A Field Guide to Pride Part 1

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble"
James 4:6 ESV

Pride is a cosmic crime. As finite creatures, we cannot fully grasp God’s infinite revulsion against pride’s rebellion. God hates pride.
When James says “God opposes the proud”, the verb here is the Greek antitassetai, which literally means 'to arrange against'. It is a military term which could be translated `to set in array as in a battle', and the picture it conjures up is vivid and terrifying. Whereas the humble, godly man has the hosts of God encamped around him, the arrogant, godless man has the God of hosts arrayed against him! James is saying nothing less than that.

But is his language too strong? Is he overstating the case? Not in the least. From God's perspective, pride seems to be the most serious sin. There is nothing God hates more than this. God righteously hates all sin, of course, but biblical evidence abounds for the conclusion that there's no sin more offensive to Him than pride.

His Word reveals that there are seven things "that the Lord hates and that are an abomination to Him” It is the proud man’s haughty eyes that head up the list (Proverbs 6:16-17). Another time God speaks out, "I hate pride and arrogance" (Proverbs 8:13). And consider the divine perspective on pride revealed in Proverbs l6:5, "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished." Stronger language for sin simply cannot be found in Scripture

What makes pride so singularly repulsive to God is the way that pride “contends for supremacy” with God himself. Pride sets itself in opposition to God. The only fitting response is for God to oppose the proud ( James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5). That is probably why pride is not simply another sin among many, but a sin in a category of its own. Other sins lead the sinner further away from God, but pride is particularly heinous in that it attempts to elevate the sinner above God. The heinousness of pride means that it really does deserve to die.

As seriously dangerous as pride is, it’s equally hard to spot, much less kill. Jonathan Jonathan Edwards said pride is “the most hidden, secret, and deceitful of all sins.

So, when it comes to diagnosing our hearts, those of us who have the disease of pride have a challenging time identifying our sickness. Pride infects our eyesight, causing us to view ourselves through a lens that colors and distorts reality. Pride will paint even our ugliness in sin as beautiful and commendable.
We can’t conclude that we don’t struggle with pride because we don’t see pride in our hearts. The comfortable moments when I pat myself on the back for how well I am doing are the moments that should alarm me the most. The moments when I am holding a pity party are equally as dangerous.

What we need is a field guide for pride. So, let us survey pride’s various forms to provides a clear line of sight so that we can place pride in our crosshairs and shoot to kill.

On a general level we could sum up what pride looks like in three ways:

1.The self-preoccupied person. This is the person who thinks continually about himself. He might be a self-effacing person, and so look in a way humble. But inside his cocoon all he is consumed with is thoughts about himself. He may not even like himself.But he is still the center of his attention. His self-hate has no power to produce humility, it just makes his pride pathetic and miserable.That is a subtle and deadly form of pride.

2. The self-infatuated person. This person really does feel quite good about himself. He is not only occupied with himself, but likes being the center of his own attention and thinks others would probably like it as well. He may or may not be outgoing,but he finds himself entertaining or intelligent or handsome or shrewd and enjoys preening himself, even if nobody is impressed.

3. The self-exalting person. This person goes beyond self-preoccupation and self-infatuation to active efforts to display his qualities. He does care if others see and admire. He wants praise.

But I'd like to go even deeper in identifying pride because fighting pride is like fighting a shape-shifter. It can appear in forms that look like polar opposites summed up in 2 categories.

The Pride of Building up
The Pride of Tearing down

Here are six interrelated forms:

Building Up:
Self-Exaltation,
Self-Promotion,
and Self-Justification

Tearing Down:
Self-Degradation,
Self-Demotion,
and Self-Condemnation

The first three responses usually show up when we succeed and others fail. The latter three are more common when others succeed and we fail.

First, pride puts on the smug face of self-exaltation when success comes its way. Self-exaltation takes credit for the good things in our lives. Second, self-promotion is an extension of self-exaltation because it puts those good things forward so that others will give us credit for them. Third, self-justification is more specific in that it focuses on taking credit for morally good works as a way of being right before God or in the sight of others. Taking credit for being in the right makes it more likely that we will blame others for being in the wrong. The Pharisees displayed all of these species of pride. For instance, they paraded their self-righteousness before people to get praise from others (Matt. 6:1–2). Jesus said everyone who exalts himself (like a Pharisee) will be humbled (Matt. 23:12). These three forms of pride all propose a toast to self, celebrating and showing off our successes. And they often raise their glasses with an acute awareness of the failures of others. The Pharisees not only “trusted in themselves that they were righteous,” but they also “treated others with contempt” (Luke 18:9)

...Yo be continued. Next week we will look at 3 surprising forms of pride.