Dr. Matt Cassidy --- January 13, 2019...Jan 13, 2019 · Vision.Pride.2.cassidy 3 So the hardest...

Vision.Pride.2.cassidy 1

The Answer to Pride Series: Not About Me #3

1 Corinthians 3:21 – 4:7 Dr. Matt Cassidy --- January 13, 2019

Where’s my spotlight?? Thank you, there it is. It’s all about me!

We’re enjoying a series on that. If you want to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 3, I’ll

be there in a short time. We’re looking at what to do about the sickness, the cancer in our souls,

the greatest expression of our bent, this pride that can show up in either arrogance or insecurity.

They’re Siamese twins. It’s the same thing, it just looks differently sometimes. And it is what

keeps us from all things that are good. It’s the wedge that finds itself tearing apart churches and

relationships and marriages, friendships, countries …

C. S. Lewis said, “Pride is the chief cause of every misery in every nation in every family

since the world began.” So there. That’s all-inclusive.

And you’ve come to a good church to hear about pride because I am an expert in pride.

As a matter of fact, I’m the proudest person in this room, prouder than … well, not more than

that guy in the yellow shirt … but besides him, I’m the proudest guy in the room. Because

there’s pride and then there’s stupid pride. I have stupid pride. I was registering for a class this

week at Regent College, which is in Vancouver, which reminded me of a stupid pride moment.

The first time I went to the school there I called a friend who knew a friend who had a

condominium where I could stay while I went to the school. And I said, “Oh, well is it a nice

condominium?”

And he said, “Yeah, it’s nice.”

Introduction


Oh, it was nice! It was $5 million nice! It was a very nice condominium. It had a

beautiful view of Vancouver, of Coal Harbor and the actual convention center that has award

winning architecture.

If you looked straight out the window you saw the North Shore Mountains and you saw

giant cruise ships going in and going out, all day long, on their trips to Alaska and the cruise

lines there. If you looked out the left side of the window, you could see their version of Central

Park called Stanley Park, where Melinda would ride her little bike through the park and I would

longboard with her. Pleasant as could be. It came with its own bald eagle that we could see from

our unit. And then after a couple of days there, we got attitude, and we would look down at the

poor people below us. Even the yachts there would have matching helicopters. You can see the

helipad, but he had taken it for a run, maybe to get some wine or something.


So the hardest part about this experience with us was the parking, honestly. Because right

behind my little rental car was a Carrera GT. This car costs $800,000. And I was so afraid to

possibly back into it and ding it that I parked in the maid’s parking spot up on the first floor. I got

to drive it. Here’s a picture of me driving that Carrera. That’s it. And I didn’t know this until this

morning --- I am wearing Crocs in that picture, sitting next to a Carrera GT. There are some

Porsche people that are going to have me killed and run over in the parking lot just for that.

Okay, all of that is to tell you the stupid pride story. So one of the last days we were

there, I think I was waiting downstairs for Melinda to come and go through one more walk in the

park, and I was just sitting on a park bench right beneath the unit. And some people ---

everybody’s friendly --- I got to talking to some strangers --- Where are you from? … We’re

going on a cruise tomorrow … So where did you stay last night? Where did you stay last night?

(Come on, ask me!) … Okay, where did you stay? … Oh, I stayed right up there on the twenty-

third floor of that place up there. See the furniture out on the patio and the tree? That’s where I

stayed.

The whole time I’m talking I can just feel my ego being inflated with every sentence.

And I was trying to stop it, but I couldn’t. I was sitting there thinking, Oh, my goodness. I want

my identity to be attached to a living quarter that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to a friend of a


friend. That friend --- I would not know that woman if she were to walk up to me and shake my

hand. That’s how far removed I was from it. But you know what? This guy, he needs to know

me as the person that stayed in that unit. Oh, good heavens. It’s just boasting and bragging and

comparing.

It is amazing what pride can have you do. Logic doesn’t have to be in the equation when

we talk about pride. The idea of identity --- that’s kind of the theme today. It is a projection of

who you are. And technically, it’s not really that. It is who you want to be, who you think you

ought to be. It’s the center of your ego and it’s trying to find a place that’s safe. And so we are

puffing ourselves up and we’re putting ourselves out there for others. We’re making major

decisions regularly about what will best feed that self-image that we need. And so we judge

ourselves, we judge other people, we don’t get to live because we’re so busy doing all these

things. It destroys joy. Finding our identity anywhere outside of what the word of God says will

suck joy right out of our lives.

