud part of myself, I’ve seen that the gospel really is the power of God (Rom 1:16). Where common Christian attitudes toward resisting temptation fall short, the good news of King Jesus gives us all we need.

The Symptoms

Trevin Wax distinguishes between a critical mind and a critical spirit. Those with a critical mind are “incisive, analytical, fair-minded.” Rightly used, this can be a gift to the church. But those with a critical spirit “[delight] in exposing the flaws of others,” and are “quick to judge, dismissive, and proud.”

Though I hate to type it, I recognize myself in these latter descriptions. I try to soothe my conscience by remembering that I am a college professor, trained to be analytical with high standards for my students. But my critical spirit shows up in my personal life far more frequently than at work; that excuse holds no water.

I grumble about the mistakes, flaws, and immaturity of others. This is seldom for their benefit but rather to assert my own superiority. I judge, heaping derision on others in my heart. I congratulate myself on my brilliant insight as I tear my brother down.

The Diagnosis

The critical spirit can sneak onto our porches under the cover of “giving feedback” or “iron sharpening iron” or, maybe at its worst, “discipleship.” But let’s turn on the fluorescent lights and call this what it is: pride.

I cannot speak universally here, so what follows may only be true for me. The standard to which I’m comparing everyone I criticize is—horrors—me. Or, if not me in reality, what I would be if I attempted this observed labor.

They should have known better. (Like I do!) They should have done better. (Like I would have!)

The diagnosis might appear grim, but this is only half of the doctor’s visit. The gospel really is good news, and not just for our initial step into the kingdom of God.

The Treatment

Because the gospel is the way to the Father, it is also the way to holiness. The gospel is how we defeat sin and mortify the flesh. Here is the way this looks for me and my critical spirit.

That flaw I’m spotting in my neighbor? That is not the biggest problem here. (See Matt 7:1–5.) I’m boosting myself as perceptive, wise, and superior, trying to justify myself.

The gospel of Jesus points out the big, ugly lies in my thinking. No amount of insight or skill will make me worthy before God.

My sin is so bad that it required the death of Jesus. How foolish it sounds that I could either add to that or replace it by some smart critique! God is the ultimate judge, not me.

Jesus died for me, but he also rose again. His resurrection means new life for all those in Christ—I have a new heart, and by the Holy Spirit I can love, encourage, pray for, and be thankful for others in ways that I could not in the flesh. I no longer need to be superior to anyone; the way to glory is not the way of self-exaltation, but of serving others. Jesus bids me follow him.

Just as surely as Jesus died and was raised, he also ascended into heaven. He rules the world, with truth and grace. I can look forward to the time when faith will be sight, when my critical spirit will be renewed, and when I will love God and desire the best for all of my neighbors, all the time.

Not There Yet

My real life friends will need to be patient with me. I’m a work in progress. The gospel is dismantling my critical spirit, but the construction ground is not yet clear.

The gospel is not a magic wand to wave, but we’ll make little progress on our besetting sins until we understand how transformation works. The anemic advice I hear from some Christians can often be reduced to: “You’re forgiven; try harder.” The gospel is much better news than that.

I cannot say how this works with your particular sins. But if this resonates with you at all, I would bet there are others in your church who feel the same need to apply the light of the gospel to the shadowy places of their lives.

Post credit | Photo credit

Links for the Weekend (2023-06-16)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

God Is Eager to Forgive You

Cindy Matson draws some good news for us about forgiveness from Isaiah 30.

It may not be so hard to believe that God will welcome you back with open arms. You’ve likely heard that parable enough times not to be surprised by it any longer. But maybe you find it a little too good to be true that He would actually want to listen to your prayers right away. Perhaps you think that you’ll be put on “prayer probation” during which you shouldn’t really expect God to answer any prayers.

5 Misconceptions about Heaven and Hell (and 5 Truths)

There are a lot of false ideas and bad teaching about the afterlife. This article from Crossway points us back to Biblical truth about heaven and hell.

As always, we want to counter false ideas about these doctrines with the truth of the Bible. The most common misconceptions about heaven and hell have to do with their nature and purpose. There are many false ideas about what they will be like and what will happen there, but the word of God gives us clear pictures in both cases.

