Christian Living
February 7, 2012 – Pride, Insanity, and Finally Getting It
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, Whose works are all faithful and right and Whose ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase and humble. – Daniel 4:37 AMP
The Book of Daniel is one I remember very well as a child. The stories of Daniel in the lion’s den and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s real names) in the fiery furnace are stories of protection that I will never forget. But the Book of Daniel is so much more than stories from Sunday school. There are prophecies about the end of the world. Even the great King Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful world leader in history, wrote Chapter Four of this book himself.
Chapter Four of Daniel is literally a drama unfolding before our eyes. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream which Daniel interprets. The dream contained lots of imagery, but its meaning was simple. The king was going to go insane for seven years, living and grazing with the beasts of the field until he learned that God Himself actually ruled mankind. Daniel even warned Nebuchadnezzar to repent and change his ways. If he would do that then maybe God would change his mind (Daniel 4:27). Did Nebuchadnezzar repent? Nope. God even gave him a year from the time of his dream to get things straight, but he didn’t. Nebuchadnezzar did go insane for seven years. After that time in his life, he praised the God that Daniel knew all along. He was finally able, through this humbling experience, to look past his pride and give God the glory He so richly deserved. Christians today find themselves in Nebuchadnezzar’s shoes: they are blinded by their pride.
The Bible is filled with stories about pride. Solomon wrote numerous Proverbs about pride’s destructiveness. But amidst all the lessons and advice, pride continues to be an issue running rampant in Christian circles. Why? Pride is still an issue because as much as Christians like to think they are set apart from the world, they really are not. Christians take pride in almost everything. They are proud of their shiny new home, their new car, or the fact that they have just received a promotion at work. They are proud of their children because their children are seemingly smarter or play sports better than any child ever born. And, of course, they are proud because, like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable, they are so unlike the person sitting beside them at church (Luke 18:9-14). When will everyone just get it?
If you are hoping to get your pride in check in a church setting, you better think again. Churches are becoming bigger and better than the one next door. Growing congregations have given birth to the mega-church movement worldwide, and has in some cases left Christians sitting by the curb watching the bus go by. These churches, generally speaking, lack the personal and intimate setting found in smaller churches for obvious reasons. It’s impossible for a pastor to personally know everyone in his flock if there are thousands of members. But the issue for today is not the lack of personal relationships: it’s the fact that as some churches grow by leaps and bounds, it’s easy for the leaders to be overcome by pride.
I can personally confess that I lived in pride for years, even after I was saved. I was a successful businessman, very involved in the community, and a leader in the church we attended. I seemingly had it all, but the problem was that I knew it. I did whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it. I even used my strong faith as an excuse for wickedness. Yes, I was that prideful. Now I did not go insane like Nebuchadnezzar, but I sure felt like I was going to, as God worked me through, the breaking down of pride in my life. I will never forget that time in my life, not so I can relive it in my mind, but so I know to stay as far away from pride as I can at all times.
How do you defeat pride? How do you stay as far away from it as possible? We do it through humility. We stay humble by following God. We stay humble through repentance. But please, in all of it, don’t miss out on what humility is all about. For years I thought humble people were pushovers. Being humble doesn’t mean you give in to everyone else’s desires and wishes. It means that you put God on the pedestal that you used to put yourself on. It means that God’s wishes always outweigh your own.
I can see Nebuchadnezzar’s face when Daniel advised him to repent. He probably said something like, Daniel, Daniel, all is well. I remember how your God saved your friends from roasting in that furnace of mine. I’ll get things right one day, but not today.
Are you putting things off? Will today be your day? Will today be the day you ask God to help you kill all the pride in your life once and for all? Being humble doesn’t mean you have to live a life of passivity. Put God first. No, you may not be driven insane like Nebuchadnezzar was, but wouldn’t it be great if you understood and acted on your pride before a major trial shook your life? Wouldn’t it be great to know you got it before He acted? Don’t put it off another day. Ask God to help you get rid of your pride before God steps in and helps you get rid of it Himself.
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