The Anti-God State of Mind

C.S. Lewis called pride “the great sin.” In his book, Mere Christianity, Lewis said, "According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began."

In the secular arena, leaders who have a high level of self-confidence usually excel because they fully comprehend their abilities and are able to leverage those abilities to make things happen. Self-confidence is not bad in of itself, but when it reaches the point where a person becomes un-teachable and/or self-righteous, then it may no longer be self-confidence but pride. It is this type of pride which is being referred to in this blog. The most destructive thing that can plague any leader is pride, but especially when it is a Christian leader.

So what is meant by unteachable? As leaders, we often become set in doing things a certain way because that is what has worked for us in the past. Because of past "victories", we become blind to other ways of doing things. We adopt a "it's my way or the highway" mentality that can actually hinder the work that God wants to do. How? God may be preparing new people with new ideas who can reach people in a way that we haven't been able to reach them before. Some people are receptive to the gospel through music and others through drama. For some, they may only be receptive to the gospel through in-your-face evangelism or one-on-one mentoring. It is for this reason that leaders need to be receptive to new ideas and not attempt to monopolize all decision making and force others to conform to their ideas. As leaders, we need to let God be God because we really don't know it all. We need to stop surrounding ourselves with people who have adopted the exact same practices that we have adopted. We need to replace the "yes men/women" who tell us what we want to hear with Godly men/women who tell us what God is telling them.

So what is meant by self-righteous? As leaders, we sometimes lose sight of our own weaknesses and faults. We sometimes forget that we are mere humans and that we make mistakes, just like everybody else. We become critical of others and start finding faults in others without taking a good hard look at ourselves. We sometimes start believing that we are not accountable to anyone and may even forget that we are accountable to God. We become demanding and controlling to the point where we will not to let go of anything that we were instrumental in starting, and in which we may not have been actively participating, because we feel that we still know best. As a secular leader, I have been involved in many projects from the conception to  implementation of an idea. In the very beginning, I micro-managed those projects to make sure that they were implemented as true to the conceived idea as possible, but at some point I had to learn to let go of my projects and hand the reins over to other people. Sometimes those people would take the project in a slightly different direction because that was what was best for the organization. I suspect that in the spiritual arena, God works the same way. He gives somebody an idea to implement, but at some point they have to turn the reins over and allow others to take it in any new direction that God intends. At that point, we do have to allow God to be God.

Cinnamon Toast, Monopoly and Popcorn

As a kid, I paid very little attention to what the inside of other people’s homes looked like. I just remember the fun times that I had playing games with them or watching tv at somebody else’s house who had better reception than our tv with rabbit ears. One house that I visited, because my Mom needed somebody to watch me while I was sick and she had to work, belonged to a “hippy” family that was very poor. I don’t remember what the house looked like on the inside, I just remember that our lunch consisted of the best cinnamon toast made lovingly by a woman who had nothing else to give. It was where I learned to play a much faster version of Monopoly, which I still play to this day. It was warm, safe and nurturing to me as a young boy.

Another home that I spent even more time at was several miles away from mine and the family again had very limited resources.  We played a lot of games, read books and watched some tv at that house. We also ate a lot of popcorn with nutritional yeast on it.  My friend’s Mom was very health conscious and had little to work with, but the popcorn was filling and the environment was comforting. You know what? As hard as I try, I still cannot picture what the condition of the home was on the inside. I can only remember that I felt comfortable and safe there.

I miss those days when people would get together to just sit around and enjoy each other’s company without anybody worrying about what other people were thinking about their possessions. I know it’s not just my imagination that people actually worry about that. I have on repeated occasions overheard people talking about not feeling comfortable with having others over to their homes because they felt their homes were not “guest worthy.”

I will even admit that there have been times when I felt the same way. Our house has that “lived” in look. We keep our house clean, but it is far from perfect. Yes, there is clutter from time to time and on occasion a dog-hair tumbleweed will roll across the floor. We have wood laminate floors throughout the living room and kitchen and the dog-hair tumbleweeds are very obvious! The funny thing about dog-hair tumble weeds is that we can sweep the floor and then 10 minutes later a dog-hair tumbleweed presents itself. I swear my dogs should be completely bald by how much hair they lose on a daily basis.

I guess my point is, I feel like sometimes I am missing out on enjoying others people’s company (whether at my house or theirs) because we sometimes focus on things that are really not that important. So what if a person has a stack of magazines sitting on their kitchen table. I don’t care! So what if they have unfolded laundry sitting in a laundry basket in their living room. I don’t care!  It is not the end of the world and I don’t really care about silly things like that. If Jesus were to walk into anybody’s house right now, I don’t think he would be looking at their possessions with the intent of judging them by their worth. I truly believe he would be more interested in eternal matters and how they have helped others in this life. Why should I be any different?

Apologizing to God

Going into 2015, I was thinking about how good God has been to my family for the last several years and 2014 was the best one by far. I have come to the realization that God doesn't bless me and my family because we perform in some way that makes him obligatory to us; he chooses to bless my family because he loves us. Because I sometimes over-analyze things, I started thinking a lot about why the last couple of years have been better than others and Pastor's sermon this morning got me to thinking even more. You see, there was a period of time when I didn't live my life in a way that was totally pleasing to God and that may have very well have been a limiting factor in what God was able to do for my family. As the leader of my home, when I make a mistake, it affects my entire family.

Most of the great leaders in Scripture at some time in their lives made mistakes. For instance: When Abraham should have waited for God to give him a son, he took matters into his own hands; Moses, in trying to help his people, ran ahead of the Lord and killed the Egyptian. Later, against the command of God, he struck the rock in his anger; When David should have been out in the field of battle, he stayed home and committed adultery with Bathsheba and then plotted the murder of her husband; Peter, in spite of his self-confidence and his great boast, denied Christ, as did the rest of the disciples who fled the night of Christ’s arrest. There is a fundamental principle here. Sometimes God allows us to make mistakes before he brings about success with us. Our mistakes are often rungs on the ladder of growth—if we will learn from our mistakes rather than grovel in the dirt.

But I also learned this over the past couple of years about God’s grace and our mistakes. God expects us to acknowledge our mistakes and don’t try to hide behind excuses. When we sin, we need to confess our sins to God and then learn from our mistakes. We need to put safeguards in place to prevent the same or like mistakes from taking place again. Lastly, we need to put the mistake behind us and move ahead.

Because I am human, I continue to make mistakes. When I do, I have to correct them as best as is humanly possible, ask God and those whom I have hurt for forgiveness, and then move on. I believe that is why God has allowed us to prosper over the last couple of years; because I acknowledge my mistakes, attempt to correct them and then move on.

Where I am going with this? Sometimes families and organizations, including Churches, limit the blessings that God wants to bestow upon them because they do things that God finds offensive. Sure, God will continue to bless their endeavors, but he is unwilling to fully bestow his greatest blessings upon those organizations because there is ongoing and unresolved "sin." Like I stated earlier, when I make mistakes it affects my entire family and when organizational leaders make mistakes, it affects the entire organization and the blessings that God truly wants to bestow upon that organization. So, if you're the leader of your own family or the leader of an organization and you want to receive the greatest blessings from God, acknowledge any mistakes you may have made, apologize to those hurt (and if the mistake was made publicly, apologize publicly) and then move on.