Pride the silent killer (Tuesday, Advent 3)

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Andrew Murray could not have put it better when he said, "Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you". 


A proud heart is congested and filled up, often with self-importance! A proud heart is impenetrable. A proud heart is like a jar completely filled with trash, leaving no space for something better outside of itself. A proud person says, “It is all about me; I am the only one that matters: my opinion is the best and must be accepted; my life is the best; I must be the focus; I am self-taught and self-guided; I am perfect; I am self-sufficient; I know it all; I don’t need others; I don’t need God!” In the heart of a proud person, God is displaced; good and selfless human relationships are non-existent; partnership is self-centered. For a proud person, the necessity of grace makes no sense. In the life of a proud person, glory is taken away from the Creator and placed on the lap of the creature. That is why Proverb 16:5 says, "Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; assuredly, he will not be unpunished".


In the person of Zephaniah, we have another prophet prophesying about the coming of the Messiah. Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah between 640 and 609 BC. Those years were marred with both religious and political turbulence: religiously, the people were hooked to idol worship; politically, they were being attacked from within and without. Exilic deportation was imminent. King Josiah came to power after the assassination of his father, King Amon (cf. 2 Kgs. 21:24ff). As he ascended the throne, he was faced with the greatest task of cleansing the land which was shamefully littered with high places of other gods (cf. 2 Kgs. 23:19); “those who had familiar spirits, the wizards, the idols and all the abominations were put away” (cf. 2 Kgs. 23:24). It was during these times that God, speaking through Prophet Zephaniah, said to the people of Judah, “On that day (the day of the Messiah) I will remove from your midst the proud ones… For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly” (Zeph. 3). 


Humility is the virtue of virtues: it is the gateway to grace, conversion, growth and holiness. James 4:6 says that "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble". The Psalmist sang that “The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him” (Psa. 34:7). A humble person PRAYS because he/she has a deep sense of need: in need of the other; in need of nature; in need of growth and personal improvement; in need of a voice for guidance and direction; in need of the Messiah; in need of God, not self-made gods.


To scale a high mountain, we must be light. To scale the high mountain of life, we must be divested of pride. Jesus was frank enough to tell the chief priests and the elders of the Jews that “the harlots and tax collectors go into the kingdom of God before them because of their unbelief (“their” refers to the elders and the chief priests)”. Why the unbelief? They were proud of heart. 


Self-importance, self-righteousness, the mentality of “I-know-it-all”, the overdependence on the self and self-absorption are ingredients of pride. If any of these is found me, I may be preparing a poison that will eventually eat me up. And that is the poison of pride! The life and message of the Messiah (who is to come) will only make sense or be of benefit to those who are lowly and humble of heart. 

God exalts the LOWLY, but HUMBLES the proud”!  


May we ever grow in awareness of how much we need God and one another, and may we never lack the virtue of humility, Amen!




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