And Paul comes in and says, You don’t have to be that way. You could be the person that

doesn’t need honor or can receive honor and you’re not afraid of it. You’re not driven with a lust

for recognition. Or if you are recognized, it doesn’t cause you to be frightened. Paul says that

you can live a whole different way. You could be free. You could be so free, you could be so

self-forgetful, that you could accomplish something at work or with a hobby, or whatever ---

something beautiful. And you could look at that with the objectivity of appreciating and

celebrating a sunset. You could say about something you did, “Wow, that’s well done,” and not

inflate anything in your psyche.

Paul’s point --- he’s saying that you can have all that. You can actually enjoy life. You

can be in the moment of life. You don’t have to be constantly working on your résumé. And so

Paul is writing this book, especially these early chapters in 1 Corinthians, he’s writing with that

audience in mind and that ambition in mind, to set them free; to make sure they understand that

they’re redeemed. And in the context that we’re reading --- so that you’ll understand the passage

more --- their issue, their identity was wrapped up in celebrity pastors. So they pitted pastors

Paul Addresses Pride


against each other and then they attached themselves to the better one. “I’m with Paul.” “I’m

with Apollos.” “I’m with Cephas.”

First of all, they weren’t even enjoying, necessarily, these men who were teaching. They

were enjoying being attached to them so that they could attach their ego to them. And Paul

comes in and says, “Stop. That is a stupid way of finding self-esteem. It is destroying the church

and it will kill your soul.”

And so he takes it on straight up. We can read in 1 Corinthians 3 and then I’ll jump into

chapter 4. It’ll be on the screens. Here’s what I want you to be keenly looking out for, by the

way, as we go through this. Look at the phrases and words that are, comparatively speaking,

judging people, the idea of being proud and boastful. Because that’s the theme. Look at the

repetition of those phrases as well.

Verses 21 through 23 of chapter 3 say, “So let no one boast in men.” Like boasting in

Apollos or Paul. “Don’t let anyone boast in men. For all things are yours, whether it’s Paul or

Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future --- it’s all yours, and

you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” Stop fighting about this silly stuff. You have Christ!

1 Corinthians 3:21-23 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22

whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future --- all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.


And then he goes on in chapter 4. He says, “But with me it is a very small thing that I

should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. My

conscience is clear. It doesn’t mean I’m innocent. It’s the Lord who judges me.”

Verse 6: “I have applied all things to myself and Apollos for your benefit.” I’m showing

you as an example, “brothers, that you may learn by us to not go beyond what is written, that

none of you would be” --- it’s a very strange word, so I threw in a different translation in there --

- “so that none of you would be proud, none of you would be arrogant, or puffed up in favor of

one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not

receive? If then you received it, why do you boast about it as if you did not receive it?”

Everything you have was given from God and now you’re bragging about it, boasting

about it. So you see, this is the subject matter that Paul’s talking about. Your identity cannot be

found anywhere outside of the Bible because it’s impossible and it’s kind of stupid.

Look what he says in that one phrase --- I want you to see in verse 6: “ … that none of

you would be proud or arrogant or puffed up” --- “puffed up” is the literal translation that some

of your Bibles will have. It’s a very strange word for pride. That’s why they didn’t use the word

pride --- they used arrogant instead. As a matter of fact, no author in the New Testament uses

1 Corinthians 4:3-4 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

1 Corinthians 4:6-7 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?


that word. Paul uses it seven times in all of his writings, and six of those times are in 1

Corinthians.

So the point is, as Bible scholars will tell you, Paul has chosen a word for a purpose, for

this type of illness, the Corinthian illness --- being proud. And he’s calling it “puffed up.” It’s the

idea, as some scholars will say --- Paul is saying that this is the state of the bent human ego. It is

empty. It is wanting. It is afraid of being empty. And so it puffs up.

Another literal translation of the word itself would be “swollen; engorged; bloated past its

natural size.” In other words, you can’t recognize it anymore and it could explode. And that’s the

nature of the ego, that it’s empty, and so we fill the void with nothing of substance. So, oddly

enough, we’ve taken this word and we have our own expressions for that. We say that person is

“full of themselves.” We would say that that woman is “full of hot air” --- inflating, it’s going to

pop. “How can that guy get his ego through the doorway?” See this idea of swelling? And so if

you look --- that’s the purpose of Paul using that word.

