5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor,
Him I will destroy;
The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart,
Him I will not endure.
Him I will destroy;
The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart,
Him I will not endure.
What is a “haughty look”?
Haughty means “arrogantly superior”.
To use our society’s vernacular, this is when someone thinks “they are
all that and a bag of chips” and they look down upon others. To use my generation’s words, they are
snobs. But it is more than that. The essence of this follows from the first
part of this verse. To look down upon
others with a disgust at their inadequacy is at its root the very same as
slandering them. The only difference is
you are doing it front of them, “to their face”. The only way anyone is able to do this or
give off this aura is by devaluing the worth of others. So, we see that this second part of verse 5
follows closely with the first part. The
sin or error described here is rooted in the devaluing of people.
The haughty look is a result of a “proud heart”.
It says “I am something and you are not.
You should be more like me.” This
not only devalues the other person, it makes you an idol (at least in your own
eyes). The only person we should hope
people should be like is Jesus. There
are many verses about the destruction of pride.
Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a
fall.” Proverbs 11:2 says, “Pride leads to
disgrace”. Proverbs 6:16-17
says, “There are
six things the Lord hates, seven
that are an abomination to Him: a proud look”.
To be proud and to look down upon others violates the two most
important commandments. In Matthew 22:77-39
Jesus said, “Jesus
said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” If you
are proud you are loving yourself and if you are giving haughty looks you are
not loving your neighbor.
As much as I hate to say this, proud looks are common among Christians. When you learn that someone you know has committed some great sin, then you see them, how do you look at them? Do you feel sorry for them? Do you see them as less than yourself with their obvious character flaw? Or do you love them while thanking God you have been spared from such a stumble? The church is famous for looking down upon sinners, yet Jesus came for sinners. It is quite a paradox. I have found myself hesitant to talk to some people because of things they've done. I know they are nervous and I don't want to bother them, but at the same time I'm not sure what to do or say. The right thing to do is to hug them and tell them you love them. It seems so hard. My mind is saying you are rewarding them for their evil, but God's heart is saying bring them in so I can heal them.
Unfortunately the perception of the church from a sinner's point of view is that those people look down upon me. This is from experience. Why else would we be so scared for others to know of our failures? If we knew that the other believers we worshipped with would immediately come to us to help us heal and surround us with prayer and God's love we'd run to the church after a fall, desperate for their help and encouragement. Instead we shun the church and run from the church after a fall so that we are not ostracized. I believe one of our charges is to change that church perception if we don't want the church to die as an institution. If we want to change that perception, we have to change how we see and accept each other as sinners.
Proud looks will not be "endured" or tolerated before the Lord. This is a very scary thing. I am only here because of God's longsuffering and great patience. Here in this verse we are told that a proud heart and having a haughty look will not be endured. The last thing I would ever want to do is put myself on a path that shortens God's longsuffering towards me.
As much as I hate to say this, proud looks are common among Christians. When you learn that someone you know has committed some great sin, then you see them, how do you look at them? Do you feel sorry for them? Do you see them as less than yourself with their obvious character flaw? Or do you love them while thanking God you have been spared from such a stumble? The church is famous for looking down upon sinners, yet Jesus came for sinners. It is quite a paradox. I have found myself hesitant to talk to some people because of things they've done. I know they are nervous and I don't want to bother them, but at the same time I'm not sure what to do or say. The right thing to do is to hug them and tell them you love them. It seems so hard. My mind is saying you are rewarding them for their evil, but God's heart is saying bring them in so I can heal them.
Unfortunately the perception of the church from a sinner's point of view is that those people look down upon me. This is from experience. Why else would we be so scared for others to know of our failures? If we knew that the other believers we worshipped with would immediately come to us to help us heal and surround us with prayer and God's love we'd run to the church after a fall, desperate for their help and encouragement. Instead we shun the church and run from the church after a fall so that we are not ostracized. I believe one of our charges is to change that church perception if we don't want the church to die as an institution. If we want to change that perception, we have to change how we see and accept each other as sinners.
Proud looks will not be "endured" or tolerated before the Lord. This is a very scary thing. I am only here because of God's longsuffering and great patience. Here in this verse we are told that a proud heart and having a haughty look will not be endured. The last thing I would ever want to do is put myself on a path that shortens God's longsuffering towards me.
May we be careful to sift through all that we are to find any sources
of pride and never look at another person as less than ourselves. We are all beggars.
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