Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

Ignorance may be bliss, but it is a fools paradise when others are in the know.

General Motors learned this the hard way back in the early 60's when they launched a campaign to sell their new compact, the Chevy Nova, in Mexico.

It was a flop, and the sale figures were appalling.

That is when their investigation discovered that Nova in Spanish means "No go."

History is filled with the blunders of big corporations who act first and think later.

Back in the 1950's the Pepsodent Corporation decided to export their toothpaste to Southeast Asia.

They took their success winning slogan from America with them.

"You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent."

When nearly nobody was buying their product a vice-president was sent to investigate why.

He discovered that the people in Southeast Asia chewed Betel Nut like Americans chew gum, but Betel Nut is much more expensive, and it stains the teeth.

The stain teeth are a prized symbol of affluence.

There was little demand for a product that promised to eliminate this status symbol.

It would be the equivalent of trying to sell a product that would make gold look like copper.

Man, in his pride, is constantly trying to impose his ideas and values on others without knowing the others and their needs.

Love listens before it speaks.

It is patient in striving to understand the other.

It is kind in seeking to meet the needs of the other.

Non-love is just the opposite.

It comes to conclusions about the other based, not on the other, but on the self.

I think this is what is good for them, or bad for them.

I think this is the way they should go, and the way they should be.

It does not ask what others feel, but operates on how the self feels, and it seeks to impose those feelings on the other.

Not only is this a disaster when business does it, it is a tragedy when tyrannical governments do it to their people, and it is a catastrophe when the church does it to people.

When Jesus came into the world He did not come in pride to dominate, and to have His own needs met.

He came in love to serve and meet the needs of others.

He knew what those needs were.

People did not need more religious laws, and they did not need more religious ritual.

They did not need condemnation, what they needed was to know that God loved them in spite of their sin.

They needed to know God cared, and that He cared enough to find a way out of the dilemma of a holy God relating to sinful man.

They needed to know that God had provided a way to forgive sin.

They needed to know that God wanted them to have life, and life abundant.

No wonder the common people heard Jesus gladly, and flocked to be near Him.

He gave the sinner a sense of self-worth.

Pride does not do this, but love does.

Pride seeks to take from others and not give.

Pride does not care to serve, but to be served.

Pride is always self-centered, whereas love is always others centered.

This is why the people flocked to Jesus.

They knew He loved them.

This is why they fled from the Pharisees, for they knew they loved only themselves, and they thanked God that they were not as other men.

A test was given to 676 students at the University of Illinois.

They found that the number one characteristic that both males and females did not like about another student was conceit.

The person who thinks too highly of himself is the only one who turns everyone else off.

A sophomore said to a freshman said, "The trouble with you is that you are to conceited.

I use to be that way too, but now I'm the nicest guy on campus."

His progress in overcoming pride is very questionable.

People are constantly talking about finding themselves, but the Bible keeps telling us that the self is not something you find.

The self is something you create by the choices you make.

If you choose the path of pride, yourself is headed for the pits.

If you choose the path of love, yourself is headed for the peak.

Being proud is the refusal to accept the truth that without love you are nothing.

Pride says I am something, and I am somebody on my own, and independent of God and His love.

It is the spirit of defiance that says I need nothing of the image of God to be of worth.

Being loving goes the opposite way and says I am nothing without love.

I am dependent upon God for my self-worth.

I only has worth because God made me in His image and gave me eternal value.

Which person really feels best about himself?

The loving person is the one who does, for he knows his worth is not just in how he feels, but it is in how God feels.

His self worth is not in subjective feelings, but in the objective promise of God.

He knows that what is done to the least of God's children is done to God, and so even if he feels he is the least of the lot, he is still of infinite worth to God, and so he can have love for himself.

This self-love which is based on the love of God for you is also a form of pride, but it is not sinful or destructive.

It gets somewhat confusing when we use the same word for both the terrible and the tremendous, but the fact is, we do.

We are proud of our children and grandchildren.

We are proud of our school, team, or church.

We are proud to be Americans, and proud to be Christians.

So before we look at what love is not, we need to see that there is a positive pride which prevents the pits.

The Bible and psychology are in full agreement that self-esteem and self-respect are essential to a healthy personality.

It is not dangerous or damaging to recognize the worth of the individual.

It is, in fact, a Christian duty.

Paul says we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and start boasting in conceit that we are really something.

But it is also true that we need to think high enough of ourselves so that we have a sense of self-worth.

The Christian is one who has enough self-worth to feel he does not want to loose his reputation by doing what is foolish or sinful.

I think of myself too highly to tell a dirty joke from the pulpit.

It is a sense of pride that would keep me from damaging my self-image that way.

There are things we are all kept from by our sense of pride.

Pride keeps us from being dirty and slovenly.

We would not wear a dirty shirt with big holes in it to church.

We comb our hair, shave, and try to look presentable because we have a sense of self-worth, and we want to be acceptable in appearance as well as behavior.

This is all a part of praiseworthy pride.

It is important that Christians see the positive side of pride, for if all self-worth is bad, it forces the Christian into the intolerable position of not being able to be honest about values and excellence.

If you bake the best cherry pie in your circles, it is not pride to know that, or to be told that.

It is legitimate to accept compliments and praise for your skill, and not have to think that Christian humility demands that you act like your pies are not fit for the pigs.

All gifts, talents, and skills are to be recognized for their excellence and value, and each one who possesses such should feel good about what God has blest them with, and feel pride in their cooperation with God in developing their gift.

This kind of pride is a virtue.

As long as pride is cooperative, and is an aid to uniting people, it is on the side of love, and is that necessary ingredient in the Christian life to obey God's command to love your neighbor as yourself.

It is only when this self-love leads you to the pride that seeks self-glory to the detriment of the body, and which leads to competition and division within the body, that it crosses over to the negative side.

Pride is a good thing that can go bad, and that is why it needs to be constantly checked and evaluated in the light of love.

Love is always the greatest because it is love that helps us keep all things in balance.

Here is a poem that expresses a popular idea I have heard many times.

Sometime when you are feeling important,

Sometime when you ego is in bloom,

Sometime when you take it for granted

You are the best fellow in the room;

Sometime when you feel that your going

Would leave an unfillable hole,

Just follow the simple instructions

And see how they humble your soul:

Take a bucket, fill it with water,

Put your hand in it up to the wrist,