Hubris (pride) is the downfall of Man

I was considering what was the biggest problem that was getting in the way of people accepting being saved by Jesus. At first, I thought it was selfishness, but then realized that it couldn't be just that, because it's in our own self-interest to be saved! 

Certainly there is an element of selfishly wanting to live life on our own terms which might not involve reading the Bible or praying. But still, there must be something other than selfishness - because even with selfishness alone, people would still realize that being saved is in their interests.

Eventually, I realized the biggest problem getting in the way of being saved is actually hubris, which means pride. People who don't accept being saved by Jesus may have various reasons or motivations for that. Some might not believe Jesus existed and/or that He was not capable of saving people. Other people might believe they don't need to be saved because they think they're a "good person" - but the pitfall there is that being good by societal standards still falls far short of God's standard of being sinless. We have all sinned, and therefore we have all fallen short of what God is looking for. Any sin keeps us apart from God if we don't know Jesus. The good news is that Jesus saves us by standing in our place on the day of Judgement, but only IF we have previously accepted this free offer from Him. So, actually, we do all need to be saved, even those who are considered a good person by society.

Pride is what leads people to believe they don't need to be saved or that Jesus doesn't exist. They feel that they "don't need" Jesus and/or they are "too intelligent" for Jesus. Which is ironical because we all need Jesus, and furthermore Jesus is way more intelligent than we could ever hope to be.

One concrete example of this attitude is the book The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins - I summarize its arguments here. In his book, Dawkins makes it clear that he believes we did not arise from a Creator. He states that instead the universe is so complex that it cannot possibly have been made by a Creator. But in his pride, he fails to recognize that if there is a Creator, that Creator is of necessity going to be all-knowing, all-seeing and all-doing, of perfect intelligence, and able to handle the creation of something so complicated. Dawkins seems to erroneously believe that if a Creator existed, such an entity would still have an intelligence sufficiently low as to be in a similar ball-park as ours. 

It is an easy slippery slope to fall into prideful thoughts and elevate ourselves to a position like God, and that is where the biggest danger lies. Both the slipperiness of that slope and the danger of thinking ourselves as similar to God. But this is what keeps us apart from Him - so long as we think He doesn't exists, is not intelligent, or that we don't need Him, we will not seek Him. Such an attitude completely fails to consider long-term thinking such as what happens to us after we die. 

So, if you are questioning (which is a good thing!) you could make a start by talking to God and by listening to Him. You could also start by reading the Bible - I recommend starting with the New Testament since that lets you get to know Jesus right away. 

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