I was not born a Christian. I became a Christian when I realized that I had offended a holy God and needed his forgiveness. Apart from that forgiveness, I was headed for h ell . How can I say I am better than others when, after all the good I had done, God saw me fit for eternal punishment? Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, set the standard of righteousness by which God will judge humanity, and I had fallen short: “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). So I am going to the kingdom of heaven, not because I am better than anyone else, but because I had entered into the one door that leads there: Jesus Christ.
Now every time my thoughts and motivations are based on the word of God, I know I am going in the right direction. Some people will object to the teachings I get from the Bible. In that case, who thinks he is “better”? Me, who borrowed the teachings from God above, or the person who boasts that his ideas are better than God’s?
Nevertheless proud Christians will be found everywhere. I did not start out my Christian life with the above mentality. Pride is inherent in all that we do. Pride does not die easily. When I became a Christian, I found new ways to wear the garment of pride, like priding myself over my Bible knowledge. Others are proud because they belong to a particular denomination. Still others look down on others because of their own superior religious works – whether in kind or quantity.
The disciple Peter was proud. When Jesus told Peter than he would deny the Lord, Peter protested (Matthew 26:31-35). Peter was too proud to recognize his own frailty. The proud are humbled when the shallowness of their pride and joy is revealed to them. Peter was broken when the Lord’s prophecy came true and he denied the Lord three times, as prophesied.
The apostle Paul was proud. In Philippians 3:5-6 he spoke of all those traits that made him feel superior to everyone else. But he threw them all away when he found that righteousness was through faith in Jesus Christ alone. He actually found those attributes of his pride to be harmful to his walk and future.
When you find a Christian acting in pride against you, there’s not much you can do except remind her of where she would have gone if not for faith in Jesus Christ. None of her works or status had helped her before then, and none of it can improve on faith’s righteous standing now.
What Do You Think?
a. Unfortunately, many Christians have put themselves in the place of superiority over others. If you are a Christian who knows that Jesus alone saved you from h ell , do you have any reason to think of yourself as superior to others around you? Why or why not?
b. Some people think Christians are arrogant because they say that Jesus is the only way to God, or that the Bible is the only truth. But if those people say that Buddha is the only way and the Bible is full of errors, are they being arrogant? Actually, a person may be wrongly arrogant, but still say the truth about a matter. My pride or lack of it would not change the truth about Jesus or Scripture.
