I was a young, new, hot star, and I had this unbelievable arrogance. As time went on, the strident narcissism and arrogance slowly diminished. But I was definitely there. I’m older now. And a big crybaby. Chevy Chase
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Rom. 12:3
I remember telling my students years ago that it would not be arrogant of Tiger Woods, at the peak of his career, to think of himself as the best golfer on the planet. That was simply honest assessment; but to tell others that same thing out loud, was arrogance. We don’t need to tell others how great we are. We just need to live our lives… others can see and draw their own conclusions.
I had a student in my very first class I taught at Metropolitan Community College who later dropped out because of family issues. She showed up in the same course three years later, and I told her a few weeks into the semester that I was glad that she enjoyed my teaching enough to sign up for my section. She looked me in the eye and said that she actually signed up for this section when another teacher was assigned to take it; and that she would NOT have chosen me as an instructor. She said in that first class I was so arrogant and full of myself that she couldn’t hardly stand to sit through a lecture. Ouch. She followed that statement, however, by saying that I had really toned that down in the intervening years. She actually enjoyed by demeanor now. Now I was just confident.
I told her that my early arrogance was nothing more that a guard against being seen through. I was actually scared and felt like I did not know what I was doing. I thought acting arrogant would intimidate them into not questioning and judging me. My arrogance was a shield for my own self doubts…. And it was ugly. Seriously repugnant.
Thank God that as the years went on the arrogance was replaced by confidence as my experience grew. As Paul tells us, we should think of ourselves with sober judgment – objectively and honestly. I am not “there” yet. I continue to work and pray that I will grow in this area.
Be the very best person you can be (by God’s standards!) and live the very best live you can live. Leave the assessment to others!
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For His glory,
Jim