CHAPTER FIVE
THE STATUS
BROTHERS AND THEIR NOT QUITE RIGHT FIRST COUSIN, PRIDE
The greatest fault is to be conscious of none – Thomas
Carlyle
We live in a society intoxicated with success. Everybody
wants to make a mark. The world defines success in a different way than God’s
Word describes it.
Success is attaining cultural goals that are sure to
elevate one’s perceived goals that are sure to elevate one’s perceived
importance in that culture - John Johnson
When people are successful (by the world’s standard),
they experience elevation in at least one of three areas: power, privilege and
wealth.
We all know that the teenage years are difficult years
because of incredibly intense peer pressure. Teenagers are pressured to “do
what everybody else is doing” even if it violates the morals learned at home.
Some guys who seem to have a lot of potential can’t pull it off after they
emerge from initial successes as a teenager. Few of the biggest nerds in the
class who couldn’t seem to relate to anybody are millionaires now. They own
software companies in Silicon Valley, wear Italian suits and drive BMW’s.
Uzziah’s story is one of those about a man that had everything
in the world going for him but ended up throwing it all in the toilet and
heading in another direction. It’s like a kind of insanity that hits men in the
middle part of life.
Three reasons for Uzziah’s fall:
He began to spend more time and attention on the external
rather than the internal: aka the barrenness of a busy life. True success has a
lot more to do with who we are than with what we “accomplish.”
His character did not keep pace with his accomplishments:
how many successful dads and husbands do we put on the cover of Time? Why don’t
we say, “Here’s a guy who’s got his priorities squared away. He’s making a good
living but he’s also making a good character. He doesn’t have much of a
financial portfolio, but he’s spent a lot of time developing character in the
lives of his kids. He’s had a quiet, steady walk with God for 30years.” One of
the things about raising children is that you cannot impart that which you do
not possess. Character isn’t something you mandate but something you model. If
you are spending your life chasing after external accomplishments rather than
internal character, it will show.
He was tripped by his own success: Sometimes we get upset
with the Lord because we are not as “successful” as we would like to be. We
would like to be making a little more money or moving up the ladder at work a
little bit faster. We’ll like a little elevation in status to go along with our
tenure on the job and our experience, but it seems terribly slow in coming. God
is gracious when He does not answer our prayers for external success. Success
is like ice. It’s beautiful, smooth, clean and cool but not many men can walk
on it without falling flat on their faces or duffs. Too many accomplishments
and too much recognition too soon can be tragic. Not many people can handle
that kind of dangerous footing. God knows when we can handle success and He
knows when we can’t. As a loving father, He makes sure that He orders events in
such a way that we can walk steadily along the road to heaven without slipping.
If God puts something in my hand without first doing
something to my heart, my character will lag behind my achievements, and that
is the way to ruin. – Warren Wiersbe
Pride is so subtle, I usually don’t recognize it in my
life. If you don’t think you struggle with pride, then you are the proudest
person of all – and you are in great danger. Pride blinds us.
Pride is spiritual cancer; it eats the very possibility
of love or contentment, or even common sense - C. S. Lewis
Lord, keep me from pride – Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
Lord, keep me from pride, help me to recognize it. Help
me to be aware of it. Help me not to be dazzled by it, seduced by it,
intoxicated by it. – Steve Farrar
Symptoms of pride
Arrogance: we become arrogant when we convince ourselves
that we “deserve” certain perks and privileges. The problem comes when you
begin to expect the privileges.
Aversion to accountability: being accountable is a
willingness to explain your actions. Everyone of us needs friends who love us
enough to make us explain our actions.
God sends no one away empty except those who are full of
themselves – D. L. Moody
Two lessons to ponder
External accomplishments can be false indicators of
success: We look at some guy’s build, or his tailored suit, luxury car, track record
of accomplishments, and compare ourselves. We find ourselves wishing we could
have, do, speak or make money like he does.
We should beware of spiritual indifference: blindness to
spiritual things doesn’t come first. Arrogance and presumption don’t come
first. There is something that comes before these things; there is something
that provides the necessary soil for these poisonous plants to germinate and
grow. And that something is spiritual indifference. It’s an ever-so-gradual
cooling of your spiritual temperature. It’s an ever-so-subtle fading of your
love for the Lord Jesus. It’s as silent and subtle as a slow moving shadow.
The essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride.
Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in
comparison. It was through pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads
to every other vice; it is the complete anti-God state of mind.
Ask God to open your eyes and show you your pride. And be
prepared that He may use your wife, your kids, or a friend to point it out to
you. And ask Him to give you the grace not to be defensive when they tell you.
Ask God to give you the courage to face it. And deal with it, and crush it,
everyday.
Source: Finishing Strong by Steve Farrar
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