There is a commercial where LeBron James has a neighbor who is taunting LeBron on his new riding lawn mower. At the end of the commercial LeBron is standing outside underneath a basketball hoop in his bathrobe with a coffee mug in his hand. The neighbor is dribbling up a storm and still taunting and then finally attempts a shot and LeBron smacks it into the bushes. LeBron does it all with an expression of sheer boredom. I preached this past Sunday. The church has grown to a pretty good size. Every once in a while someone will say,"I want you to know I am praying for you that you won't get a big head. I think pride would be a huge issue so I am praying for your protection". I appreciate that a lot. I was praying the other day and it struck me how outrageous it was to talk to God about my pride. I think it is a little like me playing basketball with LeBron and saying to him,"Hey, listen LeBron. I need you to help me not to get too proud about my game. I mean, take a look at this shot. It is SAAWEEEET". I have an inkling that the whole conversation would just confuse LeBron. He would think to himself,"what in the world about this guys game could he ever feel good about"? Anyway, it made me laugh while I was praying. I am pretty sure I heard God chuckling as well. Being a preacher means I am on the court with God sometimes. Any time He wants He can stand in His bathrobe and knock my shot into kingdom come. It would be a privilege to play basketball with LeBron or golf with Tiger Woods but the last thing it would do is feed into my pride. That is exactly the way I feel about preaching. I would never want to do it without God but having Him around is brutal on the pride thing. The good news is I am not alone. God hangs out where you work as well. So, no matter how well things seem to be going, remember the guy who created the solar system and felt like He was just getting warmed up is watching you, loving you, but could knock your shot into the bleachers anytime you start to feel too big for your britches.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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Your post is a great illustration of why Jerry Bridges says in his book, Respectable Sins, that the root of pride is ungodliness, defined as "the disregard of God." So the battle with pride becomes a battle to regard Him in everything. When we see Him, our pride shrivels, even when others cheer our success.
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