By David Faust
A Sunday school teacher told her class that God created Adam from the dust of the earth.
“You mean I’m made out of dirt?” a little boy asked.
“Well, in a sense, yes,” the teacher replied.
The boy thought for a moment and said, “Mom is not going to be happy about that!”
The biblical account of creation is both ennobling and humbling. Adam was created in the image of God, but he was made from dust. Like humus (the dark organic matter in soil), our word humble comes from the Latin humilis, which literally means “on the ground.”
We remain grounded when we pray as David did in Psalm 131:1, “My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty.” But that’s a difficult prayer because pride is a struggle for most of us.
The Errors of Arrogance
Do you ever try to one-up someone and make yourself feel superior? Have you ever engaged in a competitive conversation where, instead of listening well, everyone tried to outdo each other by telling more impressive stories of their own? One-upmanship even appears in the Bible. Remember how Jesus’ apostles quarreled about who was the greatest?
Arrogant people are big on one-upmanship, for they . . .
- Put down others to make themselves look better
- Rarely apologize when they’ve done something wrong
- Refuse to accept constructive criticism and become angry and defensive when challenged
- Constantly seek the limelight
- Brag excessively about their accomplishments
A healthy amount of confidence is necessary to lead others, but an arrogant attitude diminishes influence and demoralizes followers. Healthy confidence relies on God; arrogance relies on self.
Confidence is the shepherd boy David saying, “In the past God helped me defeat a lion and a bear, so he will help me face Goliath” (1 Samuel 17:34-37, paraphrased). Arrogance is King Nebuchadnezzar boasting, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).
Leadership specialist John Maxwell says there are two kinds of pride: “‘Good pride’ represents our dignity and self-respect. ‘Bad pride’ is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance.”
A veteran football player should be confident about his abilities, but he shouldn’t act like a prima donna and disrespect the coach. Experience increases a minister’s confidence, but if he preaches without praying and refuses to accept any direction from the elders, he has drifted into the danger zone of arrogance.
A Weaned Child
David described his relationship with God by saying, “But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content” (Psalm 131:2).
We shouldn’t act like babies, whining and crying to get our way. An unweaned child views his mother as a meal ticket. She’s there to meet his needs and give him milk whenever he wants it. A weaned child, though, is content simply to be at his mother’s side. He begins to see his mother as someone to be loved for her own sake. Likewise, we need to move from selfishly grabbing at the Lord to walking with him in love.
In God’s kingdom, we move up by moving down. We gain the world by giving it up. We find life by dying. Jesus introduces us to the humble art of “one-downmanship” where we become concerned with service more than status—loving others more than promoting ourselves.
Personal Challenge: Using Psalm 19:12-14 and 139:23-24 as your guide, spend time in prayerful self-examination. Ask the Lord to reveal any hidden faults, secret sins, or arrogant attitudes present in your heart.
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