Kierkegaard in his The Sickness Unto Death talks about this fragile state of the human

psyche that is knowing and haunted by emptiness, trying to find uniqueness. Each of us is trying

to find ourselves to be special in some way. And the ultimate expression of sickness unto death is

thinking in our pride that we can find purpose outside of God, identity outside of God, anything

outside of God. And so we keep trying to fill this infinite void and it’s with nothing but air.

Constantly busy, constantly filling with things that don’t matter.

It’s an exhausting ambition to find ourselves like this because everything we look at is

being evaluated in whether we win, if it gets us more, or if it looks bad on us… something so that

we can be boasting or comparing. It’s the program in the back of our minds and the front of our

souls that’s always running. It’s why your laptop fan turns on. What’s going on? What’s this

program that’s running? This is the one, this sickness unto death trying to find and compare and

boast and brag or be turned down. The court of your value is always in session. You’re

evaluating yourself and comparing yourself; you’re evaluating others and comparing with others.

And that’s why it says in verse 6, “… so you will not take pride in one man over against the

other.” One guy is better than that guy. And we’re saying that in our own life as well, so that we

can boast.


Why do we do that? So that we can boast --- used twice in this context, in these two

paragraphs. And “boast” means “to brag about, to recommend yourself.” And so it looks like

this. Every person, every event, every choice, career possibilities, whether you’re going to take

this project or not take this project --- all of them are being evaluated on whether or not it’s good

for how we’re going to look.

Look, I’m not against social media --- don’t misunderstand --- it’s fun, it’s a great way to

keep up with friends and that sort of thing. But you can see the extremes easily on social media

where people go places and do things, not to enjoy the place, not to enjoy the event, but to be

seen enjoying the event.

Blaise Pascal said, “People travel, not to enjoy the destination, but so they can tell their

friends later.” Blaise Pascal said that --- in the 1500’s. In his section on pride, he said people

travel so we can tell people where we’ve been.

So we take a job, not necessarily because we’re good at it or that we even like it, but

because it looks best on us. We choose where we’re going to go or what we’re going to do

because of that. The program is always running, and the running is running us into the ground.

And Paul says, Look. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can live another way. You can

live free. You can step away from that court and leave it forever and then live. He’s offering us

life, free from these chains that hold us back. And here’s how he’s going to do it. This is critical.

It’s not common. It’s essential, though. He’s going to apply the gospel to this ego need. He’s

going to take the death, resurrection, forgiveness that comes with the Spirit of God, the whole

package of the gospel --- he’s going to apply it to the ego emptiness. He’s going to say, Look,

this redemption --- it applies in our psyche. And he wants to attach your identity to the gospel

itself in our relationship with God. He’s trying to change --- I guess in some respects it’s a

metaphor in the passage --- he’s changing the courthouse altogether.

How to Change


Look at verses 3 and 4. He says, “But with me it’s a very small thing that I should be

judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I don’t even judge myself. My conscience is clear,

but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.”

The word “judge” there means verdict. And he says this: I don’t care what your verdict of

me is. And then he gets broader. He says, I don’t care what the verdict of any human court ---

great words --- any human court --- I don’t care about its verdict on me.

And then, listen. He doesn’t do what we would generally do if someone came to us and

they were suffering from this ego identity thing, this darkness in our soul. They might say, “Oh,

I’m having to live under the expectations of my parents and my friends and I want to make

everybody happy.”

We would say, “Oh, don’t live under their judgment. Don’t care about their verdict.”

And then we would immediately go to Shakespeare, wouldn’t we? We would all quote

Shakespeare. We’d say, “To thy own self be true. What do you want to be? What do you want to

do? How do you want to evaluate yourself? If you think you’re a good person then you’re a good

person.”

And Paul does not do that. He says, “I don’t even judge myself.” And then he says,

“Look, my conscience is clear, but that doesn’t mean I’m innocent.” I mean, I don’t care about

your verdict, I don’t care about any natural court’s verdict, I don’t care about my verdict. Here’s

what he’s saying. I’m not even going to play this stupid game to win stupid prizes. I’m not even

going into that courthouse. Why? What happens there that’s good? If you don’t play stupid

games, you don’t get stupid prizes. That courtroom --- it’s rigged. All you do is work and nobody

wins. There’s no real finish. He says that only the Lord judges him. And his freedom in the

1 Corinthians 4:3-4 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.


context of leaving that other courtroom where everybody’s judging all of the time --- it gives him

the effect of self-forgetfulness and this other identity. It gives him self-awareness.

