All That and a Bag of Chips

Not that I have already reached [the goal] or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this to you also. – Philippians 3:12-15 HCSB

There is a deeply twisted and dark tendency in each of us that the Jews refer to as the “yetzer hara”, or the “negative impulse.” The really strange thing about this negative impulse is that it consistently comes out as highly positive and motivational.

“You are glorious! You are unlimited!” we are told. They might as well trumpet, “You are all that and a bag of chips!” Our sick and deceitful hearts[1] respond with a quickened beat. Our darkened minds, longing for the title “wise”,[2] betray the fact that we are yet trapped in our prideful sins[3] and are in fact fools.[4] We don’t realize that Satan is once again luring us with that stale, age-old bait - “you can be like God!”[5]

Like all the best lies, this one is based on a grain of truth. The Scriptures do in fact teach that we have unlimited potential. “I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”[6] However, notice that the sense of worth or potential lies not within the human but within the One who is within us. If we conquer, it is only because the One who is in us is greater than anyone in the world.[7]

Where the world calls us to be strong and self-sufficient, the apostle Paul taught that we should not merely admit that we are weak but actually revel in the fact that Christ’s power resides in us and perfects us.[8] He recognized that, but for the grace of God, he would be nothing more than lion food.[9] He readily admitted that he needed to be rescued. At the end of his life, at the pinnacle of his spiritual maturity he still admitted, “I’ve not yet achieved my goal. I’m still lacking. I’m still trying to be Christ-like.”[10]

I understand many people struggle with self-esteem. I know how hard it is to strive and fail. But feeding into human pride through appealing but essentially humanistic thought processes will not help. It is like pouring gas onto an open flame. We will never conquer our yetzer hara by appealing to pride.

Pride is the ultimate sin. The desire for self-advancement and glory, the love of money, power and accomplishment is the very root of evil. Pride caused the devil to fall.[11] Pride caused Adam and Eve to fall.[12] Pride made Moses stumble.[13] Pride and the longing to have others think well of them caused Ananias and Saphira to die.[14] The same thing got the apostle Peter a public rebuke by Paul.[15] God resists the proud but He draws near to the humble.[16]

When we have a true encounter with God the result will not be a swelling of our chests. Like the prophet we will say “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, [and] because my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”[17]

[1] Jeremiah 17:9
[2] Matthew 23:8
[3] Acts 8:22-23
[4] Romans 1:21-22
[5] Genesis 3:5
[6] Philippians 4:13
[7] 1 John 4:4
[8] 2 Corinthians 12:9
[9] 2 Timothy 4:17
[10] Philippians 3:12-15
[11] Ezekiel 28:17
[12] Genesis 3:5
[13] Numbers 20:10-12
[14] Acts 4:36-5:11
[15] Galatians 2:11-14
[16] James 4:6-10
[17] Isaiah 6:5