What Is Pride?

This article gives a good explanation of pride and why we are called to repent of it.

 When God humbles the proud, it is an act of His grace. In that moment of emptiness, we have an opportunity to repent and yield to the work of the Spirit in our hearts. In doing so, we cast aside our crown, bow before the King, and submit to His lordship.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article written by Zack Wisniewski called Finding Hope in Slow Sanctification. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Pride in the Parking Lot

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

On a bright Saturday morning in the spring, I drove to the grocery story to pick up a few items. The day was full of promise.

We were enjoying a weekend visit from my wife’s parents. After gathering some supplies for the homestead, I planned to work for a few hours at the office and then enjoy the afternoon and evening with my family and in-laws.

When I tried to leave the grocery store parking lot, the car gave only a mild attempt at starting. It was as though I had tried to rouse the car after a late-night rager; it acknowledged my presence, turned over once, then retreated under the covers. We both knew it wasn’t getting out of bed any time soon.

Waiting

While I waited for my wife and mother-in-law, I tried to start the car several more times. I’ve dealt with a dead car battery before, but these noises sounded different. With no particular automotive expertise, I decided there must be a problem with the starter, not the battery. When my mother-in-law suggested that we try to jump start the car, I brushed the idea aside, convinced my diagnosis was sound.

AAA assured me a tow truck would be there within the hour. That seemed reasonable. I read a book with the car windows down, enjoying the parking lot bouquet of carbon monoxide[1] and warming asphalt. Soon one hour turned into three. A tow truck driver finally arrived and I offered my expert opinion about the faulty starter. He proposed we try to jump the car anyway. Given his profession (not to mention his muscles and tattoos), this was no proposal—it was the plan. But I was sure this attempt would fail.

Immediately, powerfully, triumphantly, the car started. Like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. I could not have been more wrong.

This kind driver obviously dealt with proud idiots of my caliber on a regular basis. He smiled, shook my hand, and instructed me to drive directly to the auto parts store. I replaced the battery and returned home five or six hours after departing.

Lessons About Pride

God has convicted me of pride before (and I’ve written about pride once or twice), but this was a technicolor example. Here are some lessons I hope to learn about noticing and combating pride.

  1. Be careful of insisting that you are right. — This boils down to the fundamental Biblical command that we should not think too highly of ourselves. This applies when we are experts in a field. It certainly applies when we are not.
  2. Be willing to listen to others. — Had I listened to my dear mother-in-law I would have saved a lot of time that Saturday. And who was I to scoff at the expertise of the tow truck driver? We cannot and will not listen to others unless we are humble, unless we believe that we need other people. (This is a good thing to believe, because God says it is true.) Hear ye the proverb: “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).
  3. Beware the trap of the stubbornness of pride. — Pride seemes to brings with it a certain isolating stubbornness. As I sat in the parking lot, I was not only full of complaints but I was also strangely smug. There is a wicked satisfaction in being the only one in the world who is right, with all arrayed in splendor against you. In the grip of pride, I can actually enjoy this isolation. I head into a self-congratulatory cycle with my ears closed to outside voices.

We can combat pride by growing in humility, thinking accurately about ourselves and our God. I recommend a heaping dose of the Bible (just about anywhere will do, but Job 38–41 is a fine place to start) along with relationships with people who will be honest with you.

[1] I know this is odorless, just go with me.

Post credit | Photo credit

Prayerlessness Springs From Pride

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Pride is a sneaky, pervasive, elemental sin.

Pride gives birth to many sins and obstructs many godly pursuits. In this article, we’ll consider the ways our pride disrupts our prayer life.

ACTS of Prayer

When we are proud, we feel we are enough. And when we feel we are enough, we don’t think we need God. I read the phrase “prayerlessness springs from pride” earlier this year in a fine Michael Reeves book, and it struck me as profoundly true.

In my early days as a Christian I learned the ACTS acronym to help me pray: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Pride interrupts each of these aspects of prayer.

Adoration

When we think too highly of ourselves, we tend not to think highly of others. With inflated perspectives on our abilities and importance, we don’t notice the skills or positions of others. And this includes the way we think of God.

