Pride is a killer \u2014 a red-eyed, fire-breathing, leader-slaying, bloodthirsty, vicious, and uncontrollable killer. Christians every day face this malicious and malevolent force. The sober reality is that many Christians unfortunately succumb to it. How do we fight back?<\/p>\n
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Let\u2019s be honest. We worship leaders often have a tendency toward pride. After all, when the lights are on, the volume is up, the mic is live, and the crowd is watching \u2014 who can be numb to the thrill? It\u2019s like an invitation to lead the parade down the Main Street of Pride City.
\nHave you felt it before? That buzz of admiration as you bust out a flawless riff, or hit the high notes without squeaking on \u201cAmazing Grace \/ My Chains Are Gone.\u201d That palpable sense of awe as you elocute some skillful verbal nuance in your spontaneous prayer. That goosebumpy thrill when you hear hundreds of people singing an amazing worship song \u2014 the one that you <\/i>wrote!<\/p>\n
The snipers of pride are everywhere in the worship leader\u2019s life and ministry. Worship leaders stand in a spot that is rife with temptation. That\u2019s why we\u2019re focusing on worship leaders in this article.<\/p>\n
Pride is no joke.<\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the Bible says about pride and its effects:<\/p>\n Pride goes before destruction,<\/i><\/p>\n and a haughty spirit before a fall.<\/i><\/p>\n (Proverbs 16:8)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Leaders are among the biggest targets for pride. When a leader bits the dust in a bout of destruction, others will see his demise. The results ripple out to thousands of Christians whose faith may be shaken and their outlook clouded by the disaster.\u00a0There is a tendency to laugh off pride as just a little foible, maybe a tiny fault that trips us up now and then. \u201cAh, that\u2019s just my pride,\u201d we may joke, as if brushing a pesky fly off our shoulder. But pride \u2014 that truly sinful and destructive heart condition \u2014 is no pesky fly. It\u2019s far more serious.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before reading any further, let this point be clear: \u00a0Pride is a big deal. Pride is no joke. This is dangerous stuff.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How to Get Rid of Pride<\/strong> <\/p>\n Have you ever gone through that confusing mental tangle? Apparently, you\u2019re not alone. Paul\u2019s cry for deliverance in Romans 7 sounds remarkably similar: \u00a0\u201cFor I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.\u201d (See Romans 7:13-20). Here are the four facts you need to know as you do battle against pride:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1. \u00a0Know that it\u2019s going to take time. <\/strong> Christian brother: \u00a0\u201cHow were your devotions this morning?\u201d Now, let\u2019s get this clear. God forgives sin \u2014 even pride \u2014 in an instant. However, our sin-stubborn hearts have a hard time giving up that sin. We have a daily battle to fight, and the persistent, nagging, pet sin of pride doesn\u2019t go away immediately. Dig in for the long haul, because it\u2019s going to take a lifetime of prayer, devotion, pleading, hard work, and a faith-filled vision to live in true humility.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2. \u00a0Know your identity. <\/strong> You have a different identity, however. You are a child of God. Dispense with titles, labels, and job descriptions. Instead, look at yourself as God looks at you \u2014 a redeemed sinner, a blood-washed saint, a child of the King. That\u2019s who you are. Before your identity as an insanely talented guitarist or golden-throat crooner, you\u2019re a disciple, a follower, a Christian.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3. \u00a0Know that you can\u2019t do this on your own. <\/strong> <\/p>\n 4. \u00a0Know God. <\/strong> <\/p>\n How?!<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Know God. Gaze at him. Look toward the one who made your hands. Look to the Creator who designed you that sense of rhythm and cadence. Observe the master sound engineer, who adjusted his heavenly mixing console to create the exact voice he wanted you to have. Look to your God.<\/p>\n God is the answer to our pride. When we look at God, we can\u2019t help but look away from our pride. Instead of gazing at the dark, smelly pile of pride, we turn our gaze upward to the glorious person of God. Meditate upon his attributes. Praise him for his character. Think about what he\u2019s done.\u00a0By looking at God more, you will look at yourself less. And as you look at yourself less, you will be living out the reality of what it means to be truly humble.<\/p>\n As a worship leader, you are to be a tool of God. Tools don\u2019t have an overrated personality complex. Instead, they fulfill the will of the one who uses them. As a tool, you will bring great glory to God. And his glory is the only glory that really matters.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pride is a killer \u2014 a red-eyed, fire-breathing, leader-slaying, bloodthirsty, vicious, and uncontrollable killer. Christians every day face this malicious and malevolent force. The sober reality is that many Christians unfortunately succumb to it. How do we fight back?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[4138,4153],"tags":[1855,1595,765,1867,1866],"class_list":{"0":"post-10479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-worship-leadership","8":"category-worship-resources","9":"tag-advice","10":"tag-challenges-in-ministry","11":"tag-church-worship-service","12":"tag-pride","13":"tag-worship-leader-tip"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogrouting.sharefaith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Worship-Pride_460a.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\nWe want to get right to the point \u2014 how to fight this plague of pride. When we\u2019re drunk with pride, we want a clear path to sobriety. But just like it\u2019s hard for a drunk to walk the white line, it\u2019s hard for a prideful person to follow the path to humility. We all experience this to some degree \u2014 I want to be humble, but I\u2019m not sure how to be humble, because all I\u2019m\u00a0thinking about is my humility, which doesn\u2019t seem very humble, and besides I might be wanting humility just because I\u2019m so prideful and want people to notice my humility, which is actually pride anyway except it seems worse, so what in the world do I do? <\/i><\/p>\n
\nGetting rid of pride isn\u2019t a one-and-done deal. You can\u2019t just expect to have some whizz-bang devotional time some morning and obliterate all your pride. Doesn\u2019t work like that.<\/p>\n
\nWorship leader: \u00a0\u201cAwesome, man, I got rid of my pride.\u201d
\nChristian brother: \u00a0\u201cWoah. Praise God! Amen!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nPride problems are identity problems. We think more highly of ourselves than we actually ought to. Basically, we have an identity crisis. If you think of yourself as a \u201cworship leader,\u201d \u201cmusician,\u201d or \u201csinger,\u201d then you will undoubtedly benchmark your success or lack thereof on those marks of identity.\u00a0In other words, when you hit the high notes without squeaking, you might feel prideful because you are fulfilling your identity as a \u201csinger.\u201d When you lift the people to heights of worship, you might feel prideful because you\u2019re fulfilling your identity as a \u201cworship leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nOne of the most prideful things you can do is attack pride on your own. Trying to do so isn\u2019t just arrogant; it\u2019s also extremely foolish. God is the one who successfully dealt with pride. He did that when he sent his son, Jesus, to die on a cross. Christ died for the sin of pride and a million other heinous iniquities. Christ died so your pride can be forgiven. As you face your nemesis of pride, do so with Jesus\u2019 help. He defeated sin, and his power is yours in the daily battle against pride.<\/p>\n
\nHere\u2019s the real secret to fighting pride \u2014 forget about it. Forget about your sin, forget about your problems, forget about that awesome job you did on Sunday morning, forget about the fawning admiration of the teen girls when you did a particularly exceptional job at the youth rally, forget about the lights glinting off your sweat-dappled brow, forget about the way that the auditorium pulsates with the rhythm of your drums. Just. Forget. Everything.<\/p>\n