Nasty

Amos 6:8 "The Lord God has sworn by Himself, the Lord God of hosts says: 'I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.'"

Pride is a nasty thing. It is nasty because we start to think that we are something that we are not. We believe our own press clippings and when we do that, we place ourselves and our interests above those of others and we place ourselves and our interests above the interests of God…and that is dangerous.

Just look at Lucifer. He had it all. He was the top angel in heaven. He really didn't need anything else, but he wanted more. He wanted to exalt his throne above the stars of God. He said: "I will be like the Most High." Is. 14:12-15 Dummy. The result: "You shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit." It wasn't just Lucifer. Look at Adam and Eve. They also bought into this "you will be like God" thing. Gen.3:5 Nothing but pride. Nothing but trying to make themselves something that they were not. They we trying to exalt themselves to the place of God. And it didn't end with Adam and Eve. It hit the house of Jacob as well. They had it all. They had comfortable beds. They had great living room furniture. They ate whatever they wanted. They sang songs and invented musical instruments. They drank as much wine as they wanted. They had the best skin care in the world…but they didn't care about what God cared about. (Amos 6:3-6) They thought it was all about them. They thought that their own strength and ability had produced all of this. (6:13)

Now, think about us. Think about the competition among some of our churches. Think about the idea that we have to be better than you. We have to do things better than you. We have to attract more people than you. We want people to love us the most. We want to have the most money, and the best programs, the best music and the most talented staff. Why? So we can boast? So we can say we have it together? So we can prove that God is blessing us? Look out. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. It happened to Lucifer, Adam and Eve, the house of Jacob and it will happen to the church in the U.S. if we don't wake up and understand that we are nothing but tools in the hand of almighty God to be used in any way that He sees fit. We are simply His servants to do what He wants in the way He wants. When we start thinking that our growth is due to our smarts or our strength or our wisdom and that we are better than others, we are in deep trouble because God literally abhors pride, and He will do something about it. I have seen it happen and it isn't pretty.

Now narrow this competition thing, this "I have to better than the other guy thing", this pride thing, down to our individual lives. It is there. It is always a temptation. It is lurking just waiting to pounce and it is dangerous. I am not better than anyone else. I am not at all like God. Sure He wants me to have the character of Christ, but He does not want any competition when it comes to power or authority or credit and I have to be vigilant to protect against it. God help us all.