Humble Yourself (Matthew 23:1-12) Follow Me: Learning to Live the Commands of Southern Hills Baptist Church October 20, 2013

INTRODUCTION It is so good to be back with everyone this week. We had a great time in Missouri with our previous church home in Ozark, MO, Sonrise Baptist Church. As many of you know they help support us on a monthly basis financially and they are faithful to pray for us. As we were there we had the opportunity to share all that God is doing here as He is building us up as a church family and changing us through the of His beloved Son.

I certainly want to take a moment and thank you for your kindness towards us as we were traveling. This past Sunday night we were spending some time with some old friends and were catching them up on all that is going on down here. And as we were sitting talking with them my phone started to erupt with text messages. I might have ignored it since we were in the middle of a conversation, but since text after text started to come in I thought I should check it to make sure everything was ok and it was many of you. It was a cool moment to have been talking to others about the church family that God had blessed us with and then all of the sudden many of them were reaching out with kind words of encouragement. It was a cool moment. Thank you for kindly loving us!

Series Recap Well enough about me, let’s turn our focus to our series. 2 weeks ago we started a new series called, “Follow Me: Learning to Live the Commands of Christ.” We have been taking a closer look at many of the commands that Jesus gave His disciples b/c, as you will remember, right before Jesus ascended back into Heaven some of the final instruction He gave His followers was to learn to live all that He had commanded. So far we have considered the command to die to ourselves as we are to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Jesus. Last week we considered what it means to Abide in Jesus and depend on Him for all of who we are and all we need.

True Greatness In the command we are considering this week Jesus tells us how we can be truly great. I will put the question out for you to consider, how can someone in our culture today be truly great? What kind of people do we consider truly great? If I asked you to name some people who had achieved true greatness what names would come to the top of your mind? Would you be thinking of billionaires? Famous actors? Star athletes? Well known inventors? People in positions of great power? People who are popular and generally loved? TV personalities?

As is usual Jesus defined greatness far differently than the world around Him and in our passage tonight He examines some of the people in His culture that the Jews considered to be great and then what He and God consider to be great.

CONTEXT Let me just quickly share the context of our passage as it will set the stage for what we are to learn tonight. In , Jesus had just had a number of interactions with the religious leadership of the day. He had spent a lot of time talking to the . Just as a refresher the Pharisees were Jews who very seriously attempted to live out the law of the Old Testament. While there were a few different religious groups within the Jewish people the Pharisees were the group that primarily led in spiritual and religious matters. In Matthew 22 the Pharisees approach Jesus a number of times and ask Him questions they believe will either stump Him or get Him to say something that will get Him in trouble. At this point the Pharisees were interested in getting rid of Jesus, even to the point of taking His life and so they were looking for any excuse.

After a number of these public interactions and conversations Jesus begins to talk to His disciples and the crowd about the Pharisees and the kind of leadership they provide. In Matthew 23 we actually find the final public address that Jesus gives before His death. What does He share in His final public address? He speaks of what true greatness and true leadership look like. This is an important address. Jesus knows His time leading the disciples and speaking to the crowds is coming to a close. He wants to prepare His disciples to be the kind of leaders that will be able to take His Gospel out to the world. The problem is that most of the examples of leadership in the Jewish culture were very flawed. The great flaw in this leadership was that of pride. In effort to prepare His disciples to go out and be leaders with the Gospel and prepare the crowd in knowing what kind of leadership was truly great and worthy of being followed Jesus shares with us a portrait of pride as seen in the lives of the Pharisees and then gives a true guide to greatness.

Let’s start by reading our passage…

Matthew 23:1-12 1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on ' seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

So what we see here in verse 1 is that Jesus addresses His disciples and the crowd. Remember this is the last time before His death. What we see in verses 2-7 is Jesus showing us a portrait of pride in the leadership of the Pharisees.

