Arrogance – Keeping Your Feet on the Ground

 

Romans 1:18 – 20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

With the current crisis in the Ukraine it is moot to talk about the use of appropriate weaponry fit for the purpose. If the intention is to take Kiev relatively undamaged then you don’t want to drop an atomic bomb on it. So it is with sharing the gospel and other truths of the bible with non believing folk.

For instance, you could share Romans 1: 18 – 20 with Gay Pride people and add several other verses from that chapter but all you will cause is anger and resentment. This scripture is for Christians to know a basic truth from the Word of God but it is not, in most cases, going produce a contrite heart in the target audience. Quite the opposite in most cases.

In fact, all that has been achieved by sharing that scripture in an unloving manner is that unrepentant proponents of socialism and humanism are viewing the Bible as hate speech and seeking to ban the bible. Yes they are wrong and if they don’t repent God will judge them but if you want to reach them you need to act in love and speak judiciously and with care in the love of God.

Galatians 5: 19 – 21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Notice the Paul in speaking about the works of the flesh to the Galatians says “I warn you as I warned you before...” So the warning is for the Galatians, the warning is for the Christians. This is not something we would share directly with unbelieving folk unless we were preaching repentance directly to them under the guidance and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

These types of scriptures are great at stirring Christians up to Spiritual Pride and Personal Arrogance but when used by people, thinking in that way, as weapons to beat the unsaved are only good for closing the gate to Salvation. If you want to reach the lost you need the Love of God, Humility and Tolerance.

Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned”

You know this passage from the apostle Paul intrigues me because Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” 

Yet in Romans 12:3 he speaks of sober judgement which implies logical thinking and reasoning but later says that natural man who has only the ethics in his heart that God has placed there. Not the guidance of the Holy Spirit that the believer has. The natural man cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God.

The scripture from 1 Corinthians 2:14 is often thrown in the face of the unbelieving by Christians. Christians who are arrogantly asserting that the unbelievers cannot understand the things of God because they are Spiritual and not from the natural realm.

Romans 12:3 indicates that Christians should not laud it over others and exhorts them to use sober judgement; serious, solemn, thoughtful, earnest, dignified, steady, level headed judgement. Sharing the gospel with wisdom. So to be reasonable and to use logic and understanding to reach the unbelieving souls in the context of the faith that God has assigned believing Christians.


I conclude by asking fellow believers to be humble in the advice they give to other Christians and to be especially careful what they say to unbelieving folk. It is so easy to have a repertoire of scriptures to throw at others from a position of Spiritual Pride and Arrogance. In reality though we need to be caring in the way we share the gospel and other truths from the bible. We should not condemn others but rather we ought to walk in the Spirit sharing in the Love of God and being careful not to drive others away from the Cross of Christ Jesus.