Embellishment can be subtle. It can result from believing one’s own press. Or it can occur more blatantly through proud proclamations of qualifications, titles, education, intellect, age (younger or older), experience, etc.  It often manifests itself by sensationalism or exaggeration.

I heard a man once boast that he had a very large discipleship ministry (based on the amount of students, their annual budget, and the facilities owned).  Yet, he also admitted that 85% of the students quit and never meet the requirements for graduation. 

Jesus had only twelve students in his discipleship ministry but he had an 8% dropout rate (Judas).  He owned nothing and never bragged about himself or his good works.  Rather, he built a spiritual kingdom by bringing abundant life to others and, in doing so, glorified his father in heaven.  We must be careful not to fall into the trap of building a kingdom of our own where we can reign and receive the worship of others.

As we are each responsible for our own reputation, finances, and overall image and pride can easily sneak into our lives in the form of self-promotion.  We must always remember that when sharing with others “our” successes we are really sharing what God has allowed to happen and often orchestrated.  We must be careful not to take the credit but rather give Him the glory.

A new pastor of a very small church that met in an elementary school room referred to himself as “Elder so-and-so”. Meanwhile, he was being divorced by his wife, and owed rent money to both his former and current landlord.  He promoted himself as an up and coming author of two books that he claimed to be writing.  One of the titles was called “I’ve Been Through Hell and Now I’m on Fire.” 

He boasted about his accolades and associations with important people, including that he “has been favored to serve on national platforms and travel with many celebrated leaders in ministry, has had the privilege to serve in many capacities in the Lord’s church and in every capacity he has served, remains humbled.”[i]

Contrary to this young pastor’ belief, this is not the way a humble man speaks about himself.  Ironically, none of the people he associated himself with, one of which was the pastor of a church of 7,000 people, gave him permission to use their good names.

Proverbs 27:2 says, “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”  Solomon advised to let a stranger praise us because a stranger is likely to be more objective. 

Nearly two decades ago Rev. Tom Skinner, a well-known evangelist and former Harlem, New York gang leader, spoke at a fundraising banquet that I attended. 

He said, “People of the church can be snowed [fooled].  If you really want to know what kind of character you are made of let someone tell you who is living on the street.  They can spot a phony a mile away.”

The problem is that most Christians do not associate with people living on the streets because it takes time, energy, dedication, courage, and resources.  The people who live on the streets often smell, look, or act offensively, and our pride says don’t go near them.  Pride also says, “I don’t know what to say,” or “I am afraid” or “If someone saw me there what would they think about me, say about me, or accuse me of?”

Jesus did not exclude people who were afraid, self-doubting, concerned about what other people thought, or too busy, nor did he allow room for delegation when he said, “go out into the highways and streets, and compel them to come in so that my house will be full” (Luke 14:23). 

The people who need to hear about and experience the love of Jesus the most are the ones who will never enter the door of a church, ministry, or Christian home without someone going to them and convincing them to come in. 

It is convenient to wait for someone to come to us for help, but God is not a God of convenience.  If he were, Jesus would never have come and taken our death sentence for us.  God is a God of necessity and it was out of necessity that he sent his only son.

Many of us have experienced the growing pains of transitioning into something new because we felt compelled by God to do so.  The Apostles Peter and Paul often experienced the struggles of transition. They prayed, waited, sacrificed, learned, and exercised their faith.  They faced criticism, false accusations, and persecution.  They were misjudged and misunderstood.

But even after they successfully went through their transition and their ministries matured, they did not wait for potential converts to come to them.  Despite gaining a following, despite gaining respect and favor, Peter and Paul did not stay in Jerusalem.

They followed the example of Christ.   Jesus did not stay in the temple.  Outside of the temple is where the miraculous took place.  It is where Jesus demonstrated the joy of salvation, deliverance, and healing. 

However, it was also outside of the temple where Christ experienced the humility and suffering of the cross.  If you want to really find out what you are made of, show someone the love of Jesus in the streets, bars, drug dens, red light districts, etc.  That is were Jesus would be.  He would be found where people are hurting the most, where people are looking for answers in the wrong places.

God created us with a free will to choose whether or not we will love Him.  He cannot force us to love him, much like we cannot force someone to love us.  In the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25) Jesus said that whenever we help hurting people we are really helping him.  He taught us that the greatest way show our appreciation for him is by helping those who need to be helped the most.

We must embrace the very ones that no one else is willing to embrace.  We must love ones that no one else wants to love.  We must reach out to the ones that no one else wants to reach.  Doing so will ignite (or revive) in us a compassion for people who do not know Jesus. It will refuel our vision, increase our faith, and possibly refocus our priorities. 

The late Sydney Harris, an American Journalist, received numerous honorary doctorates.  On September 1, 1982 he wrote in The Presbyterian Journal,  “Your ‘religion’ is whatever you are most interested in; and if you are most interested in yourself, your real religion is Ego-idolatry, no matter what creed you profess.”*

By giving thanks to God through serving others we can discern, disarm, and destroy pride.

Read Chapter 8:  Discern, Disarm, and Destroy
Boasting About What We Plan to Do or Accomplish