Pride Versus Humility - Arnold Famini

Memory Text

” ‘For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted’ ” (Luke 14:11, NKJV).

Once upon a time, a university professor went to inquire about Zen. Japanese Zen master Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup until it was full, but instead of withdrawing, he kept on pouring. The professor watched as the tea overflowed in the cup. “Stop, it’s already full. No more. No more.”

“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

This lesson doesn’t talk about Zen. Sorry to disappoint. But it does talk about something we all struggle with—pride.

The Problem

Let’s go back to eternity past.

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! [13] For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; [14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'” (Isaiah 14:12–14, NKJV)

Just count how many words and expressions indicate the concept of pride! Words like “I,” “ascend,” “exalt,” and “north.” You get the idea. Lucifer wanted to be number one.

We can never understand how sin began in a perfect universe. It’s what the Bible calls “the mystery of iniquity.” We can never comprehend it fully, but we can observe how it moves. Based on the beginning of the Great Controversy, we realize that sin has to do with pride and selfishness. It all began there!

Ellen White offers an insightful comment in one of her letters:

“All sin is selfishness. Satan’s first sin was selfishness. He sought to grasp power, to exalt self… And the temptation which led Adam to sin was the false statement of Satan that it was possible for him to attain to something more than he already enjoyed—possible for him to be as God Himself.”¹

If you think about it, it’s true (of course it’s true, it’s from the inspired pen! But you know what I mean). If one wants to take someone’s life, it’s usually to satisfy a feeling of revenge. If one wants to steal, it stems from the desire to have it. If one worships other gods, it means he wants to worship his own god. It all boils down to self.

The Seriousness of the Problem

Jesus once told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector. Both went to the same temple to do the same act—prayer. But the content of their prayers, really their hearts, shows a stark contrast.

Notice the prayer of the Pharisee:

“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. [12] I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'” (Luke 18:11–12, NKJV)

Now, observe the prayer of the tax collector:

“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ [14] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:13–14, NKJV)

Can we say that both have sinned? Yes. But one wasn’t aware of it; the other was humbled by the weight of it. Notice the word Jesus uses—justified. It’s a theologically rich term that describes the result of humility before God.

What made the difference? Both were believers. Both went to the temple. Both prayed. So what’s the difference? Pride and humility.

But what makes pride so insidious is that you are rarely aware that you have it, right?

Ellen White warned:

“There is nothing so offensive to God or so dangerous to the human soul as pride and self-sufficiency. Of all sins it is the most hopeless, the most incurable.”²

Incurable—not because God can’t, but because we don’t want the cure.

“It is only he who knows himself to be a sinner that Christ can save.”³

In the first lesson notes, we talked about the Johari Window and its four quadrants:

Open Area—Known to Self + Known to Others
Blind Area—Unknown to Self + Known to Others
Hidden Area—Known to Self + Unknown to Others
Unknown Area—Unknown to Self + Unknown to Others

I have always wondered about that fourth quadrant. How do you surface something that is unknown to both yourself and others? Then it hit me—God! God knows all the areas in those quadrants. He knows each of us inside out!

It’s hard to beat pride if you are not aware of it. This is where Jesus comes into the picture. He will make you aware of it. How? By shouting or lecturing us? No.

Have you ever been with someone so kind that you felt bad about yourself because you were not like him? Or with someone worse than you, so that you felt good about yourself? We expose the hidden parts of ourselves by comparing them to the life of someone else.

Here’s the secret: Observe the life of Jesus, and you will see yourself for who you truly are—sinful, yet loved by God.

The Solution

In commenting on the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Ellen White made this remark:

“In one way only can a true knowledge of self be obtained. We must behold Christ. It is ignorance of Him that makes men so uplifted in their own righteousness.”⁴

Let’s do a case study. Moses. He was instructed in the highest level of Egyptian education. Because of his Hebrew ancestry, he knew he had to lead Israel out of bondage. He thought, “Who else but me?” Indeed, he was the chosen vessel of God—but not yet. His rashness led him to murder an Egyptian and to be distrusted by his fellow Hebrews. He then fled to the wilderness, and there he learned to be humble. D.L. Moody comments:

“Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; forty years learning he was nobody; and forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody.”

And at the end of his life, God’s description of him was:

“(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)” (Numbers 12:3, NKJV)

Do you want such a description? God wants every one of us to be exactly like that!

Conclusion

The Great Controversy theme tells us that the battle between sin and righteousness is manifested through pride and humility—Satan as the prince of pride, and Jesus as the Meek and Lowly King. But Satan doesn’t want us to believe that Jesus is humble:

“Unselfishness, the principle of God’s kingdom, is the principle that Satan hates; its very existence he denies. From the beginning of the great controversy he has endeavored to prove God’s principles of action to be selfish, and he deals in the same way with all who serve God. To disprove Satan’s claim is the work of Christ and of all who bear His name.”⁵

Did you catch that? Satan is saying God is not humble. God’s people are not humble. Are his allegations true? “To disprove Satan’s claim is the work of Christ and of all who bear His name.”

How? Look at Jesus!

“…pride and self-worship cannot flourish in the soul that keeps fresh in memory the scenes of Calvary.”⁶

Discussion Questions

How do you tell the difference between healthy confidence and pride?
How do you respond when someone corrects or criticizes you?
What’s one area of your life where you’re still learning to be a “nobody” like Moses?

Endnotes

¹ Ellen G. White, Letter 165, 1901, par. 4, in Manuscript Releases, vol. 16 (Silver Spring, MD: Ellen G. White Estate, 1990).

² Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1900), 154.

³ Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1900), 158.

⁴ Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1900), 159.

⁵ Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1903), 154.

⁶ Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1898), 661.