Sermonette: Self-Confidence

#1740s
James C. Stoertz
Given 23-Dec-23; 15 minutes 2023-12-23

There was a movie made in 1967 called, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It is about an ambitious window washer, J. Pierrepont Finch, who seeks to climb the corporate ladder. It is a very fun movie, but it is awash with self-confidence. The plot could be summarized as, “Fake it ‘till you make it.”

J. Pierrepont Finch shows himself to be extremely incompetent yet continues to fake his way to the top. At the end of the movie, he is contemplating becoming president of the United States. Hollywood foolishness through-and-through.

This world in general, and the business world in particular, tout self-confidence as a key indicator of capability. Most searches online yield lists of words and phrases to say to yourself and others to manufacture self-confidence. You pat yourself on the back and repeat the phrase, “I got this!” This method is applied to all kinds of goals and, in this world, it sometimes works.

Consider Muhammed Ali who touted himself as, “The Greatest there ever was!” Ali was a great boxer but there is no doubt he was a self-promoter. He built himself up on the sheer strength of his self-confidence and arrogance. Muhammed Ali said, “If you even dream of beating me, you'd better wake up and apologize.”

Here is some perspective on manufactured self-confidence from Jayant Bhandari, an immigrant from India who has been running an annual seminar called Capitalism and Morality for more than a decade. I would like to read you an excerpt from his article, “The Science of Self-Confidence”(2023):

Westerners look the most confident and self-satisfied. [Indians] think that copying specific Western ways—their language, clothing, promiscuity, drinking, drugs, hip-hop, flirting, etc.—is how to get similar confidence.

It is difficult to overlook the evidence that these things are one of the major exports of the Western world in general and the USA in particular. Solomon says:

Proverbs 16:5 Everyone proud in heart [or self-confident] is an abomination to the Lord. Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.

God hates self-confidence. But there are many examples in which He uses confident people. Let us look deeper at this seeming paradox. There are three kinds of confidence that are opposed to one another.

1. The source of one is the self. This has a lot of potential downsides along the lines of "what's in it for me," or "I know best."

2. The second source is external. It is trust in other people, leaders, government, or even value systems.

3. The third source is faith in God.

The word confidence comes from the Latin con, meaning, “with,” and fido, meaning, “intense trust.” The word faith also comes from the same Latin word fido. Faith means trust in God. So for us, self-confidence is an oxymoron.

In the term self-confidence the real problem is the word self. Christ said in Luke 9:23, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,” and that should finish this sermonette. But I want to explore the dark side of self-confidence with you.

Consider the life of King Saul. Saul’s entire life is a litany of rash, self-willed activity, and shows a continual slide down from King of Israel, as documented in I Samuel 13 through I Samuel 31.

Some events:

♦ Saul decides to make a sacrifice himself, instead of waiting on Samuel, the man of God. In this event Saul has decided to ignore God’s guidance. God removes His support for Saul, and Saul begins his descent.

♦ Saul mishandles Jonathan’s victory over the Philistines.

♦ Saul spares King Agag despite specific instructions from Samuel to finish him off.

♦ By I Samuel 25, Saul has completely lost contact with God and consults the witch of Endor to try to call up the dead Samuel. In this event, Saul seems to be riddled with anguish.

♦ Ultimately, Saul commits suicide.

A modern psychologist might diagnose Saul with “Imposter Syndrome.” This is a psychological occurrence in which people over-represent themselves, but they harbor a fear of being exposed. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: “It is estimated that 70% of people will experience at least one episode of this phenomenon at some point in their lives.”

There is a story of a man at a party who boasts of climbing several mountains. After entertaining the group for several minutes, he turns to one of his listeners to ask what they do for fun. The listener says, “I just got back from Nepal where I climbed Mt. Everest.”

There are other weaknesses of self-confidence:

♦ Self-confidence is confused with capability.

♦ The Dunning-Kruger Effect describes people with limited skills who overestimate their own abilities. In the early stages of a task, self-confidence leads you to believe you are an expert when you are not.

♦ Self-confidence can lead to self-centeredness which ultimately leads to anarchy—every man for himself.

♦ Self-confidence is a vine that bears the fruits of arrogance and hubris.

The negative results of self-confidence cause a tremendous drag on someone’s psychological well-being.

What is the alternative?

Tucker Carlson, who was recently fired from Fox News, made no excuses, but instead he said: “Men need to be humiliated fairly regularly to keep their souls pure. My advice to my younger self, in fact my advice to my current self, is, ‘Don’t be so arrogant.’”

Preceding Tucker Carlson’s observation by 2,000 years is a vivid scene on the road to Damascus.

Let us look at the transition of Saul whose name is later changed to Paul. This story highlights the difference between arrogant self-confidence before, and the confidence that is both a foundation of faith and a product of faith, afterward.

Acts 9:1-2 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

This is Saul before—a bold and self-confident zealot.

Now look at verse 20. In between these two verses, Jesus Christ has completely disrupted the path of Saul’s life. Saul has been baptized and is working with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 9:20-21 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed.

This is Saul after—still bold and confident, but now full of faith.

Besides the apostle Paul, we can look at other verses to get a sense of intensity and variety of godly confidence.

David was anointed by Samuel in I Samuel 16:13. But in I Samuel 17, we see what David’s confidence sounds like. David has just seen Goliath taunting Saul’s troops.

I Samuel 17:33-37 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

This is an uncommonly strong answer from a boy who is addressing a king.

There are hundreds of scriptures warning against self-confidence, and to have godly confidence. Here are a few:

Proverbs 28:26 He who trusts in his own heart is a fool.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

There are many things you do that require godly confidence or faith. Let us consider what Jesus Christ advises, starting in Matthew 17. Here, the disciples fail to cast out a demon.

Matthew 17:19-20 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

There is overlap between the words “belief,” “faith,” and “confidence.” It turns out they are codependent! And that is what I realized halfway through studying this topic.

Consider the parable of the invited guests at a wedding feast.

Luke 14:7-11 So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

There is a natural humiliation process for people who are self-promoters.

In a well-known story, boldness is on display as Jesus Christ drives the animals from the Temple and turns over the tables of the money changers. This happens twice—near the beginning and near the end of His 3½ year ministry.

Also in Acts 8, let us step into the sandals of Phillip as he overtakes an Ethiopian eunuch on the side of the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza. The eunuch is sitting in the back of his chariot diligently reading the Scriptures, but he wishes someone was there to help him understand. Phillip does so. Let us imagine sitting down with Phillip at the side of the chariot.

Acts 8:32-34 The place in the Scripture which he [the eunuch] read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”

Phillip confidently explains all things. This is a prophecy from Isaiah 53 and we recognize it as a foreshadowing of the trial of Jesus Christ in which He deliberately drops all of His boldness and He remains silent during His trial.

Christ shows that there is a time to be bold and a time to keep silence.

JCS/rwu/drm