AVOID ARROGANCE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

“Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”

Romans 12:3, 16b

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Along with Romans 8, this chapter, chapter 12, is one of the most important in this letter as it touches on key components of the Christian life.

Over the past two days, we have looked at two critical actions a person needs to take in order to start embodying the ways of Jesus, ways central to being a Christian.

First, one needs to offer themselves up to God as a living sacrifice, freely surrendering themselves to the will of the Father. The scriptures tell us that this is our “true and proper worship”, the appropriate way to honor our Lord.

The second thing that’s needed once one fully submits themselves to God and turns away from the world’s ways is to allow Him to transform and renew the mind. In doing so, one can ensure that everything done is in accordance with God’s “good, pleasing, and perfect will”.

What are some of the components of that will?

We learn them as we look at the remainder of this chapter, starting with today’s passage drawn from verse 3 and the second half of verse 16. Look again at these words here:

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

“Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”  Romans 12:3, 16b

In other words, God’s word is telling us to humble ourselves and avoid arrogance.

Maybe you have seen people who carry themselves around like they are to be worshiped because they are superior to everyone else. They love to be in the spotlight and the center of everyone’s attention. In fact, they crave the limelight so much that they are willing to intentionally bring others down so they might be elevated above them. This is the sinful place that arrogance and conceit can drag us if we’re not careful. The focus turns to ourselves instead of the Lord.

Thankfully, this wasn’t the way Jesus conducted Himself. Not even close.

In fact, Jesus was the anti-egotist, even though He possessed power and authority greater than anyone or anything. If anyone was going to lord over others and be able to do so because they were legitimately in position to do so, it would have been Jesus but he didn’t take that approach. Instead, He perfectly modeled Paul’s exhortation from our text in Romans 12. Look at these two examples, first from Mark’s Gospel:

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked His disciples: “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Mark 2:15-17

And the other from Matthew:

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed Him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Matthew 8:1-3

The Jewish religious authority figures, who carried themselves around as being spiritually superior to all, couldn’t understand how Jesus could have dinner with people considered outcasts and outsiders, people not worthy of any fellowship. They certainly would never put themselves in that position. After all, they had a reputation to uphold and they pridefully defended it with a passion.

And so, they asked Jesus’ disciples why He was doing what He was doing and Jesus caught wind of their question, quickly offering a response:

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

You would think the Jewish leaders would see God’s desire to bring people to His righteousness and this required a proactive approach. The Jewish religious leaders weren’t willing to go to the places where sinners abided, to the places they considered low positions, to the places where people needed to hear about God and His judgment for those who chose to continue in sin. Jesus, on the other hand, made such places His home, the place where He wanted be. He desired to be the great spiritual Physician for the sick in spirit, the One who could make a person healthy through restoring a right and righteous relationship with God.

In regard to the tax collector, what guidance did Jesus provide as they came to be baptized?

“Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” He told them. Luke 3:12-13

In other words, Jesus was commanding them to do right before the sight of God. Sinful tax collectors were charging more than the Romans required from their fellow Jews and then pocketed the difference. This practice is what made them despised within Jewish society. Jesus ordered this practice to stop. At baptism, the tax collector was to emerge from the water a changed man. Jesus told them the change that was expected.

This is why Jesus hung out with sinners. He was a change broker of the highest order, calling people to become living sacrifices for God while allowing Him to transform and renew their minds.

In the second example from Matthew, Jesus had just finished His first extensive public teaching, a teaching often referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. As He came down from where He preached, He had a large crowd following Him and it didn’t take long for a great opportunity to present itself, an opportunity to practice what He just finished teaching.

We read where a man afflicted with leprosy came up to Jesus and knelt down, a gesture of respect and humility. He had one simple request for Jesus and He proposed it with absolute humility.

“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Note here how we learn the matter of respect toward the Lord through the words of the leper. He knew Jesus could make Him clean. That wasn’t even of question. But the fact that Jesus could do it and whether He it was the right time for it to happen were two very different things and we find the leper acknowledge it. He didn’t demand that Jesus make him clean. Rather, he placed himself at the will of Jesus and let it up to Him.

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Matthew 8:1-3

The story of the leper had a happy ending. Note that it wasn’t necessarily the leper’s faith that cleansed him but rather the will of Jesus the Healer. Because Jesus willed the leper to be clean, he did indeed become that way.

Imagine how this story would have looked if Jesus was no better than the Jewish religious authorities who questioned Him for having fellowship with those who were deemed unworthy.

He wouldn’t have associated with sinners to help get right with God and find salvation, and He certainly wouldn’t have taken the time to even stop and consider a leper’s request for healing.

Thanks be to God that in His Son, we see what it looks like to not think of oneself higher than one ought but rather to adopt an attitude of sober judgment. Jesus was always about His Father’s business to a fault, submitting to God’s will all the way to Calvary’s cross. He never conducted Himself with conceit to where He couldn’t associate with people of low position.

No, Jesus was the perfect, humble Servant of His Father God and through Him, we learn the way to avoid arrogance.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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