Idolatry, Part 3: Hubris

The Greeks who wrote their famous tragedies tended to put ‘hubris' as the cause of the main character’s downfall. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary describes it this way: “Typically, overconfidence led the hero to attempt to overstep the boundaries of human limitations and assume a godlike status, and the gods inevitably humbled the offender with a sharp reminder of his or her mortality.” And of course, that same character flaw continues to cause chaos and pain in humans, long after the demise of Greek tragedies! Everyone is guilty of this from time to time (even pastors, of course) and although ’the gods’ don’t step in to humble us, our own weakness inevitably leads to disaster. Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about it, and learn how we can avoid causing ourselves, and others, more pain.

One famous line is from Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” A contrasting version is found in Prov. 11:12, “Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Many characters in the Bible, especially in the stories of Israel, got all swollen up in their self-importance, or in overconfident about their abilities, and reaped the inevitable takedown. One such was King Saul, who made the mistake of overstepping his bounds by offering a burnt offering: "I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.” (1 Sam. 13:12). But was it only fear? I believe it was a fear that he, who had been successful in battle and acclaimed by all the people, would be unsuccessful this time, maybe even defeated, and lose face in front of the whole nation — stemming from an inflated sense of self-importance. You and I feel fear sometimes — the question is, whether that is actually pride in what we believe we are, or have? Are we trying to maintain a false view of ourselves at all costs?

Hubris, as overconfidence, might appear rare in Christians who have decades of experience in guarding against pride; but it also might hide behind a powerful conviction of our viewpoint or understanding of something, whether doctrine, Christian practice, gifts of the Spirit, or a myriad of other topics. Certainly, we see overconfidence in social media as people use a simplistic viewpoint to blast others who disagree with them (or their political candidate). Hubris keeps us from properly being open to another person’s viewpoint or understanding about a controversial topic, or one of our favorite idea-children which we will protect to the death.

And in the end, hubris is idolatry: as a personality trait, it sets up our own self as the authority, as the most important, as the one to be obeyed no matter what. Oops!! That position belongs to God alone. And even God is humble — see Phil. 2:5-8. So it behooves us to ask the Holy Spirit for insights, whether on our fear, anger, overconfidence or knee-jerk attacks on those who disagree; and to surrender these also, to the forgiveness and healing ministry of Jesus Christ.