The nature of Pride...

What exactly is Pride? I would define it as that little voice that whispers, "I know best. My was is best." Pride is not always an obvious trait in our lives. It can be very inconspicuous. However, it's two key components are pretty simple:

• Pride will always resist God's leadership.
• Pride will always strive to live without God's help.

Sadly, we are taught from childhood to be independent when we were actually created and designed to be DEPENDANT on God. We were made to NEED Him! And He wants us to look to Him in all circumstances (good and bad), as well as to seek Him for wisdom and guidance throughout our lives.

If you think about it, Adam and Eve had it made. God walked with them every day, and He blessed and He provided for them in every way. But God also gave them a free will. God told them they could eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of life. He wanted (and allowed them) to choose whether or not they would trust that He knew best, and to trust Him enough to believe that in eating from this tree some sort of problem would arise. He also wanted to give them the choice to (if tempted to eat from it) either cry out to Him for wisdom and help, or to go their own way and trust their own judgement. Clearly they chose to give in to the enemy's crafty temptations - a temptation we still face today and one that asks, "Did God really say? Are His ways really best? Won't I be missing out?"

As a result of their sin, we face death every day. Sadly from birth we are bent toward selfishness and self-reliance. AND now we have to live out this life in a troubled and broken world. But praise be to God, He had a plan! See Romans 5:12-21, but I'll give you a wee taste with verses 18 & 19: "Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous."

I found an interesting story about Pride in Genesis 11:1-9 (NLT). It's about the Tower of Babel.

"At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. ² As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. ³ They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” ⁵ But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.” ⁸ In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.

To understand why they're not wanting to scatter was such a "big deal" we need to rewind a bit and look at another passage in Genesis...

Genesis 8:15-9:1 (NLT):

"Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Leave the boat, all of you—you and your wife, and your sons and their wives. ¹⁷ Release all the animals—the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives left the boat. ¹⁹ And all of the large and small animals and birds came out of the boat, pair by pair. ²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.²¹ And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. ²²As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

¹Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.

Okay, so here's the deal. Noah, his family (along with the animals) left the ark and were told to do two things - multiply and fill the earth. They clearly multiplied, but they didn't want to separate. They all traveled together (still speaking the same language - most likely the same language as Adam & Eve) and found a nice quaint valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (in modern day Iraq, above the Persian Gulf). Settling together was understandable albeit still disobedient. But their next move brought their Pride to the forefront. They came together with the grand idea of building a "great city with a tower that reaches heaven."

What I learned in my studies absolutely floored me... they built this tower using the same tar (or pitch) that Noah had used to waterproof his boat! What?! Why do you think they wanted this huge tower to be waterproof? Because they didn't believe God when He said that He'd never flood the world again. They wanted to make for themselves a gigantic "bunker" to protect themselves from another deluge! Kinda like saying, "In yo face, God!" Furthermore, they wanted this gigantic tower (and mighty city) to be a monument of their own greatness - a wonder for the whole world to see!

I love what God did next. He showed up! "He came down..." God appeared in human form to check out their "project."  And what's even cooler, is that it says, "Let us go down..." showing a clear referral to the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)! Sweet! You see, God came down because He understood the heart of men - that from birth we were bent toward evil. He also understood that their unitedness in this rebellion was only going lead to more sin (and more independence from God). So, God in His great wisdom (and I must add, great humor!) quickly solved the problem. He forced their separation by dividing the people both linguistically and geographically. Thus, the reason this tower was called Babel. In Hebrew the word means confused! I can only imagine the craziness as thousands of new languages were birthed!

Have you ever stopped to think about the towers we build? Monuments we build for ourselves to proclaim our greatness? Things like cars, clothes, houses, to our jobs, friends, awards and achievements. None of these things are bad and enjoying these things isn't wrong, but when we look to them or use them to give us our self-worth, our identity, our "greatness," they end up taking God's place in our hearts and lives. They basically become idols - things that control our thoughts, lives, motives, purpose, and meaning.

I don't know about you, but I think I need to ask God to... ^"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life" Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT).

Thankfully, there is "no condemnation for those who are in Christ!" Romans 8:1. He loves us! He's for us! And He wants us free to be who we were made to be IN HIM! When we finally find our true selves through Him, there's no need for personal towers to proclaim our greatness. Our greatness is found in Christ alone!

So, ask yourself today... What towers am I building to "toot my own horn"?


Cool little side note -- The ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, said that the Tower of Babel was still standing in his day and that he had seen it with his own eyes!