Reaching Beyond Mediocrity

Chapter 6: Overcome Pride, Cling to Humility

#59 Detect Pride’s Presence

Discipleship Level 2: Reaching Beyond Mediocrity

By Paul J. Bucknell

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Purpose: How to detect pride’s hidden patterns, trace tempting thoughts, and learn from King Saul’s partial obedience.

#59 Detect Pride’s Presence

Pride compares success and status

Introduction

The Hidden Presence

Pride’s growing presence in our lives is like a stream formed during a rain storm. As the rain continues, flowing down the path, the stream gets wider and moves more quickly. And so the evil one exploits our weaknesses by quietly but steadily deepening his claws into our hearts and minds, one incident after another.

The biggest battle with pride is identifying the access Satan uses over and over again to tempt us. The path becomes so familiar that we think, “That is just the way I am.” “This is my personality.” At first, we will not be able to discern the difference between proud temptations and our own thoughts, but any real victory over pride requires clear recognition of how Satan’s words entice us to do evil.

Battling Pride

Don’t be afraid. Remember that the evil one can’t live with truth (the light, Ephesians 5:9). He works in darkness. If you sense a spirit of fear when you start thinking about these things, it shows he is trying to keep you in darkness and bondage. This

will be discussed more in the next point, but at this stage simply refuse to fear by persisting in humbling yourself.

The devil will do everything he can to keep you from escaping his clutches. He knows once we become familiar with certain thoughts and attitudes it is hard to change. So if he can get us thinking one way, then we tend to become protective of it and resist changes that our consciences or the Spirit might suggest. The evil one wants us not only to be unaware of our patterns of pride but to even quietly indulge in them.

Openly Admit

First, acknowledge to the Lord that this is a weak area in your life. Tell Him you need help. Is this not consistent with a spirit of humility? Seek His help. We don’t know how He will help, but He will. Be looking out for His grace.

Second, carefully analyze your past ways. Complete the exercises in this chapter. By carefully observing the circumstances of our pride (e.g., our school grades, wealth, control over our circumstances, reputation, etc.), we can come up with a more effective plan to fight back.

Our plan is to intercept the prideful pathway that Satan has carefully laid down in our minds, something like breaking a supply line. This will help us notice the prideful temptations rather than ignore them. Once they are recognized, however, we must immediately deal with them. This will be expanded upon later.

Examples of Pride

who provides the ability to make or receive money. We are responsible before God to use it for His purposes. Don’t be preoccupied with keeping or growing it.

want to be wary of these thoughts for they are the very things that we have repented from.

Trace it!

Trace the thoughts that go through your mind that induce pride. Write them down. Remember them so that you can quickly identify them. These carefully carved out temptations form the veins through which these poison-filled prideful thoughts flow.

The paths of these lies need to be revealed with God’s spotlight of truth. It might appear as if there is only a single lie, but if you are having continual problems with pride, know for sure there is a whole series of lies that has become accepted in your mind. For instance, when you’re thinking of others, notice whether you can appreciate and admire them for their gifts and talents or tend to want people to focus on your own? Become familiar with analyzing your thoughts. Write them down. Think of this exercise as stopping a video and analyzing one frame after another, that is, the thoughts that are motivating you. These are the temptations by which Satan uses to lead you to pride. They have become so common that they now seem to be part of you. You hardly notice them unless you stand back and pay special attention to them.

Being Confident

Someone asked, “Does every believer who sins have these lies? I can’t find any.” Keep looking. The two clearest scenes of temptation in the Bible, in the Garden of Eden and Jesus in the wilderness, both show how Satan attempts to interfere with our holy choices. It is easy to underestimate the influence of the ever so subtle evil one.

The evil one influences us by cleverly slipping his thoughts into ours. When accepted, we tend to do what his thoughts suggest. Though it might seem that it is our emotions or desires that

sway us, it is our will that, in the end, accepts and indulges these prideful thoughts. 62

Once these thoughts are developed, they tend to overshadow our cautions. Our desires to feel smug, smart, or brilliant seem to dominate our thoughts. If there is sin, there are lies from the evil one that we are accepting as reliable (as in the Garden).

Think of your thoughts as your steering wheel. We might see a turn off, but our reasoning powers must still access the information and decide which path to follow. The eye is directly linked to the brain, and so its effect can overwhelm other data, but the reasoning power is still present and controlling. Because the believer has a holy nature and desire, temptations come from the outside to distract us by enticing us to live by our old nature. The old nature would think proudly too, of course, but it is dead until woken by the temptation.

