Super Spirituality: Are You a Faith Snob? (Part 1)

One of my greatest desires is to be humble. When people hear the word humble, I want them to immediately think of me. I want to become the national spokesman for an organization that’s about humility. In fact, I’m hoping to get a large statue of myself erected in downtown Nashville, Tenn., with a huge plaque naming me “a model of humility for the ages.” At the end of the day, I’m striving to become the most celebrated humble person in the world.

OK, OK. What you just read about “humility” is made-up. But unfortunately, a noticeable absence of true biblical humility among some Christians is real. As a result, a prevalence of spiritual snobbery is all too common. Although this arrogance probably doesn’t show itself quite the way I described, it’s certainly happening.

What Does It Look Like?

What is it really? Spiritual arrogance is about losing appropriate perspective on who we are in Christ and how that affects our relationships with others. It’s about placing more emphasis on self as opposed to God. It’s about thinking that we have answers to questions when we don’t while also mishandling the answers that we do have. This type of arrogance shows up in different forms, but it’s probably most commonly seen in three ways.

1. A “saved = better” mentality. Although we should naturally be excited about our faith, to believe that we are superior to nonbelievers is wrong. Yes, we’re different. Yes, we have new life in Christ. Yes, we will spend eternity with God. No, we adamantly are not better.

   In fact, a misunderstanding of this only lessens the power of God’s grace in our lives. We must not forget foundational passages like Romans 3:23 in which we see that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God made Christ to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). In other words, there’s nothing good in us but Christ alone. So we aren’t better. He is better.

   A friend of mine, Sarah, sums it up nicely: “In that Jesus was a wonderful example of humility, we’re hypocritical if we call ourselves Christians and then don’t model it too.”

2. An inaccurate view of sin. When Christians begin to view certain sins as acceptable and others as not, spiritual arrogance steps in. All too often we’re guilty of weighting sins as “big sins” or “little sins,” like how quickly we rebuke homosexuality but seemingly turn our heads to gossip.

   Dietrich Bonhoeffer says in The Cost of Discipleship, “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others, we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as ourselves.” While many sins do have more significant social and relational ramifications, all sins are equally displeasing to God.

3. The “I’m right” complex. An unfortunate reality, the “I’m right” complex is seen when Christians feel superior to other Christians with differing denominational affinity, theological leanings, or ministry practices. They believe their perspective is correct and all others are wrong.

   A sense of inferiority is often donned upon anyone who doesn’t line up with a particular stance on various issues. For some, this is sadly expressed in a near-hostile manner as they blast out on blogs and strive to have the loudest and last word in any discussion. For others, this arrogance is much more private. Some may never verbalize their feelings to anyone, much less those they look down on.

   But the challenge in all of this is to avoid spiritual superiority while also maintaining a commitment to truth. I’m certainly not implying that there is no absolute truth or that you should compromise your core beliefs. However, spiritual arrogance is much less about differences and much more about attitude. It’s completely possible to be 100 percent committed to your opinions without belittling others who disagree. Some of the apologists, pastors, and individuals whom I respect the most often find themselves in disagreement with others. Disagreement is fine. Degradation is not.

Why Does This Matter?

So what’s it to you? Well, the impact of spiritual snootiness is significant for many reasons.

• It’s in the Bible. There really is no way around this. Quite simply, God doesn’t approve of spiritual elitism. In 2 Corinthians 10:18 we read, “For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.” We also see that “pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). And finally, Isaiah tells us, “Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight” (Isaiah 5:21). Scriptures like this continue to affirm that we should be exalting God and not ourselves.
• It limits growth. We learned to read because we identified the need to. Same goes for driving, new technology, and most other things. However, the moment we lose sight of our need to keep growing in Christ or to keep learning is the moment we become spiritual snobs. Paul reminds us of this in Philippians 3:12 —”Not that I have already reached the goal, or am already mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.”
• It creates dissension. Spiritual arrogance creates division in both the universal church and our local churches. It’s sad when Christians are known for their disagreements more than their common cause. Clearly everyone won’t agree on every facet of theology or Christian living; however, our differences must be handled with love and not haughtiness or egotism. Spiritual bigheadedness places people in opposition who should be better known for their unity. John 13:34-35 tells us, “Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
• It distorts ministry focus. As we move toward biblical humility, we become more aware of what we have received in Christ. When our hearts are appropriately focused on the things of God, we are less prone to lose sight of what we’ve been given by Him. The way that God loves, redeems, and sustains us daily is a gift we don’t deserve. Spiritual arrogance, unfortunately, causes us to think more about ourselves than other people. And we don’t share the good news with people who we don’t think about or, for that matter, really care about.
• It steals our credibility. Imagine a stylist with a bad haircut or a personal trainer who’s out of shape. When people’s actions and what they promote don’t line up, it causes others to wonder about their credibility. If certain things are foundational to what people believe, then why aren’t they foundational to how they act? As Christ-followers, this applies to us too. Actually, it may apply to us even more than it does to others. Our ability to tell the world about Jesus, who embodied humility, is greatly lessened when we don’t model it ourselves.

Click here for Part 2: A quick test to see if you’re spiritually snobby, and tips for how to overcome it.