Pharisees. Before we dig into these verses and look at the failings of the Pharisees let me quickly mention that Jesus is generalizing here. He is certainly speaking of the Pharisees in His presence who had been questioning Him in hopes that He would slip up in the previous chapter. We do have recordings in the though of Pharisees who were learners and who did come to faith in Jesus. I say this b/c the Pharisees are often viewed as the bad guy of the Gospel accounts and that is b/c often they are, but this does not mean that all of the Pharisees held these qualities, unfortunately there are many who did.

So with that said, let’s jump into our text by taking a look at the Portrait of Pride that Jesus shares in verses 2-7.

PORTRAIT OF PRIDE (vs. 2-7) As Jesus examines the leadership of the Pharisees there is one glaring fault that they have… pride. As we walk through these verses we can see how pride has infected all that they say, do and want to be known for.

As Jesus paints this portrait of pride from the lives of the Pharisees the first place we see it is in their words…

In Words (vs. 2-4)

Moses’ Seat. We see this in verses 2-4. Jesus states that the Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. This was not a physical seat, but a way of communicating that they have taken up the authority of Moses and teach the law with that authority. This was certainly the case as we mentioned before. The Pharisees and the Scribes, who were those educated in the law, were the authoritative teachers of the law in Jesus’ day.

Obey the Law. Interestingly, Jesus does not tell His disciples to blow off everything they say, rather He tells His disciples and the crowd to listen to their teaching of the law and obey it. While the Pharisees and Scribes had a lot of problems something they were good at was studying and teaching the law. They often took it too far, but they did strive to be honest with it for the most part.

Heavy Burdens. The warning Jesus gives isn’t around what they teach, it is around how they live as leaders. You see the problem the Pharisees had is that they did not live what they taught. Jesus describes t his further in verse 4 when He says that they loaded people up with heavy burdens that were hard to bear. The word picture that Jesus uses here envisions a servant who is having his arms loaded up with things to carry and the load keeps getting heavier and heavier and even more awkward to carry.

Moving. Have you ever helped someone move and they loaded you up from the truck so you could carry a load into their new place? We all have, right? Have you ever had someone load you up to the point where you were full, but they kept adding items? You wondered how in the world you were going to get into the house with out dropping everything that was in your arms, right?

Loading Up. Jesus says the Pharisees are teaching in similar manner. They are loading up these people with unbearable burdens. This was likely referring to what the Scribes and Pharisees did with the law. They were experts in the law and studied it in great detail. In their studies they came up with all kinds of practical application for the many points of the law and took these examples and applications of the law and made them into additional laws that people had to live by.

Overwhelmed. It would be like if Matthew and I took all the application from our sermons and started to add them to a book and told you that you were not only responsible for knowing and living the Bible, but also these thousands of applications from our sermons as well! Would you be encouraged or overwhelmed? Overwhelmed!

No Help. The Pharisees and Scribes, probably started this exercise off with good intentions, but it turned into something different over the years. They loaded people up with these laws and commands and Jesus says they wouldn’t even lift up a finger to help those they had just burdened. Pride oozes from this kind of attitude. They loved to be in front of others, teach, and talk a big game for living by the law, but they were unwilling to live it themselves in many respects and were unwilling to help others who needed the help. They loved to be viewed as the spiritual teacher of the law, but they were not going to dirty their hands by helping those below them.

Jesus is Better. Praise God we have a Savior who is nothing like this. While the Pharisees put heavy burdens on their audience and were unwilling to help, listen to what Jesus says to His followers…

Matthew 11:28-30 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus says, let me take all your burdens for you. He calls us to take up His yoke or His load instead and we find that this load is a light load that we can carry. Rather than having to adhere to every aspect of the law perfectly our load is now to put all our faith in Jesus for His saving grace. In exchange He took our burdens from us knowing that we would not be able to bear them on our own. He knows the burden of the law is too great for us to bear and that we will fall underneath it so he took it and bore it so that our souls might find rest! What a Savior!

True greatness and leadership does not just talk a good game, but walks it as well and is willing to help those in need. It isn’t too good to help those that are in need.

In Deeds (vs. 5)

Jesus goes on to share in verse 5 that even their good deeds are infected with pride.

