Slander, Criticism, Unteachableness and Pride by Greg Gordon

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. – Proverbs 16:18

Have you ever said you are wrong? Have you taught something, wrote something in a book, or made decisions and then humbled yourself to say you were wrong? Even harder it seems have you ever believed something from the Bible and realized that you did not see the whole picture and now see things differently? Pride says that I am never wrong, or can never be wrong. Pride will not apologize to others. Pride is full of stubbornness, unyielding, and no mercy. It takes a true leader in the body of Christ to confess he was wrong. Such Overseers are rare who are highly esteemed in the peoples eyes and is able to humble himself to say he was wrong. The opposite of being prideful is being humble. When we humble ourselves we protect ourselves from becoming prideful. Pride is the way to destruction. When we can think we are right and everyone is wrong, even if all others in the Church disagreed with us pride will say we are still right. I remember being in a Church of a very godly brother, after the meeting where many shared a testimony, he told me that he was encouraged by something a sister shared. When I heard this sister share, I judged her and thought what was shared was not very good. But this humble godly man learned and allowed the Lord to speak to him through the weakest in faith in the body of Christ. Pride says we cannot learn from the lowly and weak in the Church.

Ephraim of Philotheou says, “The chief cause of criticism and slander is pride and egotism, for man thinks himself better than others. For this reason it is very beneficial for a person to think of himself as smaller than all, so that he sees the brother as better, in order that he may, with the help of God, be delivered from this evil.” When we are unyielding, critical and always right this is a sign of pride in Christian life. In pride we have an inflated sense of our own personal status. We start to think of ourselves more highly then we ought. When we see the failures of a leader in the Church, we think in pride I would never do such things. Such thinking is prideful for if we were put in the same position of pressure and authority with the eyes of many on us we would do much greater failures. When we judge in pride we put ourselves under the same judgment. Though failures are real and hurtful to many we can humble ourselves to forgive others in the body of Christ. Such humility says that we are just like all others, sinners in need of God’s grace. We put ourselves in a dangerous place of pride to think we can slander, mis-speak, and be hard in our words to God’s work and workers and not think it will have consequences. The humble are not always right or perfect but are those who admit they have failed, and seek to learn and grow in their walks with the Lord. Pride will lead to destroying our very lives and usefulness for God to use us.