PRIDE THE ROOT CAUSE

 

PRIDE THE ROOT CAUSE

“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

Did you know that pride was the first sin ever committed?

An angel named Lucifer tried to exalt himself above God. He declared: “I will ascend to heaven;  I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend  above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14) (Look at the pride of this angel, most handsome and brightest, who said “I”, “I”, “I,”  “I”, “I”, “I”)

He said, “I will” five (5) times, and God said, “No, you won’t” and cast him out of Heaven. Lucifer, “son  of the  morning”  become Satan  the accuser. 

(God said to Lucifer, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy,  beauty, thou hast corrupted  thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee.” Ezekiel 28:17)

Every sin whatever it is has pride at its root because all sin is defiance of God. What could be more prideful than saying, “I won’t follow God’s standard”. 

God isn’t impressed with your credentials. You must come to God and say, “I am a sinner, and I realize I am worthy of nothing”.

-The Importance of Humility, Daily Readings For A Deeper Faith, John Macarthur

DINING WITH THE WRONG CROWD

“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus  said to him.

Later Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with such scum?’

When Jesus heard this he said, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor- sick people do…..I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices. For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” 

- Matthew 9:9-13

The calling of Matthew the Tax Collector, to be a disciple of Christ, seems to be remarkable compared to the invitation given to the wealthy ruler who sought to  follow  Christ. In the case of Matthew, the Lord asked him simply to follow the Lord without any conditions. In the case of the wealthy ruler the Lord asked him first to sell his possessions. The wealthy ruler had a far better reputation in terms of social standing than the tax collector, but in the case of the former his worldly possessions posed a greater obstacle in following Christ. 

Tax Collectors were among the most hated people during the time of Jesus, because they were viewed as corrupt. Not much different, than today really, for people are still highly critical of modern  day revenue officers for the same reason. What  is interesting  is that Jesus made himself seen openly in a social  gathering - a dinner hosted by Matthew- with other so called corrupt or disreputable people as guests. 

To  the Jewish religious leaders it was unimaginable for a Rabbi,  to be associating with the wrong crowd. In the present day, it is like seeing a Bishop or perhaps a Priest or  a Pastor in the festive company of criminal syndicates. The religious authorities were so scandalized by this behavior for they would have nothing to do with these types. They expressed their indignation. They asked the disciples of Christ why their Master was associating with the wrong kind of people.

On hearing this, Jesus Christ proclaimed the surpassing Christian principle of universal evangelism, reaching out to save, heal, and redeem those who are lost,  marginalized, the so called scum of the earth, those who are objects of hate, prejudice, persecution, whom society view as morally corrupt, or even socially unacceptable. 

“For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners,” Jesus said. 

A condemnation of  pride, prejudice, and  the blind self righteousness which could be found in any of us. 

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

-Ecclesiastes 11:5

There are deep and mysterious things that we do not know. God has given man a mind that is powerful and creative, and yet there are many  things which are unfathomable. There are mysteries which give us cause to wonder. 

Before man could become proud of his achievements  and knowledge, God reminds him that he even does not know the path of the wind. He does not know where the wind will blow. Neither could man grasp the awesome wonder of  child bearing and child birth. He does not know how a baby is formed and grows in the mother’s womb. He does not know what God is doing and how God created everything.

Man was not present when God laid the foundations of the earth; hanged the planets and the stars in the vastness of the  skies; decreed the boundaries of sea and land; created the springs of the seas and the recesses of the deep (Read Job:38)

Neither could man even fathom the mystery of his own mind  which is endowed with intelligence and understanding, to discover the revealed laws of nature, and harness them to his advantage.

Jeremy Taylor once said, “A religion without mystery must be a religion without God.”