Bowing at the Altar of Self

Habakkuk 2:4 (ESV)
⁴ “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

There are some people who genuinely do not care what others think of them. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t full of pride. They often say things like, “I didn’t need the degree to prove I was smart,” or, “I don’t read what others are reading, they don’t interest me.” Each of these statements go unchallenged because they may be genuinely innocent but most of the time they are expressions of pride.

Some people have made themselves elite claiming to listen to a different tune and march to a different drum. They do not need a crowd or even one other person to praise them for their “stand above the crowd” attitude. They are content to worship themselves.

I once had a guy tell me that he couldn’t go to college because he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He made this statement with pride as if this was an accomplishment. I thought to myself, “You weren’t with me when I would write a paper until 2 AM and get up at 4 AM to drive a city bus.” (Take comfort bus riders! I don’t drive buses anymore. You are safe again.) His statement made no sense to me. He seemed successful in his business. Why did he have to make this statement? I believe he took the role of an elitist who stands above the crowd with his non-conformity. He said so with a measure of pride.

The key is knowing what you were created to do and doing it. Then, you do not need to take pride in your lack of non-conformity. It doesn’t matter if you paint houses or canvas paintings, heal people or put heels on shoes, teach at the university or teach new dockworkers to drive fork lifts. It only matter that you are doing what you are intended to do, having the ministry that God is calling you to.

This is the most non-conformist attitude that anyone can take. Too many dance to a different tune with full knowledge that they composed the music. That attitude is very self-contained. It creates the person worshiped by his greatest fan- himself! Listening to God and doing what He desires takes away all pride and all self-worship. It creates a person who loses himself in his work. His work is his worship because God has called him to it. He doesn’t worship the work but worships by working.

I recently told someone that I do not intend on retiring at a prescribed age. I see my calling as something I will do until I am no longer able to do it. I am already asking my church to put in means of recognizing my inability to do it.  I don’t want to be a burden to my church.

So, pride and faithfulness stand in opposition to each other. The one is puffed up and cannot see that he is worshiping himself. The other is merely being faithful to the path that God has created for him.

Yes, I have to watch carefully that even this attitude can become a reason of pride for me. I, too, have to watch that I am not bowing at the altar of self.