Matthew 23:5 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,

All Show. So Jesus just told us in verse 4 that the Pharisees were not willing to help those that they burdened with their extensive teaching of the law and the additions they made to it on their own, and He goes on to say that the good works they do are all done for show. The good they do is not in effort to help others, but rather be seen by others. Their good deeds are not coming from a place of love for God or others, but rather from a love of self as they want others to look on them and consider them to be spiritual or righteous.

Jesus goes on to say that this is extended all the way to how the Scribes and Pharisees dressed.

Phylacteries. Jesus talks about the Phylacteries that they wear. A Phylactery was a small leather box that the Jews wore on their forehead and arm that contained several passages of Scripture (Ex 13:1-10, 11-16; Deut 6:4-9; 11:13-21). They wore the Phylactery during prayer in the morning and evening in a literal fulfillment of Deuteronomy 6:4-8, which says…

Deuteronomy 6:4-8 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

This passage of Scripture is speaking to the importance of God’s Word. It should be something we take everywhere with us. It should be something that we talk about with our kids, when we are sitting in the house, when we are on the way to the grocery store, when we lie down to relax and when we wake up in the morning. It should be on our minds and it should guide our hands in all that we do. The Pharisees ended up living out this command literally with the Phylactery.

But not only did they start to take this command literally many of the Pharisees started to expand the size of they Phylacteries so that others would be able to see them more easily. It was a way for them to try to show others how spiritual they were. They wanted it to cause others to talk about their spirituality. “Hey Jim, did you see the size of Bob’s Phylactery? Pretty big. He isn’t messing around! He sure loves the law of the Lord, huh?”

Fringes. The Pharisees pride did not stop there though. They also made sure that their fringes on their cloths were extra long. Numbers 15 gives a command for the nation of Israel to wear tassels or fringes on their clothes and it was to serve as a reminder the commandments of God. The Pharisees did not want people thinking that they merely remembered God’s law, they wanted people to see them and think that they had greater esteem for God law than anyone so they made their tassels or fringes extra long and prominent. Same story with the Phylactery.

First Love? In the end though what are we seeing? Did they love God and His law or did they love themselves and thought they should receive the praise and recognition of other men? The latter and that is the problem.

True greatness and leadership does not do good to be seen by others, but always and only for the glory of God alone.

In Reputation (vs. 6-7) In verses 6-7 we see one final portrait of pride in the leadership and lives of the Scribes and Pharisees.

Matthew 23:6-7 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

The Scribes and Pharisees had a prideful obsession with their reputation. We see this played out in a few ways.

Feasts. When going to big, important meals they always wanted to be seated at the most important place. Back in Jesus’ day seating at these events was arranged by your level of importance. We don’t see this much in everyday life, but we do see it in things like weddings, right? The Bride and Groom are the most important people at a wedding and who gets to sit at the table of honor with them? The Maid of Honor and the Best Man as well as the Bridesmaids and Groomsmen along with some family, right? When you walk into a wedding dinner and you see people sitting at those table you automatically know those people are important to the Bride and Groom, don’t you?

Well the Pharisees wanted people to walk into big feasts and see them sitting amongst the most important leaders of the day and recognize them as a leader as well.

Synagogue. They not only wanted the best seats at the big meals, but also at the . From what I read there was not assigned seating at the Synagogue like there was at the feasts I mentioned, but based off some of the reading I did many of the synagogues had chairs sitting behind the teacher looking out at the crowd, much like we have off to the side of our stage here. I am not sure who is supposed to sit over there in those chairs, but if the Pharisees were here that is where they would be planted. A seat like that says something doesn’t it? If we started service and we had someone sitting there what would you think? You might think that they were a part of leadership or they were going to speak in a moment. That is exactly what the Pharisees wanted. They wanted others to recognize them and see them as important.

Marketplace. This recognition that the Pharisees loved would then be carried out into the marketplace. They wanted to be recognized in public. They wanted the paparazzi experience. They wanted to be approach by others and told, “Hey, you are the leader at church I saw, right? Wow it is great to see you!” They wanted to be the cool kid that other kids wanted to be seen with in public. It was all about image for them. Have you ever seen a mob movie? What happens when the Godfather walks into a restaurant? People come over and greet him to show respect and stay on his good side. The Pharisees wanted that kind of respect. They wouldn’t whack you if you didn’t, but then again, that is exactly what they did to Jesus, maybe they were the original mafia… Maybe not, let’s get back on track. The Pharisees wanted their ego and pride fed as people recognized and greeted them in the marketplace.

