辨識並勝過驕傲的危害
2025年5月26日By Jim Mathis
辨識並勝過驕傲的危害
RECOGNIZING AND OVERCOMING PERILS OF PRIDE
最近，我在觀看喜劇演員也是傳奇脫口秀主持人傑·雷諾(Jay Leno)的採訪時，他說到自己非常推崇「低自尊感」的信念。他解釋了他的觀點，如果他開始認為自己知道的比別人多，他就有麻煩了。雷諾還觀察到，如果我們開始相信自己無所不知，那就意味著我們已經決定停止學習了。
例如，雷諾在主持《今夜秀》(The Tonight Show)時，他從來不會試圖告訴燈光師或音響師要如何做他們的工作，雖然他曾經見過某些電視主持人試著這麼做。他認為，如果某人是大型電視節目的燈光總監，那麼他們就是這項工作最頂尖的人才。試圖告訴他們要如何擺放燈光，是愚昧的行為。
作為商業領袖、社區領袖或政治領袖，我們的職責是要為每一個職分，找到最頂尖的人才，然後聆聽他們的意見。一旦我們開始認為，自己是房間裡最聰明的人，我們就是在自找麻煩。在聖經中，箴言16章18節說：「驕傲在敗壞以先；狂心在跌倒之前。」換句話說，驕傲預示了敗壞。
箴言11章2節說：「驕傲來，羞恥也來；謙遜人卻有智慧。」沒有比這更清楚的了。驕傲－或者吹噓我們自己、我們的成就－從來就沒有好下場。這不僅是聖經裡貫穿始終的主題，也是歷代屬世智慧中不變的主題。
我們聽到有人在吹噓自己有多聰明，吹噓自己知道多少時，這應該是提醒我們要謹慎的信號。實際上，他們可能只是在自言自語，試圖克服他們對自身缺點的恐懼與不安。
但是有些人會反駁說：「我們難道不該為了自己的工作、孩子，或是最喜歡的球隊感到自豪嗎？」對他人的成就給予讚揚、展現自豪感，與搶奪他人應得的功勞，或者認為我們是任何成功的唯一功臣，是不同的。
為了在我們所做的任何事情上取得成功，我們必須不斷學習。世界變化越快，我們就越需要成為更好的學習者。然而，驕傲往往會阻止我們學習。因為學習要求我們，把自己擺在將他人當作老師或導師的地位。
我們必須承認，有些事情我們並不知道，或者並不擅長。正如箴言13章10節告訴我們的：「驕傲只啟爭競；聽勸言的，卻有智慧。」我們總是能找到比我們更聰明、更熟練，或是更擅長做某些事情的人。
作為創業家、自僱人員，有時也是自由業者，我發現我們需要花一半的時間，來學習和提升我們的技能。如果我們有六個小時來砍倒一棵樹，那麼最好要用其中的三個小時來磨利斧頭－學習提升自己。
如同聖經舊約的傳道書10章10節所說：「鐵器鈍了，若不將刃磨快，就必多費氣力；但得智慧指教，便有益處。」花時間吹噓我們使用斧頭的技巧有多麼熟練，並沒有辦法把樹砍倒－無論是字面上的意義，還是比喻上的意義。
©2025 Jim Mathis是堪薩斯州歐弗蘭帕克的作家，攝影師和企業主。他的最新著作是【駱駝和針: 基督徒看財富和金錢。The Camel and the Needle：A Christian Looks at Wealth and Money】他曾任堪薩斯州堪薩斯城和密蘇里州堪薩斯城的咖啡店經理和CBMC執行理事。
反省與問題討論
第一、你是否曾經與看似在幾乎所有事情上，都比其他任何人更懂的人共事過？或是為他們工作過呢？如果是，與這樣的人一起工作是什麼感覺呢？
第二、你如何看待傑·雷諾的建議：擁有「低自尊感」是件好事，意思是能夠意識到，別人在某些事情上可能比我們做得更好呢？
第三、你認為自己是不斷學習、渴望發現許多事情的新洞見與新理解，同時認識到自己並非「無所不知」的人嗎？
第四、你如何回應表現出真正的謙卑、似乎把別人放在自己之上，並且認可與他們共事的人的價值及貢獻呢？
挑戰思考
聖經宣稱「貪財是萬惡之根」(提摩太前書6章10節)，但是有些神學家認為，驕傲最終才是所有罪惡的根源，包括對金錢的貪愛。因為驕傲會使人渴望得到越來越多。驕傲對你來說是個問題嗎？它可以透過各種形式表現出來，包括堅持認為我們是最了解幾乎所有事情的人。它還可能涉及自私、自我推銷、以自我為中心，以及許多其他高抬自我的方式。如果你發現自己在與驕傲摔跤－而且我們大多數人在某種程度上都是如此－請找人談論這個問題，甚至願意接受他們的建議和禱告。
備註：如果你有聖經，想閱讀更多相關的內容，請參考以下的經文:
箴言15章33節; 16章5節; 18章12節
15:33 敬畏耶和華是智慧的訓誨；尊榮以前，必有謙卑。
16:5 凡心裏驕傲的，為耶和華所憎惡；雖然連手，他必不免受罰。
18:12 敗壞之先，人心驕傲；尊榮以前，必有謙卑。
箴言21章4節、24節; 22章4節
21:4 惡人發達，眼高心傲，這乃是罪。
21:24 心驕氣傲的人名叫褻慢；他行事狂妄，都出於驕傲。
22:4 敬畏耶和華心存謙卑，就得富有、尊榮、生命為賞賜。
腓立比書2章3-4節
2:3 凡事不可結黨，不可貪圖虛浮的榮耀；只要存心謙卑，各人看別人比自己強。
2:4 各人不要單顧自己的事，也要顧別人的事。
羅馬書12章10節
12:10 愛弟兄，要彼此親熱；恭敬人，要彼此推讓。
雅各書4章6節
4:6 但他賜更多的恩典，所以經上說：神阻擋驕傲的人，賜恩給謙卑的人。
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RECOGNIZING AND OVERCOMING PERILS OF PRIDE
MONDAY MANNAMay 26, 2025
RECOGNIZING AND OVERCOMING PERILS OF PRIDE
By Jim Mathis
Recently as I was watching an interview with comedian and legendary talk show host Jay Leno, he commented about being a big believer in low self-esteem. He explained his perspective that if he begins to think he knows more than the next person, he is in trouble. Leno also observed that if we start to believe we know everything, that means we have decided to stop learning.
When Leno was hosting “The Tonight Show,” for example, he would never try to tell the lighting people or sound people how to do their job, something he had seen some TV hosts attempt to do. He reasoned that if a person was a lighting director for a major network TV show, they were the best at their job. It would be foolish to try telling them how to position the lights.
As business leaders, community leaders or political leaders, our job is to find the best people for each role and then listen to them. As soon as we start thinking that we are the smartest person in the room, we are inviting disaster. In the Bible, Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” In other words, pride always foretells destruction.
Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” It does not get much clearer than that. Pride – or boasting about ourselves or our accomplishments – never ends well. This is a consistent theme throughout the Bible, as well as in secular wisdom throughout the ages.
