Do we consider pride to be perilous?  Probably not, but we would be well-served to set aside our own prejudices regarding what is dangerous and adopt God’s view of the matter.  Without that perspective, we will accept, embrace, and encourage things that will lead to our own harm and carry a host of people we love with us.

4)  “Men shall be . . . proud.”  The idea that pride is sinful, much less “perilous,” has become almost entirely foreign to our modern mindset.  So alien is this concept to most that an entire industry has arisen the sole function of which is to promote as good and desirable that which God calls dangerous.  Pop psychologists began formally promoting this old sin, but the idea is so enticing that before long mainstream psychologists and counselors followed suit.  And eventually, many ministers began promoting the same concept, most notably, perhaps, Robert Schuller.  In 1982, the founder and senior pastor of Crystal Cathedral in California published a book entitled:  Self-Esteem:  The New Reformation.  In the Introduction to his book, he writes that “Sin is any act or thought that robs myself [sic] or another human being of his or her self-esteem.”  He acknowledges that the term self-esteem is not perfect but that it is better than some others he considered, including “Self-Love,” “Self-Worth,” “Self-Dignity,” “Self-Value,” “Human Dignity,” “Positive Self-Image,” “Ego-Needs,” and “Human-Pride.”  The theme underlying this concept is clear from these many terms that Schuller has tried and rejected:  self.

But the reality is that the Bible has nothing good to say about the “self.”  We have been conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity (Psa. 51:5).  “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6).  “In me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18).  “There is none righteous, no, not one.  There is none that doeth good” (Rom 3:10, 12).  The list is extensive. 

In short, pride is invariably associated with sin in the Word of God.  But as attractive as it is, pride—the exaltation of self—is  not to be regarded as a virtue but as the sin it really is.  Pride (meaning “being lifted up within,” or “appearing above others”) exalts the self to the detriment of others.  When pride is in the foreground, the needs and feelings of others are in the background.  Though called to be servants, those who are filled with sinful pride abandon that God-ordained place of blessing for the vain pleasure of self-aggrandizement. But even more importantly than the needs of others, pride lifts itself up against the glory of God.  What do we have (of value) that we have not received? the Lord asks of us rhetorically.  Pride is a specific and palpable denial of the reality that all that we have (of value) comes from His gracious hand. 

Pride is the sin that caused Satan’s fall.  And whether consciously or unconsciously, pride directly attacks the authority, the majesty, the grace, and the glory of God.  It is truly a “fundamental” sin.  The third peril, boasting, is a sin of words.  This peril, a sin of thoughts, is father to boasting and to many other sins.  “Let no man think more highly of himself than he ought to think” is the Scriptural injunction.  Pride stands in rebellious defiance against that clear teaching.  The Word of God is overwhelming in its condemnation of this sin.  “Every one that is proud of heart is an abomination to the Lord:  though hand join in hand, he shall not go unpunished” (Pro. 16:5).  “Be not wise in your own conceits [estimation]” (Rom. 12:16).  “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (Jam. 4:6b; cf. also I Pet. 5:5).  When pride prevails peril abounds.  We must forsake the sin of pride if we wish to avoid God’s judgment and glorify Him.