Wisely Foolish

Thanks to my good friend and CATB's worship leader, Blaine Albright, for this guest post. And he has one heckuva set of pipes on him!

First off, I just want to give my boy some public props- Jeremiah, you have done a great job of getting this blog up and running. It took you less than a week to out-blog me for the whole year (that probably says more about me than you, though...) I'm honored to be a guest-blogging Jesus Freak.

Anyway, I'll stay in 1 Corinthians and build on what Jeremiah said yesterday. 3:18 says "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a 'fool' so that he may become wise."

I think the operable word in this verse is "thinks". "If any of you 'thinks' he is wise..." Paul goes on to command the church to quit their boasting. The sin of pride has been around since...sin. From Lucifer's fall to Adam and Eve's fruit binge, thinking that we're better than we are is nothing new. The entertainment world has its share of divas, and the NBA has an entire payroll of overconfidence, but the truth is, you and I are just as likely to get stuck in pride. We begin learning (a good thing) and then we lord it over people (pride). We discover talents that God has given (a blessing) and we take credit (pride). We're successful at work, home, school (all good)... but we don't strive to deepen our connection with God... because... WE can do it on our own? PRIDE.

Thomas Aquinas calls it the cause of every sin. Solomon tells us that it is the key indicator of a coming fall. And describing his feelings for the pride of Israel, God uses these verbs (depending on your translation): abhor, despise, detest, and hate. So we can agree- let's avoid that one. But how? I think pride happens when we lose perspective. No matter what we may be tempted to have pride about, if we pull back and look at the big picture, there is something in our lives that demands humility. Most arrogance will be cured by a reality check. So don't wait for someone else to give it to you. God creates, God blesses, God gifts, and God is to be honored. Ultimately, we must avoid pride because God says He will not share His glory. And when God says He will not share His glory, I'm taking that like it's not a threat...it's a promise.

(Guest) Jesus Freak Out!