So Paul, when he’s even saying, Look, I don’t even judge myself --- he can say now,

because he’s confident in who he is --- he can say in 1 Timothy towards the end of his ministry --

- it’s one of the last books he wrote. He’s growing in his life with Christ and he’s almost peaked.

And he says, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for sinners, of whom I am the chief of all

sinners. He’s not saying, Look, I was the chief of all sinners --- like during college, the pirate

years and all that. He’s saying, Right now, I know who I am. I’m desperately sinful, the most

sinful person. But I’m not attaching that to my identity. I’m not going to play that game.

And on the reverse side of that, Paul could say, and he does in some respects, I’m an

apostle. I confronted Peter. I’ve written some books and they’re good. But I don’t attach that to

who I am. I don’t attach that to my identity. That’s a crazy game and I don’t play crazy games.

He says, I’m not going to go into that human court. I won’t even walk in it.

He says, The Lord --- it is the Lord who judges me. And this is his mantra in his life.

That’s the program that’s constantly playing on his hard drive, always part of it. Because who

wants to go in this other courthouse, in this other courtroom, where we’re judging? Think about

it, for you. Every choice, every motive, every decision is always like an open file for the

prosecution or the defense. You’re always trying to get to some kind of verdict. It’s always

exhausting. If things go well, it leads to boasting. If things go poorly, it leads to division and

comparisons.

And Paul says, Let me tell you something. There’s another courtroom and that trial is

over. That verdict has come back. God himself says that I am His, that I belong to Him. And I’m

just leaving that there.

Now listen. This makes sense. It makes all the sense in the world; it can change your life.

Every human courtroom over here, in every method of finding identity, you are working towards

a verdict. The gospel, as it’s applied to a person’s life, you get a verdict and then you live out the

verdict.

“It Is the Lord Who Judges Me”


We’ll say it again, maybe in a different way. You are performing, constantly performing,

hoping to get a verdict in every human court --- except in the gospel court, where the verdict has

already been declared by the judge and then you are free to live out the hope of that in your life.

It’s not so that, it’s because of that verdict. And so, look, you can see this in the context of

religious expressions of the courtroom, every religion --- Mormon, Buddhist, Muslim, the default

religions that we have in our heads --- keep working, keep working, keep working --- you hope,

you hope, and then you end up with a verdict. Every single day you’re on trial over here.

In the social courthouse that we go to, always, always accumulating evidence. Are you

skinny enough? Are you athletic enough? Are you successful enough? Do you have enough

power? If it’s good, it leads to boasting. If not, it leads to a feeling of ruin.

And the gospel, Christianity over here, says the verdict --- it’s done. And Romans is filled

with declarations of such --- it’s a book in the New Testament. But one that comes to mind is that

is you put your faith in Jesus Christ, His death was your fault, His resurrection proved the bills

are paid, His Spirit lives inside you. It says, “Therefore there is no condemnation for those who

are in Christ Jesus.” Boom. That’s the verdict. The gavel’s down, court adjourned, it’s time to

move on. He loves me. He likes me. I’m His. That’s the point.

And then you can live. You can live in peace. You can live with joy. You can live with

rest. You can live each moment and enjoy that. You can live with each person that the Lord

brings into your life and care for that person, completely independent. God is the one who judges

me and the court’s adjourned. That’s the fact. That’s what Paul is teaching us. That is the way

out of the misery in our lives.

MATT: What I want to do today is I want to bring a friend and tell you what it looks like in real

life. So, Donna Brady is going to come up. I met Donna --- she’s been coming here for a while

and she is soon to retire this spring. She is a school principal. We went to Israel together and

when we were at Caesarea Philippi --- this is a place that is famous for occult worship and pagan

sacrifices and this is the place where Jesus chooses to ask Peter, “Who do you say that I am?”

And he says, “You are the Christ.” And then the Lord responds, “Upon this rock I will build my

Testimony from Donna Brady


church and the gates of hell” --- which He’s talking about Caesarea Philippi --- “will not prevail

against it.”

