What Would Jesus Undo - "Pride" Week 4 with Tim Doremus

Jesus Would Undo Spiritual Pride

Scripture References

• Luke 18
• Matthew 5:16

Overview

Jesus exposes spiritual pride through His story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Pride tells us we are self-sufficient, important, and deserving of exaltation, yet it secretly builds a prison around our souls. Humility, by contrast, empties us so God can fill us with grace and use us for His glory. The call is simple but searching: exchange “Look at me” for “God, be merciful to me,” and ask in every moment, “Is this about my glory or God’s?”

Main Points

The Parable: Two Men, One Prayer

• Jesus directs the story to “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else.”
• Both characters go to the temple to pray:
  • Pharisee — respected religious leader, meticulous law-keeper.
  • Tax collector — despised collaborator with Rome, enriching himself at others’ expense.
• Outcome is startling: the outsider, not the religious expert, leaves right with God.

The Pharisee: Pride in Performance

• Stands apart and prays to himself: thanks God that he is not like other people and lists his fasting and tithing.
• Real issue: he stops seeing his obedience as God’s gift and starts seeing himself as God’s gift.
• Spiritual pride’s false promises:
  • Self-sufficiency – “I’ve got this.”
  • Self-importance – “My achievements give me worth.”
  • Self-exaltation – “Everyone look at me.”

• Illustration: At 22, Tim refused his wife’s editing help, turned in his own seminary paper, and earned a D-. Pride literally “came before the fall.”

Signs Pride Is Leaking Out

• Comparison: feeling better by pushing others lower (“Did you see what she’s wearing?”).
• “I don’t need God, I’m a good person.”
• Fault-finding: expert in everyone else’s issues.
• Attention-seeking: counting likes on a verse post more than letting the verse change you.

Reverse Pride: The Sneaky Twin

• Cannot receive a compliment; deflects with sarcasm.
• “I could never be used by God… I’m not that gifted.”
• “Woe is me” mindset that still centers on self.

The Tax Collector: Humility that Receives Mercy

• Stays at a distance, won’t lift his eyes, beats his chest: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.”
• Knows he could never repay what he owes—only mercy can save him.
• Jesus’ verdict: the humble man is justified; “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

“God, be merciful to me—the sinner.”

The Freedom of Emptying Ourselves

• “When we’re full of ourselves, there’s no room for God. When we empty ourselves, we’re in the perfect position to be filled with God’s grace.”

• Story: Four-year season where church growth stalled stripped Tim of performance-based identity. God asked, “What if the only life I change is yours—is that enough?” That question dismantled pride and rebuilt confidence on Christ alone.

A Question to Keep Us Grounded

• Before acting, reacting, or deciding, ask: “Is this about my glory or God’s glory?”
• Matthew 5:16 frames the goal: let people see good deeds and glorify the Father, not us.

Key Truths

• Spiritual pride manifests in both loud self-congratulation and quiet self-pity; both start with “me.”
• Pride crowds God out; humility makes space for His grace.
• Jesus promises reversal: the self-exalting will fall, the self-emptying will be lifted.
• Our abilities, positions, and opportunities are gifts meant to spotlight God, never ourselves.
• Humility is strength, not weakness—it roots confidence in Christ’s sufficiency, not ours.

Response

• Ask, “Is this about my glory or God’s?” whenever pride surfaces.
• Confess specific moments of comparison, fault-finding, or “I could never” thinking.
• Serve someone this week in a hidden way that brings them joy but you no credit.
• Receive compliments with a simple, grateful “Thank you—God’s been good.”
• Surrender both successes and failures in prayer, trusting Jesus to fill the empty spaces.

Closing

Tim reminded us that pride builds an unattainable, exhausting prison, but humility opens the door to freedom and usefulness. God is ready to fill anyone who comes like the tax collector, empty-handed and honest.

“When you humble yourself, you are not operating from weakness—God has called you, equipped you, and will be glorified through you.”

Prayer

The congregation prayed aloud, thanking the Father for sending Jesus to pay the price for sin, asking for mercy and forgiveness, and committing to empty themselves so He might be glorified through their lives.