There is a danger lurking at the door of every Christian which calls for discernment and vigilance. Its subtlety has outwitted the heart of a large number of well-intentioned Christians and its ability to feed on our prowess has rendered it a vicious predator. I am referring to the risk of over evaluating ourselves. The peril is so popular that the Scriptures warn every Christian to watch out for the merciless maw.
The great apostle to the gentiles puts it in these words:
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)
Here Paul insists that the warning is for everyone: “to everyone who is among you”. Consequently, if anyone thinks this injunction is not for him that person is, of all people, in need of hearing it. Another thing this verse reveals is that everybody thinks something about himself. Consequently, no one lives in a vacuum when it comes to self-evaluation.
A peripheral question
Of course one may ask: But what about the Christian who has the tendency to under evaluate himself? I think it is quite significant that nowhere the Bible refers to such a Christian, and as we have just seen, Paul warns everyone to be attentive not to over evaluate himself as if the opposite risk would not exist at all, or at least, would not be really threatening.
Assessing the problem
Now, all this conveys a question: Why are we so vulnerable in this area? Such entities as pride, blindness, or foolishness could be regarded as possible reasons, but leaving these possibilities behind, the apostle Paul gives us an eloquent hint when he writes:
But they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” (2 Corinthians 10:12)
The point Paul is making could be compared to recreational footballers playing a match together. In these circumstances some of them could think they are great football players, but the moment you would put them with professionals their estimation would collapse at once. The emerging reality would expose them quickly, metamorphosing the incipient arrogance into a more humble frame of mind. But what if professional footballers would be out of reach? In this case the risk of an over estimation would be considerably amplified, and sadly enough, in the spiritual realm, mediocrity is too often prevalent. But I would like to present another possible reason why we might over estimate ourselves, a reason hidden in a sort of faulty reasoning.
Negative tests & invalid positive tests
What has been called a “negative-test” should not be regarded as a bad test, but rather as a test that has the ability to demonstrate what something or somebody is not. Such statement as: “If you don’t believe God exists you are not a Christian” can be regarded as a valid negative test because all true Christians believe God exists. Consequently this simple negative-test can determine what somebody is not. But what happens if we turn this negative-test into a positive test? We would be left with the following statement: “If you believe God exists you are a Christian”. Now we know that this statement is totally invalid because the demons believe and tremble! (James 2:19) From this example we learn that most negative tests should not be converted into positive tests, otherwise the conclusion becomes invalid. Consequently we can say a valid negative test has the ability to demonstrate what something or somebody is not, and a valid positive test has the ability to demonstrate what something or somebody is.
Let us look to a few examples of invalid positive tests taken from valid negative tests. Actually the confusion is created precisely because the tests are valid in their negative form.
First example
“A true spiritual Christian spends much time in prayer. I spend much time in prayer therefore I am a true spiritual Christian.”
While it is true that a genuine spiritual Christian spends much time in prayer, it is not necessary true that if a person spends much time in prayer he or she is a true spiritual Christian. As Proverb 28:9 puts it: “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” We also read in 1 Peter 3:7 that our prayers can be hindered due to a lack of true spirituality in other areas of our life. Therefore the gauge of prayer is trustworthy only to demonstrate who someone is not, but it cannot demonstrate in itself who someone is.
Second example
A true spiritual Christian works arduously for the love of His name. I work arduously for the love of His name therefore I am a true spiritual Christian.
Here again the first affirmation is true, i.e., a healthy Christian will serve his Lord with passion in one form or another. But to turn it around and say: “Since I work arduously for the love of His name I am a true spiritual Christian” would not be necessarily true. Jesus makes it clear enough when He says: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for my name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:2–5)
Here we see how individuals can work arduously for the love of his name and yet be in need of repentance.
Third example
A true spiritual Christian attempts to win souls. I attempt to win souls therefore I am a true spiritual Christian.
Again, the gauge of soul winning is reliable only to demonstrate what somebody is not, but it cannot be trusted when the time comes to demonstrate who somebody is. Here again, Jesus puts it out in clear terms:
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matt. 23:15).
All kinds of people attempt to win individuals for their cause, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they are spiritual. It is this sort of faulty reasoning that misleads us at times when we evaluate ourselves or somebody else.
Fourth example
A true spiritual Christian seeks God daily and delight to know His ways. I seek God daily and delight to know His ways therefore I am a true spiritual Christian.
Here again we are left with an invalid scale of evaluation as shown in the Book of Isaiah:
Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching God.” (Isaiah 58:1-2)
Fifth example
Some true spiritual Christians heal the sick, or cast out demons, or do some wonders in one form or another. I heal the sick and cast out demons therefore I am a true spiritual Christian.
The Scripture declares that this method of evaluation is as uncertain as a compass on the North Pole:
Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt. 7:22 )
Sixth example
A true spiritual Christian exercises some spiritual gift. I exercise some spiritual gifts therefore I am a true spiritual Christian.
As we all know, the reality of the Corinthian church declared plainly that a person can be zealous of spiritual gifts and be simultaneously carnal (see 1 Cor. 3:1 and 1 Cor. 1:7 or 14:12).
A last consideration
After having looked to these few examples let me ask you a question: What would you have thought before reading this post if you would have met a Christian that was praying a lot, working arduously for the love of His Name, attempting to win souls with great zeal, seeking God daily, delighting to know His ways, and all this while exercising some spiritual gifts and healing sick people on a regular basis? I think most of us would have been tempted to conclude that this person was a great man of God. We would have liked to have him preach in our church, give us counsels, and hopefully learn from him the secret of genuine spirituality. Of course the possibility could have existed that our evaluation would have been right, but again, the risk of misjudgment would have rendered our estimation so shaky as to make it nearly useless. This sort of groundless evaluation has wreaked havoc in the past as it does at the present.
Another question would be: What if this person would be you? The possibility of over evaluating oneself based on these invalid positive tests would be great indeed. So what is the conclusion of it all? The conclusion is that to know where we have arrived in our spiritual progress we must find valid positive tests. And since the positive form of a negative test is often invalid we will have to look elsewhere for a trustworthy gauge. This will be the subject of my next post.
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