And so I had a devotion there and then Donna came up and said, “I’ve got to tell you my

story.” And when she was telling me her story, I was thinking, “Everyone needs to hear this

story.” Because this is the story of so many of our lives, and she has found the path to joy. And it

wasn’t a direct path. But it sure started out well.

So why don’t you tell us about yourself.

DONNA: Let me tell you about my good life. Jesus saw fit to give me Christian parents and

Christian family. I grew up in the church. In fact, when I was in the youth group, the youth

minister even called me Donna-Do-Good. My uncle was a pastor and I went to him --- he

answered my questions about how do you know if you’re a Christian. And so he prayed with me

as I prayed to accept Christ.

And I had a very normal, loving, suburban life growing up. I was very ordinary. But in

seventh grade I met the love of my life at the church skating rink. And he was something special.

We began dating our senior year in high school and he was president of our senior class, he was

president of the student council, he was Most Likely to Succeed. Some people really even said,

“He’s going to be president of the United States one day.”

When we finished high school we both went to Baylor. Again, he was president of our

class at Baylor; he was our permanent class president. And I felt really special being the girl on

his arm.

We were married at Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.

MATT: Was Beth Moore one of your bridesmaids?

DONNA: She could have been. Yes.

MATT: The Hollywood version of this would have Beth Moore up there somehow.

DONNA: It would.

MATT: Second Baptist, Houston. Okay …


DONNA: Everything was perfect.

MATT: It was.

DONNA: The chapel was full, everyone was happy. We moved to Fort Worth after we were

married. My husband went to seminary, I was a school teacher. Then he became a pastor and I

was the pastor’s wife. And really, my life was perfect.

MATT: Sure. So if you’re judging yourself in the world courtroom, you’re doing good. The

verdict is coming back – “Congratulations on that.”

DONNA: Thank you. [Laughter]

MATT: And then what happened?

DONNA: Except --- except about three years later we were blessed with a set of twins, girl/boy

twins, and as every married couple will experience, we just started to have struggles in our lives,

with sick children, medical bills, and the grind of having young children and a young family life.

And things really got pretty bad. And so I suggested that we needed counseling. And it was at

that time that my husband told me everything I didn’t know.

And one of the things that he shared with me was that he had married me because he

needed a good girl on his arm. But that now he was interested in something different.

And I was devastated. My own weaknesses of appearance were being mirrored right back

to me. So I went back home to Houston for a couple of weeks. We did ultimately separate. We

went through marriage counseling, but sadly, about a year and a half later, we did divorce.

And I did really cry out to the Lord. But instead of being reflective during this time like I

should have been, I just wanted my perfect family back. And I was desperate to marry again.

And so, sure enough, a few years down the road, I did marry again.

I wanted a husband and the image of a perfect family more than anything. That marriage,

however, and the blended family that came with it caused unthinkable damage to my children.

But even though I knew I had a made a mistake two weeks into the marriage, I couldn’t get

another divorce. I already had this scarlet D for divorce on my chest. So I just had to make it

work.


But when it became clear and I realized that my children were in harm’s way and there

wasn’t any hope for things getting better, I divorced again. And yet still I insisted on being in

control of my life and creating the appearance of a good life and a good family. And so I focused

on my career at that point and I earned a doctorate in leadership.

But during the middle school years of my son’s life he started to act out. And by the time

he reached high school he was addicted to drugs, he was running away, he quit school, he was

arrested and went to jail. And I’m trying to manage all of this chaos with counseling and rehab

and yet still try to somehow keep the appearance of a respectable life, a respectable principal. I

even wound up filing bankruptcy, due to many rehabs and medical expenses. And that was

humiliating.

My life was falling apart and the thing was, nothing that I was looking for, that I was

working for, was bad. As the world would characterize it, it was good things. But that was the

problem. I was wanting the good thing more than I was wanting my relationship with the Lord.

And even worse, sometimes I even wanted the appearance of good things more than a really

good family. And so it was easy to blame others for the heartache and the terrible things that

happened. But I had to face the truth.

And this verse comes from the passage that Matt was working from. And it says, “God

will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of man’s heart.” And

He exposed the motives of my heart. And I had to admit that I am not always the good girl; that I

couldn’t control my son’s addiction and I couldn’t stand the thought of losing him to drugs. My

life had been turned upside down on every level --- marriage, children, finances, health, and my

job. And I had nowhere to turn except to the Lord.

