Pride and Suffering

“‘This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to my lord the king. You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses. But the stump and roots of the tree were left in the ground. This means that you will receive your kingdom back again when you have learned that heaven rules. [Daniel 4.24-26]

What is the point of punishment and suffering?

All punishment is designed to do one thing and one thing alone: cause the one being punished to learn that God exclusively rules all. All punishment is meant to being us back to the First Commandment:

“You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]

Although Nebuchadnezzar's sin was flagrant pride, it was no different than our sin today in that its core was self-exaltation. All sin arises from selfishness in various forms, but selfishness nonetheless.

How do we learn not to be selfish? It starts with a purposeful unlearning of all the world teaches us about "self." To learn not to be selfish requires that we first cut off the inflow of selfish teaching!

But, stopping the indoctrination of selfishness is not enough. Learned and deeply-rooted selfish behavior must be displaced with its antithesis, selflessness. 

What does selflessness look like? It begins with a revelatory new mantra about life: "It's not about me!" It begins with humility.

Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this valuable lesson, and he did. He emerged from his suffering a different man:

“After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’ “When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before. “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.” [Daniel 4.34-37]

The meaning of this for us today is both enormous and critical. If all sin starts with pride, and pride is the exaltation of self, then all sin starts with self. Pride and self are inseparable. The only way to avoid sin is to purposefully exercise "self" control. Jesus said it like this:

But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. [Matthew 23.12]

As "exalting" oneself is an act of will, so is "humbling" oneself. Pride and humility cannot coexist. Neither can any human exist without one or the other - pride or humility. There is no neutral ground. If a person is not doing one, he is doing the other. If he is doing one, he is not doing the other. The presence of one is the absence of the other. 

God never said, "You can have a couple small gods besides me..." God never said, "As long as You include me with all your other gods (including yourself), it will be alright." Instead, God was very clear:

“You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]

Jesus also said:

So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. [Luke 14.33 ]

Of course, this talk strikes a nerve in all because all suffer the consequences of pride inherited from Adam. All sin originates in pride. That is precisely why Jesus used such confining language regarding becoming His disciple. Only when we "forsake all" can we truly understand submission to God.

When we suffer (including persecution or suffering for lack of faith in Jesus and the reconciliation with God He made available), wouldn't it just make sense to humble ourselves? To explain our suffering in any other light than the need for humility and repentance is pure pride.

There is no room for pride in a child of God. While pride does not mind random acts of humility (in fact, pride needs the appearance of humility to maintain its persona), true humility that pleases God,  in contrast, proactively and exhaustively expels pride.

Nebuchadnezzar saw his suffering as his call to humility. In his humility, he was restored.

Father, for all the restoration I need in my life, may I be found truly and thoroughly humble and repentant before You. I have been so proud - even in pious "acts of humility" which are not true humility at all. Forgive me for wanting to follow You but also wanting to keep all my baggage... Forgive me for my pride!