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Pride goes before the Rock Bottom

By Rev Adam Fox

It is no secret, but I spent and still do to some extent, many a day following the WWE. While it is not the same today as it was in the 90s, it is still fun to watch. Yes, I know it is fake - I think of it as a Male Soap Opera. But I still love it. 

The Heels and the Faces. The Jobbers. The insults. Gold, pure gold.

Over the time of the WWE and the other initials like WWF, WCW, OVW, ... there have been many wrestlers I loved. Making a top 5 is tough, but here it goes. 

Eddie Guerrero

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Mick Foley

CM Punk

Owen Hart

Christ Jericho

The Undertaker

Daniel Bryan

There are many great wrestlers. Some who have passed on, Owen and Eddie. But there is one name that is not on my list, but is taking America by storm all over again. The Rock.

Who is The Rock? Let me remind you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBBeeca5o4U

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was a wrestler, from a wrestling family. He was the best of the best for a decade. But that was not enough. Hollywood came calling. Movies. TV. Commercials. And maybe even the Presidency.

But looking at the Rock, he always portrayed a brash, arrogant, and over-confident character. It is what made us like him, and despise him. 

But is he the best role model for us as Christians?

A quick word study of Greek words for Pride, Arrogance, and Haughty are used 200 times in the NIV Bible.  200 times. That seems quite a lot, almost like God is trying to warn us about the attitude of pride and our nature to be arrogant people. 

I am guilty of it just as much as anyone. 

Pride is a sin that is like a flowering weed. It is difficult to detect unless you are looking for it, and kept unchecked - it will run wild. 

Pride and arrogance are something that I struggle with. I remember 8 years ago talking with a Pastor about the Youth Ministry that I ran and enjoyed doing. I actually remember telling him that "Without me, there would be no Youth Group". It makes me shudder thinking about how foolish that thought was. 

The Bible is clear about how we should act.

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, andcoming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:1-11

Paul is clear in his writing to the church in Philippi, that we need to have the attitude and spirit of humility. The two areas that humility comes to play is our need of a Savior and our attitude toward others. 

Pride is telling ourselves we do not need anyone, even God. And that is not true. Humility is understanding that we are not fine and need help, need a Savior. It is the ultimate act of humility. Accepting the help of Jesus Christ who came to Earth to save us fro the penalty of our sins. Our arrogance is thinking we do not need that help. And that is a dangerous attitude my friends. 
The Sin of Pride is what stops so many from even thinking they need help. From thinking that they are sinners, that there wrong is so terrible and in needing of this person to come in and save them. After all, we do not need help ever! (Sarcastic font)

The other area is how we treat and think about other Believers. The fact is God loves all of us, equally. I know it is hard to wrap our Modern American brain around that fact but it is true. Black, white, Asian, men, women, rich, poor, smart, dumb, saved from a horrid past, saved from a Christian family. All of us. 

Knowing that fact, why do I  or why does anyone think differently? Why do we struggle with the fact that we are a better Christian than all of us?
If we think of ourselves as above others, we are not different than King Saul. Saul was Israel's first King and outside of him being super tall and being head and shoulders over everyone, he was not a great king. 

Saul was clueless as to the weed of pride growing in his heart. He assumed he was better than David, better than Jonathan, better than Samuel, the army, everyone. We can tell that by how he acted and treated others. 
We cannot be like Saul. We cannot be blind to our own pride and assuming our fellow believers are not good as us.
It is pride. It is Arrogance. And it is dangerous. 

Jesus had zero pride in Him, and we need to be thankful for that. Would he have come down from Heaven to save the hot mess that I am if he did? 

While being overtly confident and prideful may make for great TV shows, that is really the only area it should exist. Definitely not in the church or in me. 

I am calling each one of us out. Take some time, study yourself - all of yourself. And let's kill the sin of pride. It will not have a place any longer. 

Take that Pride! Cause that's the Bottom Line!

Cheers and Excelsior!

Pastor Adam