So it was my son’s struggle that brought me to a breaking point. I was seeking help for

him and I wound up sitting knee to knee with him and having to admit, “Son, I admit that

everything is not good in our life.” I had had a habit of pressing through every trial with a smile

on my face and hard work and creating the appearance of “everything’s fine, everything’s good.”

I was desperate to keep appearances of a good life.

But in February of 2007, I wound up in the emergency room having emergency brain

surgery. I had hit my head on a cabinet. I was in the hospital for a month. And then I was sent

home to recover for six months. While I was at home recovering, Jesus met me on my sofa. And


it was there that I started to read the Bible every day and pray and sing songs of worship. And

many of you, some friends that I knew, but even people that I didn’t know, came and visited me

at the hospital, brought meals once I was home, sent me cards that I still have, helped me to get

additional counseling. And I got involved in women’s Bible study, women’s ministry, and even

the beginning of Celebrate Recovery.

And I finally saw the truth of my ugly, unattractive idols. And God changed my life. I’m

flawed. I’ve been letting go of shame and am learning to lead with compassion and vulnerability.

I don’t do everything right. And I’m still learning that my identity is not in a husband, my

children, my job, or even in being a good girl. It’s in being a follower of Jesus Christ.

I’ll be retiring soon and as I look to the second half of my life, I’m looking to become

more like Christ in all of life. I know that some days will be good; some days will not be good.

And I’m okay with that. I want to do scary things with Jesus … like share with the whole church

all of my flaws and weaknesses!

So when we were in Israel and we were at Caesarea Philippi where the pagans sacrificed

to the pagan god Pan, Matt had given a mini sermon there. And it was the most soul-gripping

experience for me in that whole trip. Because that was my life --- a life of searching after idols.

So I took a picture and I’m going to frame that picture as a reminder that I am done

chasing idols and I want to just worship the Lord.

MATT: That’s right. You don’t care how other people judge you. You don’t care how other

courts judge you. You don’t care how you judge you. Only the Lord is your judge.

When I heard her story, Romans 5 jumped into my head: “Therefore you now have peace

with God through Christ Jesus.” Now you live in peace. Congratulations. Thank you.

DONNA: Thanks.

I know some of you might have been coming to church for a while but you might not

have heard how to apply the gospel in this context of applying it to your identity. And what I

would encourage you to do is to continue to come, make friends, learn how to not just

Conclusion


understand forgiveness as a means of having eternal life, but what eternal life means. And eternal

life is not the hereafter only; it is here and now. It is coming to an understanding of this leaving a

courtroom that will constantly keep you enslaved. Tying your identity to anything except that

God alone is your judge is reckless and expensive. And God has given us these truths so that we

might cling to these truths so we might live the abundant life that He’s promised. The trial is

over; the verdict is in. The Lord God has declared that because of Jesus, we have inherited His

righteousness and we are redeemed. We are set free. And these are the heavy chains that we

shake off of us, these doubts about all that.

I know --- listen, you hear her story and she grew up in a great church in a great Christian

home. We need to understand that this is a life progress of learning how to apply the gospel into

our ego identity. And it takes time. But here’s what you do. You pray this. You pray that God’s

Spirit would ping you when you’ve left His courtroom and enter the courtroom of stupid. And

when you’re on a park bench and you’re trying to win some perfect stranger that you will never

see again and think that you can get him to like you more because you’re borrowing someone

else’s condo, you can hear God’s Spirit say, “Matt --- Matt, stop fighting a war that’s already

been won. You can be forgotten and I will never, ever forget you. You can be ignored and I will

not ignore you. You can go unloved --- I love you.”

That’s how to apply the gospel, in a way that can choke this pride and keep it in

submission. Let’s pray to that end.

Lord, I’d ask that You would help us understand how to get, not our minds, but our souls,

our emotions around not caring about being judged by anyone, by even ourselves; but coming to

this knowledge that God, You alone have judged us and You have declared us righteous.

Lord, I’d ask that you’d help us to learn how to live under Your great name and enjoy

living in the shadow of the cross, at the exit of that empty tomb, with our shoulders back, our

head high, never inflated. Because we belong to You, because You came and got us. That’s

where our hope is, Lord. Make it the center of our emotions and our identity, who we call

ourselves, children of God. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.


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Dr. Matt Cassidy --- January 13, 2019...Jan 13, 2019 · Vision.Pride.2.cassidy 3 So the hardest...

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