Titles. One last way Jesus demonstrates the pride the Pharisees had in their reputation was the titles they loved to be called. Jesus says the Scribes and Pharisees loved being called “Rabbi,” which is a Jewish title that means a number of things. It’s primary meaning is, “teacher,” but it also spoke of a master of a servant, a prince, or even a royal title. It is essentially a way to recognize the greatness of someone. It is a title that shows respect and in the end isn’t that exactly what the Pharisees wanted here? They wanted respect. They wanted glory. They wanted to be loved and at the center of everyone’s universe.

As Jesus condemns this pride-filled love of a self-exalting reputation we see that true greatness and leadership does not seek to make a name for itself, but rather a name for the One who is truly great.

God and Pride As we listen to Jesus expose the Scribes and Pharisees most of us see this pride filled leadership and think it unattractive, don’t we? There are not many in this world who love the cocky athlete on TV, right? We like the guy who is a team player and gives credit to others. We don’t enjoy the celebrity that thinks they are better than others and the rules don’t apply to them, do we?

Generally, we find pride an unattractive thing, but I want to take just a second before we consider the rest of our passage to remind you of what God thinks of pride. Let me read you a couple of verses…

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 16:5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

James 4:6b …God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

I think you get the idea. There are some things that we can think of and automatically anger us or turn our stomachs in disgust. What sin do you see that makes you angry? Is it child abuse? Racism? Abortion? The Scriptures tell us time and time again what it is for God that stands out above all the rest… pride…

Transition So with that being said, we don’t want to find ourselves in the same camp as the Pharisees in any way, shape or form is they are characterized by pride. This motivation should help us as we consider the remainder of our passage where Jesus gives us a guide to greatness in showing us humility.

A GUIDE TO GREATNESS: HUMILITY (vs. 8-12) Remember, how we considered greatness earlier and thought of people who our culture would define as great? The rich, the famous, the accomplished and so on. Jesus has a very different standard for greatness and we would be wise to redefine greatness along with Jesus. Jesus tells us in these verses that true greatness and true leadership are found in humility and we see two big ideas that will help guide us to living lives of greatness for His glory.

Make Much of God (vs. 8-10) The first thing that Jesus shares as we seek greatness through humility is that we ought to make much of God, not ourselves. We see this in verses 8-10…

Matthew 23:8-10 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.

In these verses we really have the same thought presented in 3 different ways. Jesus had just finished calling out the Pharisees for loving titles that exalted them and made them prominent and here Jesus is calling His followers to decline titles that will exalt them so that they can in turn exalt God. Jesus reminds them that they are all equals before God. They are all brothers. As brothers none of them came into God’s family through their own works or merit, but through Jesus and thus regardless of who you are, what you have done or what you have we all stand as equals before God in Jesus.

Rabbi. To get this point across Jesus looks at 3 different titles that could be used to exalt one’s self over another. We have already considered the term “Rabbi” as that is what the Pharisees in our passage loved to be called. Jesus points out that ultimately we only have one teacher and it is God. As I stand before you tonight I am not the ultimate teacher am I? I am just here sharing God’s message. This is why we love to walk through passages of Scripture when we teach. It helps ensure that we are communicating a unit of thought from God rather than inserting our own thoughts. God is our teacher and my job is to help us think through and apply His message. He gets the glory, not me.

Father. Another title Jesus looks at is that of father. He is not speaking in the physical sense, but in a spiritual sense. The Jews often referred back to some of their nation’s heroes as the “fathers.” Over time men like Moses and Abraham were given great glory for their role in history and we are certainly thankful for how God used them, but let us not forget that it was God the Father using them! He was the real hero. They were just vessels of His grace and goodness, not the source. God was the source.

