Arrogance
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.