Articles
What's So Bad About Pride?
The Scriptures are clear on God's view of human pride, and there is nothing good about it. The wise writer tells us, “These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him” (Prov. 6:16), and first on the list is “A proud look” (Prov. 6:17); he will reiterate this later when he writes, “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 16:5). The wise writer also tells us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18).
But what's so bad about pride that God despises it so much? Other than the fact God abhors it, what's so bad about pride? This is an important question because nowadays, much emphasis is placed on ensuring our self-esteem is high, especially while we are young; look up self-esteem in the dictionary and you just might find it is synonymous with 'pride in oneself.' There's that word pride again! It seems that, today, we are insistent on being proud of ourselves, and it is not a good trend if only for what it causes us to do — or to not do. As you might guess, it is what pride causes us to do or not do that is so abhorrent to God, so it is worth our consideration, too. We need to know why pride is not a good thing, and how we can avoid it.
It Gives Us A False Sense of Self-Importance. There is no better way to illustrate this than the religious leaders of the first century. Once, when Jesus went to Jerusalem for the mandatory attendance at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:1, 2), He did so secretly because some of the Jews [including the religious leaders] wanted to kill Him (John 7:1, 10). When the Pharisees heard He was in Jerusalem, they and the chief priests sent officers to take Him (John 7:32). But they did not.
Instead, the officers who were sent to arrest Jesus listened to Him and, like many in the crowd, were amazed at what they heard, with some declaring Him to be “The Prophet” and “the Christ” (John 7:40). When those officers returned to the chief priests and the Pharisees without Jesus, their only excuse was, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (John 7:45, 46). The religious leaders arrogantly replied, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed” (John 7:47-49).
In short, the religious leaders saw themselves as the measure of whether or not someone should believe anything, and the standard by which all others should be measured; since the officers were amazed at Jesus, they could only be simple-minded dolts who were easily deceived, and the crowds that followed Jesus were a bunch of ignorant rabble. They were so sure of their own righteousness and standing before God, everyone else was to look to them, even more than they were to look to God or the Scriptures.
They proved it again in their disdain for the disciples of Jesus, who did not follow the tradition of the fathers in how they were to wash their hands (cf. Mark 7:1-5), but thought nothing of ignoring — even setting aside — the commandments of God so they could uphold those human traditions (Mark 7:8, 9). They had come to believe they were actually of enough importance they could set aside a commandment of God!
We may shake our heads at the obvious pride and arrogance of such men, but are we also guilty? When we read in our Bibles and find that what our ancestors — and we — have believed and followed are doctrines not found therein, and have practiced things God never authorized nor desired, and when we see those things and defend them simply because our ancestors did it or are still doing it, are we not also filled with pride and self-importance to the point we are doing exactly what the religious leaders did?
It Will Cause Us To Never Admit We Are Wrong. Especially in cases like that just mentioned, pride quite often stands in the way of obedience to God's will because we cannot admit we, or our parents, grandparents, and/or other ancestors were wrong. We refuse to even talk about the matter and dismiss "Bible authority" as anything of importance when striving to be right or pleasing in God's sight, and we merely argue "this is what we've always believed and practiced" as our only defense which, let's admit, is only a statement of pride in our family history and not a credible defense for anything. In giving this as our only ''defense,' we ignore the plain statement of Jesus, who told us, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37).
But pride will prevent us from admitting wrong regarding just about every sin, too. Sometimes, we tell ourselves [and others], "It doesn't hurt anyone," or, "Everyone else is doing it," or a hundred other excuses about why 'our' sin isn't as bad as someone else's, or isn't really 'bad' at all. When we do such, we forget “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4) and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). No, not one of us is 'good,' for we have all sinned (Rom. 3:23) and are in need of a Savior; but pride will never let us admit that.
It Will Prevent Us From Ever Being True Servants. With this sense of self-importance already noted, it will be next to impossible for someone who is filled with pride to ever humble himself and serve the Lord, much less his fellow man; after all, he is too important for such things as that! It was what prevented Simon the Pharisee from washing the feet of Jesus, but looking down on the woman who did (Luke 7:36-39); it was what made the foolish rich man selfishly hoard all his goods (Luke 12:16-19); it was what prevented the people in His home town from heeding Jesus, because He was merely the carpenter's son (Matt. 13:53-57); it is what keeps many from heeding Him even today, too.
Humility is the contrast to pride, and we see it in men of power such as Cornelius, who bowed to Peter when he came to preach to him the words by which he and his household would be saved (Acts 10:25; 11:14). Humility is what allows a man to admit he is wrong, but it also allows him to lower himself and serve the Lord, establishing Him as the one whose will be done, and not one's own. Humility will allow us to “each esteem others better than themselves” and “look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3, 4). Pride would never allow us to do either of those things, and never allow us to put ourselves under the power of another, and strife is always going to be the natural result (Prov. 13:10).
It is no wonder that Peter said, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (1 Pet. 5:5). Let us never forget our place, and our responsibility to God in this; don't seek recognition from men, but from God. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (Jas. 4:10). Pride is quite often the only thing standing between us and forgiveness and eternal life in heaven; now would be a good time to do a little honest, thorough self-examination to see if it dwells in us.
So, with all this said, what's so bad about pride? The answer: Everything.
Indeed. — Steven Harper
