From the Pulpit: Be thankful for the ego deflators

Have you ever had an ego deflating moment? If you have ever thought someone with a big smile on their face was waving enthusiastically at you, only to find out they were trying to get the attention of the person behind you, you know what I mean. A friend of mine once deflated my ego when I was joking around with him in choir in college. I said to him, “I’m not proud.” He replied, “There is no reason for you to be.” I had to admit he was right, and I have often thought back on that when I was tempted to get a big head. 

Spiritually, it is good for us to keep our ego in check. I once read about a pastor of a large church who was asked by a visitor how much it took to keep that church’s ministry going. The reply was a figure that was a sizeable amount. When asked what would happen if that amount wasn’t raised, the pastor jokingly replied, “I guess they would put me in jail.” His visitor replied, “You don’t have to worry about that. God hasn’t failed anyone yet, and you’re not important enough for Him to make an exception now.” With one sentence the pastor had his self-importance removed and was taught a lesson on what Lamentations 3:23 means when it says, “Great is your faithfulness.” 

There is a reason St. Paul warns in Romans 13:3, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Egotists make themselves miserable when they think the world revolves around them. A needlepoint sampler on the wall once put it this way: “We would worry less about what others thought of us if we realized how little they do.” 

The biggest reason God wants us to not have big egos is because there is no room for God in us if we are full of ourselves. 1 Peter5:5b says, “Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” A proud person, who thinks they have no faults or sins to confess to God, doesn’t realize their real spiritual condition before God. We are beggars, who need the gift of forgiveness, not egotists who need a pat on the back and told how wonderful we are. 

The next time someone or something gently deflates your ego, pray silently, “Thank you, God.” Jesus, who taught us that the first shall be last and the last first, and who had to remind his disciples that “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28) is doing you a favor. As James 4:10 says, “Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

People who are the first to laugh at themselves will also laugh eternally in heaven!