G. K. Chesterton said, “If I only had one sermon to preach, it would be a sermon against Pride.” He subscribed to the ancient belief that pride was the root sin and was the worst of the “seven deadly sins.” We’ve just finished a look at the seven Christian virtues and now we turn to the classical list of sins.
One of the things to note about these seven, which are pride, greed, envy, anger, lust, gluttony and sloth, is that they are not so much particular actions as they are conditions of the heart, defects of character. They may lead to sinful actions like lying, fornication or theft, but they live beneath the surface of what we do.
Pride is such a damaging attitude of the heart that Chesterton says that it “not only poisons the virtues; it even poisons the other vices.” That is, pride has the effect of compounding and hardening other sins. It is one thing to be prone to telling untruths. It is quite another and worse to take pride in one’s ability as a liar.
Our text for this Sunday is God’s warning against the arrogant pride of His people in Isaiah 2:5-22. It’s not enough that they are greedy idolaters, collecting and worshipping silver and gold. They are arrogant about it, proud of their greed and idolatry. So the Lord announces how they will be humbled.
But better still would be the spirit which seeks humility before humbling comes as judgment. This, Peter Kreeft would argue, is why the Beatitudes are antidote to the seven deadly sins. “Blessed are the meek,” is an invitation to be the sort of person honored by God rather than a person who honors oneself.
May the Lord forgive us our pride and teach us humility.