What Is Insolent Pride?

(Insolent Pride) can take many forms. He (or she) can be the obvious extroverted center of attention, but he can also be introverted and reserved.

The essence of insolent Pride is not the outward style, but “selfishness and empty conceit” instead of “humility of mind” – as Paul admonished against here……

Philippians 2:3 – “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves…”

“Scoffer” – More Hebrew Words on Insolent Pride. from Proverbs 21:24

“Proud”, “Haughty”, “Scoffer” are his names, who acts with insolent pride. Proverbs 21:24 (NASB)

To expand on Proverbs 21:24 in defining a person with insolent pride (“Proud, Haughty, Scoffer are his names who acts with insolent pride”), we need to further expand the definition of the “names – Proud, Haughty, Scoffer”, just as we expanded “insolent pride” from http://insolentpride.blogspot.jp/2013/10/insolent-pride-hebrew-word.html . Following is the breakdown of the word “scoffer” from http://biblesuite.com/hebrew/3887.htm.

Traits – They “Put On A Show” Of Their Deeds

Matthew 23:5

5 But they (scribes and Pharisees) do all their deeds to be noticed by men…..

As we mentioned here, here, and here, the scribes and Pharisees are a case study in insolent pride.

In the Person who suffers with insolent pride, they drive to be exalted by others, their focus is completely on what other people think of them, rather than on the genuine substance of things. In fact, they will go out of their way to even suffer some pain – such as with fasting – if the end result is the praise and recognition of man. To the person with insolent pride, wickedness in their heart does not matter as long as things look good to others. They particularly will focus on “putting on a show” of their “goodness” so that others will see it and think well of them.

Some examples are: Mark 12:38-40

38 In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who…..40 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

Matthew 6:2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and inthe streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

Matthew 6:5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

Matthew 6:16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

But Jesus said that we are to do good deeds in a way that when people see them they will think very highly of God, and not us – the exact opposite of the Pharisees:

Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

In fact, those who do good deeds only for the show (instead of out of love for others) wind up with nothing

1 Corinthians 13:3

3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

The reason it profits nothing is because it was done with wrong motives. These wrong motives will be revealed when the good works are tested

1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God 1 Corinthians 3:13-14

13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

This is what happened to the Pharisees. The only “reward” they received for their show was whatever short term recognition they received from the people who saw it. They received nothing of real lasting value.

So, do not be impressed by the “show” of good deeds, compassion, etc which the narcissist puts on. It is only for their own glory, and at the end of the day they are really accomplishing nothing for God.

Remedy for Pride

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13–16)

When you take three categories of temptation to self-reliance — wisdom, might, and riches — they form a powerful inducement toward the ultimate form of pride, namely, atheism. The safest way to stay supreme in our own estimation is to deny anything above us.

This is why the proud preoccupy themselves with looking down on others. “A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).

But to preserve pride, it may be simpler to proclaim that there is nothing above to look at. “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 10:4). Ultimately, the proud must persuade themselves that there is no God.

One reason for this is that God’s reality is overwhelmingly intrusive in all the details of life. Pride cannot tolerate the intimate involvement of God in running even the ordinary affairs of life.

Pride does not like the sovereignty of God. Therefore pride does not like the existence of God, because God is sovereign. It might express this by saying, “There is no God.” Or it might express it by saying, “I am driving to Atlanta for Christmas.”

James says, “Don’t be so sure.” Instead, say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall get to Atlanta for Christmas.” James’s point is that God rules over whether we get to Atlanta, and whether you live to the end of this devotional. This is extremely offensive to the self-sufficiency of pride — not even to have control over whether you get to the end of the devotional without having a stroke!

James says that not believing in the sovereign rights of God to manage the details of your future is arrogance.

The way to battle this arrogance is to yield to the sovereignty of God in all the details of life, and rest in his infallible promises to show himself mighty on our behalf (2 Chronicles 16:9), to pursue us with goodness and mercy every day (Psalm 23:6), to work for those who wait for him (Isaiah 64:4), and to equip us with all we need to live for his glory (Hebrews 13:21).

In other words, the remedy for pride is unwavering faith in God’s future grace.