About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman

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Arrogant Defiance

I don't know if you have noticed this, but I have.  In recent years, enhanced by social media, some Christians have become very arrogant.  The Covid 19 pandemic of 2020 seems to have intensified this sinful behaviour.  One of a few examples of this arrogance is seen in the outspoken defiance of government and its restrictions that are meant to slow the spread of the virus.  "No one, not even government, will tell me what to do.  I obey God, not man," or so they claim.  If one obeys God rather than man, one will take God's warnings of prideful arrogance found in the book of Proverbs seriously. 

If you obey God, like God, you view pride and arrogant speech as being perverse and evil.  Proverbs 8:13 reads:

"To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech."

If you obey God, you will exhibit wise humility instead of pride that is disgraceful.  Proverbs 11:12 reads:   

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."

If you obey God, your mouth will speak wisdom, not the words of pride-filled fools.  Proverbs 14:3 reads:    

"A fool's mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them."

If you obey God, you will take seriously His warning that pride precedes destruction.  Proverbs 16:18 says:   

"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

When Christians exhibit a unholy arrogant defiance by saying, "No one, including government, will tell me what to do.  I obey God, not man," they defy the very God they claim to obey by disobeying Him. 

Did Jesus exhibit defiant arrogance?  He certainly did not.  He submitted Himself to God's standards of behaviour, despite the consequences.  Did the apostle Paul exhibit defiant arrogance?  He did not.  As it pertains to government, he submitted as he taught in Romans 13:1 to 7 and as Jesus taught when He instructed us to give to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar (Matthew 22:21).  In those few times when Paul intentionally obeyed God rather than man, he respectfully and willingly submitted to being punished for his civil disobedience, even if it meant his execution.  Look at what he said to the governing authorities in Acts 25:11.

"If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die."

It should be obvious to us all that a life of godly humility, not prideful arrogance, is our Biblical mandate.  For the record, humility doesn't suggest weakness.  It suggests strength.  If Paul was willing to die for his humble defiance to Rome, he would die without a fight, which eventually was his fate.  Paul possessed spiritual guts, something I wonder if those expressing prideful arrogance possess today.  Arrogant pride is sin.  Let all people and nations be forewarned.   God's prophetic warning still stands.  Your prideful arrogance precedes your destruction.