Instructor. The idea with the title of instructor is really identical to that of Rabbi. Jesus throws this in as it was another commonly used title.

God’s Words. Jesus’ whole point here is to have us consider who we strive to exalt in our lives. If God is really the great teacher then when we give people words of encouragement, when we inspire others, when we guide others, when we share those words that the person we are talking to just needed to hear, when we do any of these things isn’t it really God doing it through us? Isn’t it His truth that we share and we do so by His strength?

God’s Work. Even when we accomplish something good and help others isn’t that really God at work in and through us? When we see a need of someone else and meet it? When we step up and volunteer for the job no one else wanted? When we lead others through our actions and example? When we faithfully remain near God as others drift? That is all of God isn’t it? He gets the glory, no?

Moon. As we strive for true greatness and godly leadership what we MUST do is seek to make much of God with all opportunities that we have. When we receive praise for anything it should be reflected back up to God. I have heard someone say that we are to be like the moon. We don’t have any light of our own to emit so we reflect the light of the sun when night comes. Your job is to reflect the light of the Son, the Son of God and when people thank you for the light you tell them that it is not yours, but God’s.

In doing this God is magnified. People will see that our God is great and that we see and embrace Him as such. The Puritan Thomas Watson said it this way…

“When we have done anything praiseworthy, we must hide ourselves under the veil of humility, and transfer the glory of all we have done to God.” -Thomas Watson

In all that you do look to make much of God. Give Him the credit. You don’t need titles or recognition b/c your joy comes in knowing that God is getting the glory and others will be drawn to Him through this and enter into His joy as well.

“The biggest obstacle to making Christ magnificent is the refusal to make yourself small.” –James MacDonald

Let’s make ourselves small to show the magnificence of Jesus. As the said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Serve God and Others (vs. 11-12) The second thing that Jesus shares as we pursue true greatness is that we must serve God and others.

Matthew 23:11-12 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Greatness. So the greatest isn’t the star athlete? It isn’t the celebrity on the late night talk shows? It isn’t the one in the great positions of power? It isn’t the one with the endless bank account? It isn’t the one that lives a life that appears to be one big party? It isn’t the one who seems to get recognized and respected everywhere he go? It isn’t the one who has a list of accomplishments that is too long to read?

No, Jesus shares that those who are great are those who humbly serve. This is where the command of Christ rests that we have been building up to. This verse does not communicate it as a strong command, but in the original Greek Matthew was written in the words for “humbles himself” is an imperative, which means it is a command. So humility is a command from Jesus and not only is it a command it is our guide to greatness as well, isn’t it? Jesus just told us that the greatest among us will be the one who is the servant.

This is so typical of Jesus. He takes what the world knows and expects and turns it on it’s head. The greatest one is the one who is doing the serving? That certainly isn’t how things work in our culture is it? So the greatest among us isn’t the athlete or celebrity… it is the mom who cleans up poopy diaper and crusty cloths. It is the dad who isn’t working his dream job, but is working hard nonetheless to provide for his family and give to Gospel causes. It is the worker who is not above their other co-workers and will take on the tasks that others don’t want to touch. It is the church member who stays a few minutes late each week to clean up and tear down. It is the person who is looking for ways to serve God by sharing Jesus’ Gospel with others they know in everyday life. It is the man or woman who is faithful to life groups b/c they want to be there to encourage their brothers and sisters in the faith. The list could go on and on, couldn’t it? The idea is that this is the kind of person who has God’s eye. He isn’t impressed with what our culture loves. He loves to see men and women faithfully serving Him and others.

Exalt/Humble. The promise that God makes to us is that the proud will find humility, but it won’t be pleasant. We are told one day that everyone will stand before God and at this moment all our pride will be stripped from us. It won’t be able to exist in His presence as truth overcomes all of our self-delusions of ourselves and the world we live in. However, humility will be the end of the tracks for those who have not trusted Jesus. On the other end though, those who have humbled themselves and recognized their need for a Savior will be exalted as our adoption into the family of God is fully realized and we are made heirs with Jesus to all that God has.

