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One of my favorite YouTube channels features a series of Emmy-nominated videos called Honest Trailers. The videos are a parody of movie trailers, imagining what a movie trailer would say if it was being honest. See if you can guess which movie is being parodied here.

“Deck the halls and gather 'round for a family film about standing your ground, in one of the most violent kids' movies ever made. . . . This Christmas, travel to the all-white part of Chicago to meet . . . the worst family ever . . . . Rejoice in the Christmas spirit as they gang up on [an] eight-year-old boy, then stick him in the attic and leave the country.

Witness years of neglect and abuse take their toll on this small child as he shows all the signs of becoming a sociopath, like manipulation, talking to himself, and trapping two non-violent criminals inside a sadistic world of torture from which there is no escape. . . . Prepare to have your heartstrings tugged, as Kevin, who's been home alone for three days, is finally reunited with his family...then immediately left alone again.”[i]

When you think about it, there’s a lot of truth to that parody. What kind of parents would treat their children the way Kevin McCallister is treated in the Christmas favorite, Home Alone? What kind of parents would—not once but twice—leave their child like a sheep without a shepherd?

No matter how often we tell ourselves, “no, of course God wouldn’t treat us that way!” there are passages in Scripture that make this idea hard to swallow. Consider for example, the final phrase in 1 Peter 5:5, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Aha! There it is! God won’t oppose me . . . unless . . . I’m proud. That’s incredibly good news . . . until you look in the mirror.

If you’ve been around PBC awhile you know that pride is widespread in the human heart. C.S. Lewis said the proudest person is the one who doesn’t recognize his pride. [ii] Tim Keller said "Pride is the carbon monoxide of sin, killing you without you having any ability to tell its happening. It's odorless."[iii] If this is true than we’re hopeless, aren’t we? If pride is widespread in the human heart, if it’s often undetected by even the most mature Christians, then how can we have any hope? Won’t God always be opposing us for our pride? Won’t he abandon us, just like the McCallister’s abandoned young Kevin?

Yes . . . if our relationship with God is contingent upon us. If we stand before God on our own merits, we will find ourselves eternally opposed. But . . . if our faith is in Christ, we are welcomed not because we are humble but because He has been perfectly humble in our place. We receive grace not because we are without pride, but because Jesus was punished for our pride. He was Godforsaken on the cross so that, if our faith is in Him, we will never have to be.

Now believing that takes humility. You must humble yourself today. You must admit that you cannot approach God on your own two feet. You must admit that your best works are not enough. They never have been, they never will be. You must repent, not only of your rebellion but also your righteousness. Even your best works are as filthy rags before Him. And then you must trust in Christ alone. His works. His holiness. His humility. But if you do that, You will never be opposed by God again! Not because you’re perfectly humble, but because Jesus was.

Yes, God will oppose the pride that remains in you, much like a doctor opposes the sickness that’s decimating his patients. But He won’t oppose you. Because you are in Christ!

 

[i] Honest Trailer: Home Alone, Honest Trailers (Screen Junkies, 2013), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTo6yvJ5SCM.

[ii] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Harper Collins, 2001), 128.

[iii] Timothy Keller (timkellernyc), “Pride Is the Carbon Monoxide of Sin. It Silently and Slowly Kills You without You Even Knowing.,” Tweet, December 18, 2014.