Ep. 29 | Mere Christianity | Part 8 | The Greatest Sin

Highlights - The Great Sin According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice. Pride, in all its forms is essentially “self-conceit.”
Vanity: People glory in the greenest lawn, the flattering cut of a new dress or suit, the cleanliness of the kitchen, a successful diet, the ability to namedrop impressively at social gatherings, the right car…the appearance of worldly success…it is disconcerting to think how much of our lives are spent keeping up appearances to impress other people. (Rebecca DeYoung, Glittering Vices) Probably the least bad and most pardonable…It’s a fault, but a child-like and even (in an odd way) a humble fault. It shows that you are not completely contented with your own admiration. You value other people enough to want them to look at you.
Contempt: The real…black…diabolical Pride comes when you look down on others so much that you do not care…what they think of you. The Proud man…says, ‘Why should I care for the applause of that rabble as if their opinion were worth anything?…All I have done has been done to satisfy my own ideals…If the mob like it, let them. They’re nothing to me.’ Has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.
Self-righteousness: Any of us may at any moment be in this death-trap. Luckily, we have a test. Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that…we are better than someone else - we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil…It is a terrible thing that the worst of all the vices can smuggle itself into the very centre of our religious life.
False humility: A man is never so proud as when striking an attitude of humility…Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call “humble” nowadays. He will not be a sort of…smarmy person, who is always telling you that he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him…he will not be thinking about humility. He will not be thinking about himself at all.
Diagnostic questions:
1. Do I respond well to constructive criticism?
2. Do I readily admit it when I’m wrong?
3. Do I do most of the talking in conversations with others?
4. Do I have problems submitting to legitimate authority in my life?
5. Do I accept offers of help when I have needs?
6. Do other people consider me opinionated and/or argumentative?
7. Do I have prejudices against any groups of people?
8. Do I worry more than I should about what other people think of me?
9. Do nurse a grudge or quickly let go of it when other people offend me?
10. Do I get irritated easily by unexpected interruptions?
The first step is to realize that one is proud…At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed. Cures for pride: Be a servant and be a worshipper. We are all starved for the glory of God, not self. No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self. Indeed, what could be more ludicrous in a vast and glorious universe like this than a human being, on the speck called earth, standing in front of a mirror trying to find significance in his own self-image? (John Piper