By nature I am a very confident person. I’m not afraid to stand up in front of people; I’m not timid of leading large groups or tasks. Confidence is very important to the well being and development of each person. Good parents desire to build up their children’s self-esteem and confidence. We seek to instill the confidence in children to help them feel important, valued and able to grow up to be anything they want to be. And that is a good thing. We all need to live with a good amount of confidence.
However, confidence also has a down side, for example, when we become so confident about our own ideas or opinions that close the doors to other people ideas, insights or wisdom. At some point in our life, we have all done this. We have pushed away those who could have helped us because we were so confident that our way was the right way.
In John 8:12-20, I began to think about this type of confidence. Both parties were confident.
On the one side was Jesus. He was fully confident of his divinity; “my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going” (John 8:14).
On the other hand, was the Pharisees who were also confident. They were confident that Jesus was not the Messiah, “you are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid” (John 8:13).
They were so sure they were right that demanded that Jesus prove his validity by following the book of the law (Deut. 19:15) by providing two witnesses. The irony was Jesus precisely gave the Pharisee’s exactly this but in terms that they could neither recognize nor receive because they could only judge or view things “according to the flesh” (cf. 5:40-44). The Pharisee’s were so confident that they knew who the Messiah that they failed to recognize that he was right there in front of him!
How often are we so sure about something that we miss the greater truth right in front of us? Are you so confident about how the church should be run or look like that you fail to see how God is working in new and maybe even uncomfortable ways? Are you so confident about your friendships that you miss out on some relationships that may push you to Jesus in more poignant ways? Are you so confident about how you should lead your job or family that you push God’s presence into a compartmentalized aspect of your life instead of allowing Him to live throughout all aspects of your life?
I am reminded today that I am human. I can be fully confident in the words and actions of Jesus. But besides this relationship, maybe we should all take a step back and allow God to lead in other areas of our lives. Let’s not live so confident that we push away God’s presence right in front of us.
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