Why People Must Recognize the Pride Problem in the Church

“Watch your step when you enter God’s house.
    Enter to learn. That’s far better than mindlessly offering a sacrifice,
        Doing more harm than good.

Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think.
Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear.
God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better.” Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

Pride. People have struggled with it since the beginning but it comes disguised in righteous forms. Just a bite of fruit. Cain’s offering. Liturgical practices of high priests. A human transaction. The “I Am” becomes a self designated title.

From the outside, all appears good. But God’s eyes penetrate beneath the surface, revealing the state of the heart. It’s not pretty.

“The problem is, many of the people in need of saving are in churches, and at least part of what they need saving from is the idea that God sees the world the same way they do.”
― Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

Whatever sanctuary God leads you to, take off your sandals. You are on Holy Ground.

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