This past week at Calvary the guest speaker spoke on Isaiah 6:1-6 with relation to vision.
One topic or resonating theme dealt with pride and service. Now, apparently King Uzziah was the bee’s knees when he first started as a servant of the Lord. The Lord’s victories through King Uzziah started to get to his head and he became filled with pride and thought he could do anything he wanted (2 Chronicles 26:16-21). As a result of his pride, King Uzziah became a leper…
The speaker touched on how Uzziah’s pride (I am the shit!) led to the downfall of his ministry (I am cursed as a leper and will now die…), as well as how many of us who serve with our talents/gifts in our respective ministries fall victim to pride as we receive praise and, perhaps more significantly, bolster ourselves with the notion that we are good at what we do. This hit home, deep within the neurons of my brain and the chambers of my heart. I am probably amongst the rare few who will actually confess that: Yes, I do think I do a good job [with others] serving in musical worship. However, I can definitely be even better…
Perhaps it was this lofty thinking which contributed to my fall; certainly it is not the only cause. The pride and knowledge that “We can lead these songs and make them sound good” has ultimately helped silence me. I wonder if it helped the Christian community alienate itself from me though? I wonder how many hated the way I sang, played guitar, and contributed to the teams? Is every church like this, or was it just that one? Will I ever play for the Lord again?
“We can lead these songs and make them sound good” is not what I would think of as being prideful. For once, you said “we”; it’s a team effort, and you’re not overweening your own id. And you say you “make them sound good”. Well, maybe if you were thinking “make them sound fantastic, way better than hillsong right up in hurr and it is all because of me and my greatness” then okay, I can see that being pride.
There’s nothing wrong in taking a humble pride in knowing the gifts God gave you and how to use them. He doesn’t want you to be ignorant of them. He wants you to know what you are best at so that you can better share it with other people and help improve their lives – thereby glorifying Him. Where pride goes wrong is when what you are proud of, you attribute to yourself – and you keep for yourself instead of recognizing that you are gifted in order to share those gifts. But don’t blame yourself for the shortcomings of others when you have tried your best.