One More Example: King Saul

Perhaps one more example will help us think through this process a bit more. King Saul went from being a nobody to a successful general and ruler almost overnight. In 1 Samuel 15:7, we read of Saul’s great success, “So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt” (1 Samuel 15:7).

Saul, however, did not completely follow God’s orders given through Samuel to completely destroy Amalek, both man and beast. In verse 9, we see that Saul disobeyed by allowing an enemy king to live (1 Samuel 15:9). This interesting scene reveals several different levels of pride.

This is the reason we are accountable for our own sins. 62

King Saul was so taken with his success on the battlefield that he set aside the clear command of God by letting the best of the animals and the king live! Perhaps in his pride he thought he knew what God needed better than God Himself. He might be lying to Samuel’s face, but his confident assertion makes it seem that he really believed that he completely obeyed. His success so went to his head that he simply could not even see his disobedience. Or, maybe, he valued military triumph over obedience. It did not seem to be worth mentioning, even before a holy man like Samuel.

“I did obey!” “I did obey!” This sounds like a little child who denies he stole some chocolate even though it was smeared all over his face. His pride had reached such a level that even when confronted, he denies any fault. Sometimes it is because of a misunderstanding of the commands, but more often than not, we reshape the commands to suit ourselves.

For example, Saul said he did what was requested. He went on the mission, brought Agag back, and utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But we know the command was to utterly destroy the Amalekites, including their animals and Agag the king. Pride is accompanied by reshaping one’s thoughts to suit one’s own plan. “I am right and so what I do must be right even if a

little readjustment of the rules need to be made.” The mental adjustment is so subtly done that the person is hardly aware.

Application: Have we at some point only been partially faithful

and yet consider ourselves wholly faithful? God is not pleased with our ability to redefine His desires for the sake of our appearance of success!

Only after a stinging rebuke could Saul finally see (or admit to) his sin, and even then, he finds a way to partially blame his disobedience on others. Samuel accused him of rebellion and insubordination. He had committed iniquity and idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23). In other words, Samuel pointed out the sin of thinking so much of Saul’s own plan that there was a willingness to change the rules to suit himself—this is the heart of idolatry. Rebellion is a sign of pride even if there is no violence involved.

Subordination is always a hard lesson to learn. Upon this rebuke, Saul could finally identify and admit to his weakness, “I feared the people and listened to their voice.” Evidently, he tried, but with some opposition. He refused to take the extra steps to discipline his troops. Fear threatened his love affair with power. We see him reasoning, “What if they don’t obey me?” His kingship was more important to him than obedience to God.

Denial of wrong is due to our pride. We become so convinced of the rightness (think success) of what we have done that we just can’t see our wrong until we are rebuked (e.g., David being confronted by Nathan the prophet). Sometimes we need a

strong rebuke to wake us up. We may need others to point out the place that we have exerted our pride and disobeyed God. Unfortunately, few are blessed with such discerning and bold brothers who are willing to rebuke us.

Samuel was unwilling to go back with Saul at first (15:26); it took Saul’s change of heart before was he willing to return with Saul. So what happened? King Saul, even after hearing that his kingdom would be taken away, still convinced himself that all would be well. But only later, after tearing Samuel’s robe and finding that Samuel would not go back with him, could he step down from his pedestal of pride. Only as Saul sincerely observed and confessed his sin could he begin to see his sin and accept God’s sentence on his life. Samuel was willing to return with him at that point.

Application: How many times do we say, “I’m sorry” but do

not really mean it? We should ask ourselves whether our words are accompanied by an actual humbling of the heart. Otherwise, we might be in the same situation as before but with even less wisdom.

Summary

Saul humbled his heart a little, but not nearly enough or in a timely manner. Throughout the rest of his life, he swung back and forth, going from God’s ways back to pursuing his own evil heart. Kings are also mere men. Pride can enter any believer’s life and cause him to have poor judgment.

One of the easiest signs of pride to identify is the way a person will excuse him or herself from obedience. Disobedience is the clear sign that we have exerted our opinion above the Lord’s. We need to deal with this weakness, the sooner the better.

Points of Reflection

List at least three phrases (i.e., temptations) that Satan uses to induce a person to be prideful.

What are some phrases the evil one uses to lead you into pride? Use the worksheets to help as needed.

Explain how pride showed itself in Saul’s decision in 1 Samuel 15.

Are you guilty of being only partially faithful in an area of your life? Explain.

Saul started with self-admiration and sunk into denial and a cover-up before admitting his wrong. Why is confession so hard?