Weekend Preview – Follow The Leader – Week 2
By Matt Dawson
What exactly is the difference between CONFIDENCE and ARROGANCE? Have you ever wondered that?
As we continue our series in Judges this week, we are going to be looking at a Leader/Follower whose life is marked by incredible fear and undeniable faith! He would be listed in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11.
However, there can often be a tendency to view people with confidence as arrogant, and sometimes miss the signs of unhealthy arrogance in someone’s life and assume they are just confident. Is there really a difference?
Let’s look at the practical difference and then see how this plays out in our lives.
Confidence – full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing.
Arrogance – display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride in oneself.
To anyone on the outside looking in, we KNOW that these are 2 different things. However, have you ever struggle to LIVE IN CONFIDENCE because you think it will be PERCEIVED as ARROGANCE? Sometimes (at least in our minds) they are subtle differences between the two.
Here are a few common phrases that could be interpreted both ways.
“I can do this” (could be confidence in the strength God’s given you through Christ…OR arrogance in your own ability to do all things.)
“It’s okay if they leave, we don’t need them to accomplish this…” (could be confidence that there is a larger story at work and that God is going to do it… OR arrogance that we don’t need anyone else to do anything.)
“I know he/she loves me…” (could be confidence in past assurance that their love is real & true measured by years of faithfulness…OR arrogance in one’s self-importance and reasoning that everyone loves me.)
“You just need to love yourself…” (could be confidence that the unconditional Love of God despite our sin is the key to sharing love with others…OR arrogance that through self-help talk we don’t have any issue and that we are beautiful and lovely just the way we are.)
The reality is that most of us oscillate back and forth between confidence and arrogance more than we care to admit. We speak of a faith in God and trust in Him alone to accomplish all things, but we live in such a manner that overemphasizes who we are and what we alone can accomplish.
I believe that FAITH is the key to living a life FILLED with confidence built around Jesus Christ. That even when you speak a phrase that could be perceived as arrogance, the way in which you live your life will prove where your trust really lies.
Hebrews 11 tells us:
“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”
This Sunday, we will look at a Judge who has to learn to LIVE IN CONFIDENCE that God not only is WITH HIM, but that God had purposed great things for him to accomplish if he would only live up to His real Identity!
I hope to see you on Sunday (9am & 11am Huntersville, 11am Denver) as we continue our series “Follow the Leader” at Journey Church.