C.S. Lewis on Pride

"A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

What a reflective quote from Lewis' chapter on The Great Sin that we heard in the sermon. I found additional meaningful related quotes from that chapter:

"There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves."

"There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others."

"According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison..."

"...if you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, 'How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?' The point is that each person's pride is in competition with every one else's pride. It is because I wanted to be the big noise at the party that I am so annoyed at someone else being the big noise."

"In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that-and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison- you do not know God at all."

"How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with Pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I am afraid it means they are worshiping an imaginary God. They theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of this phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how He approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people..."

"Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good-above all, that we are better than someone else-I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil. The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object."

"It is a terrible thing that the worst of all the vices can smuggle itself into the very center of our religious life. But you can see why. The other, and less bad, vices come from the devil working on us through our animal nature. But this does not come through our animal nature at all. It comes direct from Hell. It is purely spiritual: consequently it is far more subtle and deadly."

A disciple - a whole person in Christ

An incomplete extemporaneous synopsis of Pastor Lincoln's sermon, "Discipleship," based on Matthew 28:19 (delivered at UIUC UBF; on 8/16/2009) by Ben Toh

1st, a disciple as a whole person. We usually think of a disciple as a pupil, student, learner of Christ, which he is. Then we might have a picture of a disciple based on our church experience or expectation, such as being a good preacher or Bible teacher. So, a broader definition of a disciple as being a "whole" person, the person that God intended for us to be (Ge 1:27), is a refreshing definition. When we are whole, we'd become a far better disciple, as a better husband, father, friend, employee, etc, rather than just a good Christian performing good Christian deeds/duties.

2nd, believing is embracing the truth about God & its consequences. When Abraham believed God (Ge 15:6), he accepted what is true about God, & he embraced this truth along with its consequences. His belief was not just mental acknowledgment, but life change.

3rd, God can use us only after adequate humility & humanity education. Moses, though able & well educated, having received 40 years of an excellent palace education, was still not "whole" enough for God to use him. For when Moses faced a situation, he killed an Eqyptian in order to help his fellow Isrealite. Sadly, many a good Christian's default is to "kick" others in order to "help" some others. Without God's molding & chiselling, we might do so all our lives. Like Moses, we are also much more likely to strike the rock in anger, instead of speaking gently to the rock, as God instructed Moses.

4th, Francis Collins, a world renowned scientist, might not be what we expect a disciple to be, since he doesn't preach or teach the Bible the way we might expect of a disciple of Christ. Yet, he shines the light of Christ as a whole person in a highly academic scientific community populated mostly with skeptics, agnostics & atheists.

Thus, being a disciple of Christ is ultimately not one's choosing or doing (to oneself or to others), but it is God's molding & chiselling of us to be the whole persons/disciples that He intended for us to be, as He did with Abraham & Moses & each Christian whom God chooses.

Hindrances in the Ministry of the Word

One great hindrance to holiness in the ministry of the word is that we are prone to preach & write without pressing into the things we say & making them real to our own souls. Over the years words begin to come easy, & we find we can speak of:

• mysteries without standing in awe;


• purity without feeling pure;


• zeal without spiritual passion;


• God's holiness without trembling;


• sin without sorrow;


• heaven without eagerness.

And the result is a terrible hardening of the spiritual life.

From: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Biographies/1466_The_Chief_Design_of_My_Life_Mortification_and_Universal_Holiness/