When Pride Creeps In

Cherry blossoms in Virginia last weekend. Humbled
by the beauty of God's creation.

Scripture:

Luke 9:49   John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Observation:

Pride was creeping into the lives of the disciples. In a short period of time they had become proud of the fact that they were a part of Jesus’ inner circle. Luke makes this clear in the two stories that are told; the first when they were arguing about position in the kingdom and Jesus brought to them a child, and now, their complaint about someone not in the inner circle who has done an exorcism. Jesus had continually encouraged the disciples to honor people who had no status, and now, they want to stop someone who doesn’t have the status that they have assumed for themselves. 

Application:

The disciples were continually frustrated with the exclusive behavior of the religious leaders, but they failed to see that their own prejudices were developing. It’s so easy for us to point fingers at others and fail to see that we may be just as guilty. 

To follow Jesus is to live in a place of continual evaluation of self and motivation. It’s so easy to cast criticisms on others without reflecting on our own behaviors. It’s especially easy to cast aspersions on someone else, and in doing so, try to elevate yourself. Isn’t that often the core motivation of criticism — to make yourself feel better! 

Pride creeps in every so subtly. Those who have been long-time followers of Christ can easily become critical of newcomers. We can look at those who don’t look or act like us and wonder what’s wrong with them. What we fail to recognize is that along the journey the disciples had defined their own new norm of who was spiritual. Those who didn’t fit into their definition were considered outsiders. Even though they had known what it felt like to be an outsider, they did not understand that they were creating a new structure in their own minds. 

Jesus was breaking down all of the barriers — all of them! Pride is to be left at the foot of the cross and humility in service to others is to define the Christian life. The extension of grace is to mark the life of a disciple. We need to open our eyes to see who is for us, and just because they don’t do things the way we might, let’s not make them our enemy. 

Prayer:

Lord, use me as an instrument to break down the barriers that we are so inclined to create. Amen.