Recently I had the opportunity to talk to an old friend on Facebook. We have known each other since the 4th grade, which was about 13 years ago. We were in school together all the way through high school, and to this day she attributes passing 7th grade science to me. This was probably the longest conversation we’ve had since high school, so it was good to catch up.
Let me be honest. I have no desire to talk to most of the people in my graduating class. I was the guy that hated the idea of community college because I was ready to get out, ready for a change of scenery and a change of people. But there are a few people that I am actually interested in still talking to. She is one of them.
I say that I don’t care anything about most of my graduating class, which is mostly true. The only time I tend to care is when I am happen to run into them while visiting home. Then as we talk my pride wells up within me and seeks to tell them all the things I have done, places I have been, and everything I am doing now and plan to do in the future.
So it was with this girl. I was genuinely interested in what she was doing, such as her current grad school pursuits and plans beyond that. Despite this genuine desire my pride took over and I wanted to tell her everything I was doing and all that I have done. I was only interested in making a big deal about myself.
I say all of that to say this:
My motives were nothing short of sinful.
While I started out being interested, my pride soon took over and drove the conversation. Once we finished talking I began thinking about what I had said. I completely missed the mark. I had an opportunity with a friend of over 13 years to share Christ with her. I had an opportunity to live the gospel for her during our conversation. But I didn’t.
Author C.S. Lewis once said that “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.” I can’t think of a better way than that to describe my motives. My motives, however, were incredibly misguided, and sinful. My desire to seem more accomplished than my friend overtook my desire to see her come to Christ.
This incident is not merely an isolated one. Pride is something that I battle daily, and will continue battle daily. The only way I can adequately fight it is to remain faithful to the study of Scripture and prayer. And if I truly want to make a difference, I will not want to be famous, but rather I will want my actions to point those I encounter to the person and work of Christ.
So let me ask you:in your conversations with people, whether you speak to them regularly or a long lost friend, how do you interact? Who do you want to make a big deal about, Jesus or yourself? May we understand what it means to use these conversations to “go and make disciples”.
