The Crossover.
Confidence Versus Pride.
The story of Satan boggles me.
As a worship leader in a youth group, I didn’t understand much about it. I knew that he was present in the garden of Eden and was an enemy of God, but that was about it. That is until my mentor/youth pastor handed me a book by Darlene Zschech called Extravagant Worship.
In my mentor’s mind, he was handing me homework to improve my leadership over a small team in South Mississippi. What he probably didn’t expect is the way that this perspective on biblical history that would shape and mold me. It would create a consistent guard against destructive mindsets and underlying heart issues.
The most sobering lesson I learned from reading that book was that the first being to rebel against God was a worship leader. This being, created to be a very instrument of praise–called to be a reflector of light–became enveloped in himself. He wanted the focus to be on him.
Confidence VS Haughtiness
If you’ve been in any form of ministry, there’s something special about having a platform. Being in the limelight has the incredible potential to change someone. From singers to guitar players, to service hosts, worship leaders, or drummers — no one is automatically immune from the allure of the stage. Maybe especially drummers (you drummers have always been a bit different)!
Now most of us may not be up on stages on worship teams, but the principle lesson here applies to us all — especially creatives. Healthy confidence in your abilities isn’t the same thing as haughtiness, and humility is not the same as self-deprecation. It’s very easy to cross over the precipice between these two extremes and not even know it.
In his pamphlet, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, Tim Keller writes: “[humility is] not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.”
Self-doubt and pride are two sides of the same coin. They both stem from needing to be the center of everyone’s universe. Yet, true confidence does not lead to self-exaltation (either as pride or self-doubt), but healthy self-evaluation.
Humility is not the same as self-deprecation.
Pride and self-doubt exist not because of a lack of confidence in our competence but as a result of worshipping ourselves. Competence can lead to healthy confidence — however, thinking you’re the only one who can do what you’re confident in– leads to pride. It becomes all about you.
As creatives, let’s strive to not see who can outshine the other, but reflect the true Light of humility — Jesus.
The content of this article is featured in an episode of the Yellowbox Creative Podcast, currently available through the following outlets:
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