The Price of Pride—How High?
HAVE you ever dealt with a person who deliberately tried to make you feel small? Perhaps a manager, a boss, an overseer, or even a relative who looked down his nose at you and treated you with utter disdain? How did you feel about that person? Were you attracted to his personality? Certainly not! Why? Because pride creates barriers and stifles communication.
Pride makes a person downgrade everybody else, so that he or she always appears to be superior. The person with such an attitude seldom says a good word about others. There is always some negative qualifying phrase—“yes, that may be true, but he has this problem or that defect.”
In Thoughts of Gold in Words of Silver, pride is described as “an ever-defeating vice. It eats up a person, leaving very little to admire.” Is it any wonder that no one feels at ease around a proud person? In fact, the price of pride is often a dearth of true friends. “In contrast,” the same book goes on to say, “the world loves the humble—not the humble that are proud of it, but the really humble.” Appropriately, the Bible states: “A man’s pride brings him humiliation, he who humbles himself will win honour.”—Proverbs 29:23, The Jerusalem Bible.
More than friendship or honor from men, however, how does pride affect one’s relationship with God? How does God view the proud, the haughty, and the presumptuous? Pride or humility—does it matter with him?
A Lesson in Humility
The inspired writer of the Proverbs states: “Pride is before a crash, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. Better is it to be lowly in spirit with the meek ones than to divide spoil with the self-exalted ones.” (Proverbs 16:18, 19) The wisdom of those words is well borne out in the case of the Syrian general Naaman, who lived in the time of the Israelite prophet Elisha.
Naaman was a leper. In his search for a cure, he traveled to Samaria thinking that he would get a personal audience with Elisha. Instead, the prophet sent his servant with instructions for Naaman to bathe seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman took umbrage at the treatment and counsel. Why could not the prophet come out and speak to him personally instead of sending a servant? And surely, any Syrian river was as good as the Jordan! Pride was his problem. The result? Happily for him, wiser counsel prevailed. “At that he went down and began to plunge into the Jordan seven times according to the word of the man of the true God; after which his flesh came back like the flesh of a little boy and he became clean.”—2 Kings 5:14.
Sometimes great benefits are gained from just a little humility.
The Price of Arrogance
The price that pride exacts of us, however, can be far higher than our simply missing out on some benefit or gain. There is another degree of pride that is implicit in the word “hubris,” which is defined as “exaggerated pride or self-confidence often resulting in retribution.” (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary) This word is rooted directly in the Greek, and according to Greek scholar William Barclay, “hubris is mingled pride and cruelty . . . , the arrogant contempt which makes [a man] trample on the hearts of his fellow men.”
A clear example of this sort of exaggerated pride appears in the Bible. It is the case of Hanun, king of Ammon. Insight on the Scriptures explains: “Because of the loving-kindness Nahash had exercised toward him, David sent messengers to comfort Hanun over the loss of his father. But Hanun, convinced by his princes that this was merely a subterfuge on David’s part to spy out the city, dishonored David’s servants by shaving off half their beards and cutting their garments in half to their buttocks and then sent them away.”a Regarding this incident, Barclay observes: “That treatment was hubris. It was insult, outrage, public humiliation all combined.”—2 Samuel 10:1-5.
Yes, the proud person is capable of hubris, of being insolent, of causing humiliation to others. He enjoys hurting someone in a cold, impersonal way and then gloats over the other person’s discomfort and ignominy. But undermining or destroying someone’s self-respect is a two-edged sword. It results in losing a friend and, more than likely, making an enemy.
How can any true Christian display such hurtful pride, since his Master commanded that ‘he should love his neighbor as himself’? (Matthew 7:12; 22:39) It is simply contradictory to everything that God and Christ stand for. On this account, Barclay makes the grave observation: “Hubris is the pride which makes a man defy God.” It is the pride that says: “There is no Jehovah.” (Psalm 14:1) Or as expressed at Psalm 10:4: “The wicked one according to his superciliousness makes no search; all his ideas are: ‘There is no God.’” Such pride, or haughtiness, alienates one not only from friends and relatives but also from God. What a price to pay!
Do Not Let Pride Corrode You
Pride can have many faces—pride that springs from nationalism, from racism, from class and caste distinctions, from education, wealth, prestige, and power. In one way or another, pride can easily creep up on you and corrode your personality.
Many a person appears to be humble when dealing with superiors or even peers. But what happens when the apparently humble person gets into a position of authority? Suddenly, he becomes a despot who makes life miserable for his supposed inferiors! This may happen to some when they put on a uniform or carry a badge that implies power. Even government workers can become proud in their dealings with the public, thinking that the public is there to serve them, not vice versa. Pride can make you harsh, unfeeling; humility can make you kind.
Jesus could have been proud and harsh around his disciples. He was a perfect man, the Son of God, dealing with imperfect, impulsive, impetuous followers. Yet, what invitation did he give those who listened? “Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls. For my yoke is kindly and my load is light.”—Matthew 11:28-30.
Do we always endeavor to follow Jesus’ example? Or do we find ourselves being harsh, unbending, despotic, unmerciful, proud? Like Jesus, try to refresh, not oppress. Resist the corrosive effect of pride.
In view of the foregoing, is all pride wrong?
Self-Respect Versus Conceit
Pride is also “a reasonable or justifiable self-respect.” (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary) Self-respect means having respect for yourself. It means that you do care about what other people think of you. You care about your appearance and your reputation. The Spanish proverb is true, “Tell me who you walk with and I will tell you who you are.” If you prefer to associate with people who are slovenly, lazy, uncouth, and foulmouthed, then you will become like them. Their attitudes will rub off on you, and like them, you will lack self-respect.
Of course, there is the other extreme—pride that leads to conceit or vanity. The scribes and the Pharisees in Jesus’ day were proud of their traditions and their ultrareligious appearance. Jesus warned about them: “All the works they do they do to be viewed by men; for they broaden the scripture-containing cases that they wear as safeguards, and enlarge the fringes of their garments [to appear more pious]. They like the most prominent place at evening meals and the front seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces and to be called Rabbi by men.”—Matthew 23:5-7.
Proper pride, then, is a balanced attitude. Remember, too, that Jehovah sees the heart, not merely the outward show. (1 Samuel 16:7; Jeremiah 17:10) Self-righteousness is not God’s righteousness. However, the question now is, How can we cultivate true humility and avoid paying the high price of pride?
[Footnote]
a Published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
[Picture on page 4]
A little humility brought Naaman great benefits