LIVING IT OUT – APPLYING OUR PASSAGE

So the command tonight is to Humble Yourself. It is in humility before God that we can find true greatness and live a life that pleases God. So with that said I want to spend the remainder of our time thinking about this practically. I want to start by trying to discover and diagnose where we have pride in our life. We have to go looking for the pride in our hearts b/c as CJ Mahaney says,

“The sad fact is that none of us are immune to the logic-defying, blinding effects of pride. Though it shows up in different forms and to differing degrees, it infects us all. The real issue here is not if pride exists in your heart; it is where pride exists and how pride is being expressed in your life. Scripture shows us that pride is strongly and dangerously rooted in all our lives. Far more than most of us care to admit or even think about.” -Mahaney

DIAGNOSING PRIDE So with that said let’s take a moment to think through a few questions that you can ask yourself that will help you consider your heart and potentially find where you may have pride lurking. As I walk through these questions ask them of yourself…

Comparison. How often do you compare yourself to others? How often do you try to determine if you are a better person than someone else or even a better Christian? Do you stop and think about how you are a better worker than your co-workers? A better spouse than your husband or wife? A better parent than those around you? A better member of the church than your brothers and sisters in Christ? Comparison can be used as a tool of pride that look for ways to exalt ourselves over others.

Critical. How often are you critical of others? This is a proud tendency that is deeply rooted in many who have sown seeds of self-exultation over the years. Do you find yourself critiquing others in your head about choices they make or where they are at in life? Many of us can live out the story Jesus told of the publican and the Pharisee in our heads. Often in our head we tell ourselves that we are thankful that we are better than others or even thank God that we are better. If you find yourself being critical of others regularly, whether it be in your head or in talking to others you should be confident that pride lurks underneath it.

Correct Others. Do you feel the need to correct everyone who is wrong? Do you need to set the record straight? Do you need to be the voice of authority? Do all details need to funnel through you for their precise answers? People are wrong all the time, you are wrong all the time and sometimes we need to simply let it go. Those who struggle with pride often can’t b/c they see it as an opportunity to insert themselves and be “the right one.” Do you have to be right all the time?

Receive Feedback. How do you respond to feedback, correction or criticism? This is a great barometer for pride. Do you respond by justifying your actions, ideas, approach, attitude, what have you? Do you respond by taking your turn to criticize others to knock them down to your level? Do you feel the need to “save face” and protect your reputation from any appearance of weakness? Do you stew inwardly and just carve them up in your head and reassure yourself you were right all along? Do you go seek out others to “vent” to that you know will take your side regardless of what happened?

OR do you listen carefully and consider what has been presented to you? Not all feedback, correction or criticism is accurate, but as those who are seeking to be humble we can see where our heart is with our response. A humble response recognizes we have many flaws and while this feedback may come as a surprise what isn’t a surprise is that you and I are imperfect and it is very possible the perspective someone is sharing could be accurate and correct. Thus we take time to listen and consider honestly. Not just listening so we can sharpen our rebuttals later, but listen so that we can do honest examination.

Left Out. How upset are you when you feel forgotten? When someone doesn’t invite you to go out with a group you know are you outraged that you were forgotten or overlooked?

Take Credit. Do you gladly take credit for the good in your life? Listen to how CJ Mahaney talks to this…

“But as I reflected on this, I was reminded that every time I claim to be the author in my life and ministry, of that which is actually God’s gift, I’m committing cosmic plagiarism.” -Mahaney

“If your business is successful, are you transferring the glory for that success to Him? If people compliment you for your effective parenting, do you transfer the glory to Him? Recognize that though you’re a means of grace to your children, you can’t in and of yourself transform your children – only God can. And as He does, only He gets the glory.” -Mahaney

So do you commit cosmic plagiarism by taking credit for God’s good work in your life? After being faithful to God’s command to you secretly think God is lucky to have us on His team? God should receive all the glory for the good in our lives as it is empowered by Him and given to us by Him. He isn’t lucky to have us, we are lucky to have Him.

Prayer. What does your prayer life look like? Do you constantly feel a need to go to God for your needs or do you assume you have everything under control? This is covert pride. We think we don’t want to bother God b/c we have it in hand we are full of pride.

