What causes people to be arrogant?
Do we think that our skills and abilities are our own? Are they things we created for ourselves at birth for the improvement of ourselves? And what causes us to suppose that we are better than other people?
It seems to me that the root of arrogance lies in pride. “Look at what I’ve done,” or “Look how great I am” are two of the things that emanate from arrogant people. And the arrogance builds over such trivial things like friends, money, personality, approval, skills, talents, jobs, and more. But think of the concept of arrogance because of friends: who decided they are worthy to be a cause of arrogance? And why does having certain people as friends make you better than others? If you think about it, the use of friends as a source of arrogance is at best circular logic. It revolves around everyone in the group being “cool” and to a certain extent, feeding off of each other. But in the end, who determines cool? And so what if your group of 40 people thinks that you’re “cool.”
Social arrogance is a huge and growing problem. People waste spend their time reading about the celebrities and their “magical” lives, to a certain extent, dreaming that they can be like them. People buy magazines like “D Magazine” (Dallas), dreaming to become part of the “it” crowd. And all for what?
Look at Britney Spears. How could anyone in their right mind presume that she has a good life. Everything about her screams that she is missing something important in her life. And yet so many people dream of becoming rich, famous, and popular like her.
This post is not about Britney, though. This post is about the ever-present problem of arrogance in Christian society. I can name one good person that was not about arrogance: Jesus. He included the outcasts, picked the least-popular, and did great things through them. I don’t see this story line being played out in modern-day Christendom.
Why is that we choose the most popular, the prettiest, the best (in our opinion), and presume that God is going to do great things through our choices? Why can’t we understand that these surface issues determine what makes up good people? If I were to go outside with a shovel, dig up a half-inch of dirt and proclaim that the earth was composed entirely of this brown dirt, everyone would say that I am a fool. Why–Because I am basing my theory on so little of the actual earth, and I’m not digging enough to comprehend what the earth is actually composed of.
Now, am I blessed with a sense of discernment that others are lacking, or has years of work jaded us to the true nature of Christianity. I can’t think of a single command that says, “Go therefore and find cool people, and hang out with them. Then you will be happy.” Why? Because that’s an absurd command. That’s our natural impulse, and sadly it is an impulse that is far too often used to make our personnel choices.
I fear that our choice for personal comfort and enjoyment has led us to miss out on the greater joys in life. It’s not a natural tendency, but the joy that is provided by following God’s command is better than our selfish choices of picking the fun people and avoiding the rest.
Remember: this is post is directed primarily at me and secondarily at others. And if you read this post, and you think I’m talking about you, I am. The saddest part is that you will read the post and get angry because I’m pointing fingers at you. And you won’t spend the time to realize that there may be some validity to this.
So, to all of us who are bloated with arrogance, choosing the easy route. Cheers.

I saw a huge yellow sticker on the dash of a BMW X3 this afternoon. I’ve seen the X3 around my apartment complex for several months now, but this was the first time that I acutally gazed into the inside. It was interesting to see this beautiful car with a hideous sticker on the dash.
The sticker warns of the danger of the umpteen airbags in the vehicle. It says something like, “Wear your seatbelt and stay away from the little ABS logos because if you’re in an accident, they pop open and a bag appears” (paraphrased, of course). Manufacturers add these logos either because the federal government requires it or they want to have a bold enough reminder that if you’re stupid enough to get hurt by the airbag, it’s not their fault.
Most people understand the risks of the airbag and remove the label? But why has this girl decided to leave the label on? Do you think it helps her remember to put her seatbelt on? Do you think it gives her assurance because she knows that the airbags are there? Do you think she’s too lazy to pull the sticker off? Or do you think she’s fearful of the results of removing the label.
I’m not sure what her reasoning is, but it did make me consider warning labels in our lives. Unlike this girl, society tends to get rid of every warning label in life as quickly as it can. No premarital sex…ahh, that was the repressive nature of our unenlightened fathers. Don’t get drunk…they’re just trying to keep me from having a good time. Don’t use drugs…the adults just haven’t realized the spiritual nature of narcotics. Stay away from pornography…that’s the right of every adult. Don’t talk about people behind their backs…I can do what I want, when I want to and I don’t want you shoving your religion down my throat.
What do you do with the warning labels in your life?

Every word is important. Words change the meaning, if only minutely, of what you are saying. I know this sounds obvious, but I don’t think we actually consider how important the details of our speech really are.
My parents just spent a few days at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort. They came back raving about the place–talking about the pool, the environment, and the service. Of couse, we all know that resorts are well known for good service, so that’s no surprise, but the things that stuck out were not what I expected.
Here’s what my parents liked the most: when the staff addressed my folks, they greeted my parents by name: “What would you like Mr. Maddox?” or “Good morning Mr. Maddox.” You get the idea… Their service began with a personal greeting…
And the second thing that stood out to my parents was how they responded. The staff never said something like, “No problem” or “I think we can do that.” The staff said “Right away, Mr. Maddox.” or “Yes sir, I’ll go place your order right now.”
It’s a subtle change: the response jumped from a negative to a positive. From “no problem” to “yes sir.” As I contemplated this small change, I realized that small choice of words totally changed the service environment. And as I related it further, I thought of all of the times I said something like “no problem” instead of answering in a positive form.
For me, my responses indicate that I am fulfilling a special service for you…something that I don’t really have to do, but because you’re lucky, I’ll do it for you. Instead, I should respond, “Sure, I can do that,” or “That sounds great. I’d love to meet you for lunch” not “No problem,” or “Yea, I guess I can make it.”
Because those small choices in words make a big difference in building relationships and serving people.

I saw this very person at the wedding I attended on Saturday…so I thought I’d enshrine it in a cartoon. Enjoy.

It’s been raining in Houston lately. It’s been raining a lot. The bayous are flowing like roaring rapids and the streets are turning into mini-reservoirs.
It’s been dry in Houston this year. Only within the last few months has we started to catch up on the rainfall. Elsewhere in Texas drought rages on. But here we have more water than we know what to do with.
That’s the irony of life. Some places can’t get any rain. Some places get too much. It certainly doesn’t seem to be equitable. And it doesn’t seem fair.
And so it happens with the rest of life. Rarely do things actually happen how we want them to happen. They may come at the right time but in the wrong amount. Or they may not come at all. But that’s the mystery of life: we’ve never discovered a way to determine which events happen in our lives. Sure, we make choices, but there are all sorts of environmental variables that we cannot control.
The key is being ready to deal with the unexpected, and know that things rarely do happen in the ways we envisioned them.