When we are filled with pride, God’s perfections, his power, his goodness, and his immortality are far from our minds. Our self-exaltation crowds out the acknowledgment of God’s rightful place on the throne.

Confession

If we focus on our goodness and rightness, we are not as aware of God’s laws or our transgressions. As pride increases, conviction decreases, and we slide further down the road that sin paves.

We may mention—either in private prayer or during corporate worship—familiar, long-standing sins. But this is usually done out of habit, half-heartedly, not out of a sense of offending a holy God.

Thanksgiving

When we are consumed with our achievements and convinced of our worth and talent, we don’t think much about what we receive from the Lord.

If we see everything good in our lives as something earned—instead of as a gift—we won’t return much thanks to God.

Supplication

A proud person is not in touch with their poverty and powerlessness, so they are not aware of just how much they need from the Lord. Jesus commends prayer for daily bread, even for those with a full pantry.

We need the Lord’s sustaining grace in both the physical and spiritual realms. We need God’s loving, fatherly discipline; we need his wisdom; we need his protection. And yet, pride blinds us from these needs and blocks us from asking.

Fighting Through Pride to Pray

I’ve often attributed my prayerlessness to busyness. But saints through the years have seen that for the lie it is. Martin Luther famously said that he was so busy the following day he’d need to devote even more time (three hours!) to prayer.

I think Michael Reeves is right—our lack of prayer burbles up from the spring of a proud heart. This means that one of the ways we protect and cultivate a rich prayer life is to battle against our pride.

This article doesn’t have the space for a full strategy to war against pride, but here’s one tactic that has helped me: Read and memorize God-exalting parts of the Bible.

When we fall into pride we start to believe we are independent, that we can function just fine without God or anyone else. This is, of course, a flagrant and laughable lie. But it is a lie our flesh loves, so we need to read and absorb the truth. God is the only independent being in the universe, and we (along with all creation) are completely dependent on him. There are many good places in Scripture to turn for this help, but I find myself returning to Job 38–41.

Prayer as a Weather-vane

If your prayer life is evaporating, pride may be the reason. The specific ways we drift from God can serve as weather-vanes, pointing to the ill winds blowing through our hearts.

This may sound like an article full of bad news. Identifying sin is painful and embarrassing, and repenting of sin is terribly difficult. But if you are in Christ, there is always, always good news.

The fact that you are aware of this pride in your life is not a sign of God’s anger toward you. Just the opposite! It is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4). If God shows you pride in your heart, it is a sign of his love for and commitment to you.

So don’t stay away from your Heavenly Father. Embrace your dependence on him, turn away from your pride, and pray.

Photo credit

Links for the Weekend (10/16/2020)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

For the Heart that is Overwhelmed

With all that is going on in our country, are you feeling overwhelmed? Christina Fox has a good reminder for you.

The truth is God doesn’t call us to depend upon ourselves; he calls us to trust in him to provide what we need to live for him. He gives us just what we need for each day and promises to be there on the next to provide for us again. And he is not stingy with his grace, for as John wrote “he gives us grace upon grace” (John 1:16). God doesn’t tell us what tomorrow brings; rather, he calls us to follow after him, trusting he will lead and guide us.

The Absurdity of Pride

We may acknowledge that pride is at the root of many of our sins, but have we seen how ridiculous it is? Pride goes against every part of our created design, and yet sometimes we just cannot put it away.

As followers of Jesus, we have insight into how our pride is out of place and odd. Human beings are the crown of creation but it is because God made it so. From that high place, we take our cues from our King who gave up his rights, knowing that his place with the Father was secure. So we put on humility which, in contrast to pride, turns out to be wonderfully human—quite attractive and surprisingly powerful.

Christians, Diversity is Not a Bad Word

Like many good words, “diversity” can be twisted and used in a distorted way. But, Amy Medina cautions, let’s not get rid of something beautiful because some misuse it!

The question should be Why wouldn’t you want diversity? Living in an international community has indescribably enriched my life. Hearing the stories of those from diverse backgrounds has broadened my perspective, opened my eyes to new ways of looking at the world. These friends have given me more understanding, more compassion, more wisdom. They have challenged and stretched my faith, forcing me to cut away the chaff and focus my vision on the treasure that is Christ alone.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.