Transition Really there is a lot more we could ask here as we try to unearth pride in our hearts, but this should serve as a good starting point. If you have not found any pride lurking yet, can you just trust me that it is there somewhere?

CURING PRIDE – HUMBLE YOURSELF Knowing that it is and that God calls it an abomination here are some ideas as to how we can cultivate humility in our hearts…

Preach the Gospel to Yourself Daily What is the remedy to pride that brings about the humility we are commanded to walk in? The Gospel. As we consider our sin, God’s holiness, His greatness we are quickly knocked down to reality. We are not as great as we once thought we were, but we remember it is God who is truly great. All the good we have, our very life and our salvation is owed to Him. It is Him we will boast in, not ourselves.

Maybe you consider your life and see a lot of good in it. You serve God, you go to church, serve others and so on, but would you be where you were if it were not for God taking that first step and saving you? Would you be seeking Him if He had not first sought you? All the good we have we owe to Him! The Gospel reminds us of this.

Listen to these 2 quotes about the humbling truth of the Gospel…

“There is only one thing I know of that crushes me to the ground and humiliates me to the dust, and that is to look at the Son of God and especially contemplate the cross. Nothing else can do it. When I see that I am a sinner… that nothing but the Son of God on the cross can save me, I a humbled to the dust… Nothing but the cross can give us the spirit of humility.” -Martin Lloyd Jones

“Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to be saying to us, “I am here b/c of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.” Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross that we shrink to our true size.” -John Stott

Look to Jesus It is Him we are following, indicating He has lived it out. Phil 2:5-8 shows His humility at its best. We don’t have time to turn there and consider it tonight, but Jesus is the ultimate picture of humility. He left the glory of Heaven and became human in order to serve us. He tells us that He came not to be served, but to serve others. There is so much we could say here, but I know we are running short on time so let me just say that reading, studying and meditating on Philippians 2 is a great starting point for considering Jesus as it describes what Jesus gave up and His humility in becoming man.

Prayer How can you be humble and not go to God in prayer regularly? If humility is your recognition of your need of God in your daily and even hourly life how could you not seek God out for everything? Spend time in prayer acknowledging your need of God in all aspects of your life. Thank God for all the good in your life and recognize you are who you are and you have what you have by HIS gracious hand. As we pointed out earlier, a lack of prayer in your life is probably a strong indication that pride lurks within your heart.

Confess Our Sin with Gravity When we pray we ought to confess our pride and seek forgiveness of it. Pride lifts up one’s heart against God and contends for supremacy with Him. We may not feel this gravity if we are to simply confess to God that we have sinned with pride. What if you confessed your pride by saying, “Lord, in that moment with that attitude and that action, I was contending for supremacy with you. That’s what it was all about. Forgive me.” As we feel that gravity and prides ugliness it should stick with us as we go about our day.

Look for God’s Grace in Others As we called out earlier, nit pickings others and criticizing others is often evidence of a proud heart. To fight this pride we should look for God’s grace in the lives of others. How is God using them? What good qualities has He blessed them with? How can we encourage them? How can we show appreciation for them? How can we serve them? So who is it that you pick apart in your head the most? Who is it that you struggle to be kind to? Who is it that you simply think you are better than? Start turning your thoughts from these criticisms and comparisons to looking for God’s grace in their lives and loving what He is doing in them.

CONCLUSION Jesus just defined what true greatness is. Are you pursuing it? Are you looking to be truly great by letting go of your own pride, reputation and name and living for Jesus’? What is amazing about greatness is God’s economy is that anyone who loves Jesus can be truly great. In our culture there are only a select few who are truly great, right? In God’s culture anyone who seeks Him first and puts others before self can be truly great. You can be great by going to work each day and giving your all for the glory of God. You can be great by finding ways to serve your Life Group this week b/c you love God and those who He has put in your life. You can be great by living simply so you can give more generously. You can be great right where you are, with the job you have, right where you live, with the income you have and everything else that surrounds you. So pursue greatness this week by pursuing more of Jesus and less of yourself!