When we hear somebody bragging about how smart they are, boasting about how much they know, it should always be a signal to take caution. In reality, they might be just talking to themselves trying to overcome their fear and insecurities about their own shortcomings.
But some people counter with, “Shouldn’t we be proud of our work, our kids, or our favorite team?" Bestowing praise and showing pride about the accomplishments of others is not the same as taking credit that others deserve, or assuming we were the only ones responsible for any success that is achieved.
To be successful at whatever we do, we must be continual learners. The faster the world changes, the better students we need to be. Pride, however, often prevents us from learning. Because learning requires that we put ourselves in a place where someone else is the master teacher or mentor.
We must admit there are things we do not know or are not skilled at doing. As Proverbs 13:10 tells us, “Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.” We can always find people who are smarter, more skilled, or simply better at doing certain things than we are.
Having been an entrepreneur, self-employed person and sometimes freelance worker, I have discovered we need to spend half of our time learning and improving our skills. If we have only six hours to chop down a tree, three of those hours are best used sharpening the ax – learning to improve ourselves.
As Ecclesiastes 10;10 in the Bible’s Old Testament states, “If the ax is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of bringing success.” Spending time bragging about how skilled we are with that ax is just not going to cut it – both literally and figuratively.
© 2025. Jim Mathis is a writer, photographer, musician and small business owner in Overland Park, Kansas. His latest book is The Camel and the Needle, A Christian Looks at Wealth and Money. He formerly was a coffee shop manager, as well as executive director of CBMC in Kansas City, U.S.A.
Reflection/Discussion Questions
1. Have you ever worked with – or for – someone who seemed to know better than anyone else about practically everything? If so, what is it like to work with an individual like that?
2. What do you think about Jay Leno’s suggestion that having “low self-esteem” is a good thing, meaning being able to realize that others might be better at doing some things than we are?
3. Do you consider yourself to be a continual learner, a person who is eager to discover new insights and understanding about many things – recognizing you do not ‘know it all’?
4. How do you respond to people who demonstrate genuine humility, who seem to put others ahead of themselves and recognize the value and contributions of people they work with?
Challenge for This Week
The Bible declares that “money is a root of many kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10), but some theologians have suggested that pride ultimately is the basis for every sin, including the love of money. Because pride causes people to desire more and more.
Is pride an issue for you? It can manifest itself in many forms, including insisting that we know best about virtually everything. It also can involve selfishness, self-promotion, self-centeredness, and many other ways of exalting self. If you find yourself wrestling with pride – and most of us do, to some extent – find someone to talk with about this, even being willing to accept their advice and the and their prayers.
NOTE:
For more about what the Bible says, consider the following passages:
Proverbs 15;33, 16:5, 18:12, 21:4, 21:24, 22:4; Philippians 2:3-4; Romans 12;10; James 4:6
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