The Problem of Pride

Dear Mentors,

My heart's desire is for you to be satisfying yourself in Jesus, and to enjoy ministering to others. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to be able to minister grace and truth to you and others, and I recognize it as a precious gift from God.

But there is one thing that would take our ministry down in a heartbeat, and that is for me, or you, or any of us to begin to get prideful and not repent of it.

Would you please take a second and notice the warning from the Life of King Uzziah?

We notice several things about Uzziah here:

1. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Uzziah filtered every decision he made through the question, "Is this the right thing to do?" He heeded and experienced the blessing of Psalm 1 of not walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the way of sinners, nor sitting in the seat of mockers. Instead he did what was right in God's eyes.

2. He was under instruction. He sat under the godly instruction of Zechariah who taught him, not the how-to's of right living, but rather "who instructed him in the fear of God." The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, so as Uzziah sat under this godly instruction he learned much about the fear of the Lord and right living.

3. He feared God. Zechariah taught him this.

4. He sought the Lord. His decisions were not based upon popular opinion, but by asking the Lord. He went to God with problems, questions, and decisions. He sought the Lord.

We could stop right now and ask to examine ourselves in this. Do we do what is right? Are we under godly instruction? Do we fear God? Do we seek the Lord?

But a hint of a problem comes in verse 5 when it says, "as long as He sought the Lord, God made him prosper." There is a hint of trouble here, indicating that there came a time when Uzziah stopped seeking God.

The following verses, up until verse 16, speak of the military conquests and the political and diplomatic advancements Uzziah made for the nation of Israel. And the reason for these advancements is stated in verse 15: "he was marvelously helped until he became strong."

Do you see? Uzziah's victories were in his weakness. In his weakness he sought the Lord, feared Him, did what was right, and was under instruction. God helped him in his weakness. In his weakness, he was strong. He could say with Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:10:

But verse 16 tells us a horrible account of a weak man who grew strong and arrogant:

Oh how horrible is pride - what a destroyer. Uzziah had no business entering the temple and assuming the role of a priest. He was not in the line of Aaron and it was unlawful for him to assume this role.

Pride is that which makes us think we can do anything, break any rule, assume any role, and do whatever we want to do. And pride destroys.

My friends, I am not a pastor and SCF is not a church. We have consistently stated this from the beginning. I believe it would be disastrous for me to assume this role, or for SCF to replace the local church, it would remove God's blessing from us. May we all be aware of this, and seek to keep ourselves in the proper place.

We can go on and read the rest of the story, and see how Uzziah refused to listen to eighty-one priests who warned Uzziah to turn from his pride and from assuming the role of priest (verses 17-19), how God afflicted him with leprosy (verse 19) and how he died an outcast leper (verse 23). All of this can be summarized by verse 16: "he grew arrogant and it led to his own destruction."

Pride goes before a fall. Pride is a killer. It destroys ministries and marriages, businesses, kings, and all relationships. It perpetuates a vicious cycle: pride leads to a fall, sin hardens the heart and makes us proud.

My friends, there is a gracious cycle as well. It begins when we humble ourselves and come into God's presence. Then it perpetuates when we are humbled in the presence of God. It continues as we refuse to turn away from humbling situations, circumstances that God has designed for our humility. When we humble ourselves we find grace, for God gives grace to the humble. And receiving grace is humbling.

May I encourage us, each one, to be constantly on the lookout for that killer pride, and to thoroughly reject it and instead seek the Lord? Let's continue, for the rest of our lives by the grace of God, to do what is right, to be under godly instruction, to fear the Lord, and to seek God.

grace and truth,

Mike Cleveland

team member www.settingcaptivesfree.com