Christians and the Humble Brag

Psychology is just study of souls, mindset and behaviour of humans. It doesn't seek to glorify anybody. Humans are all weak and sinful in various ways. The Bible is a very human book with human characters in it and their relationship with God. The things people do in the Bible are often terrible things. It really shows the worst of us! But it also shows how we can be redeemed, not for ourselves but by having faith which is often goes unseen.

The whole humble brag thing maybe is the faith vs works thing I will show you my faith by my works, faith without works is dead and there's always a big debate about that!! Though we are told to work out our salvation!
I'm supposing that you are not meant to testify about yourself - what others say of your good works is important. Then they will see your faith by how you behave and what others say about you.. (good things I hope) and see God working in you...

It's a pride thing really. Boasting about yourself. This thing is not just in America, schools here have adopted it. Achievement, success, respect that's what schools now encourage. Cities are told to have pride in themselves, sports teams are told to have it, there are parades about it...award ceremonies are all about it...In NZ, we are constantly told about our 'performance' compared to other nations and GDP and other things about being No 1, listing all your accomplishments on your CV (reason why I hate talking about myself to others, it just seems absurd to say I won this and that to prove how good I am) parents often talk about their children this way to other parents (my daughter did this or that, my son came top in ... all my children are married see how good a parent I am!)

When parents say to their children 'I'm proud of you' they are admitting their own pride right? Rather than going 'good on you' or 'good for you' it's the child making the parent proud.

Jesus didn't have to do anything to make his parents proud. They loved and accepted him as his son before he even really did anything spectacular. Even his Father said this in earshot of everyone when Jesus stepped into the Jordan river to be baptised that he was his beloved son in whom he was well pleased...because he was actually symbolically washing away his sins! Note he didn't say this after Jesus had fed 5000 people...or got married, or won a prize..

Also Jesus often deflected any notions that he himself was good. He always would say 'why do you call me good' 'it is my Father who is good'.

Anyway I had not thought christians ever do it but they might name drop Jesus a bit...
 
Lanolin said:
Psychology is just study of souls, mindset and behaviour of humans. It doesn't seek to glorify anybody. Humans are all weak and sinful in various ways. The Bible is a very human book with human characters in it and their relationship with God. The things people do in the Bible are often terrible things. It really shows the worst of us! But it also shows how we can be redeemed, not for ourselves but by having faith which is often goes unseen.
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So it's sinful beings analyzing sinful behavior? Kind of like pot/kettle.
 
crossnote said:
When you say 'Reformed friends,' do you mean any Christian group that is non Lutheran?
I found that to be pretty much the case when I was in WELS/LCMS.
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Lol, no, but I know WELS tends to do that. Last year I overheard some church members referring to non WELS as Reformed when they weren't Reformed.

I mean actual Calvinists. Some were Presbyterian, some Baptist. They listened to the likes of Vision Forum (before it crumbled), Doug Wilson, Voddie Baucham, and John MacArthur.
 
Humble Brag...

There have been times when I have observed a dynamic often among young adults, but sometimes among older adults persons where they seem to try to out-do each other in descriptions of the depth of their former sin / problem, so that they can publicly exalt the more in being saved.

The thing is, most come from more mundane background. There are many 'good' (at least in any meaningful worldly sense) people who rest in their self assured life. It's not that they weren't sinful, but that they were not as depraved as they let on. One can be sinful without being depraved from a worldly point of view. It also serves the enemy for one to be asleep in their small sin as it does to have them jolted awake by a 'great' sin. The mundanely sinful are in just as much need of Christ as anyone else. Their salvation is as much a work of Christ and the Holy Spirit as any.

I don't think the Lord needs anyone to 'punch-up' their story.
 
Siloam said:
Humble Brag...

There have been times when I have observed a dynamic often among young adults, but sometimes among older adults persons where they seem to try to out-do each other in descriptions of the depth of their former sin / problem, so that they can publicly exalt the more in being saved.

The thing is, most come from more mundane background. There are many 'good' (at least in any meaningful worldly sense) people who rest in their self assured life. It's not that they weren't sinful, but that they were not as depraved as they let on. One can be sinful without being depraved from a worldly point of view. It also serves the enemy for one to be asleep in their small sin as it does to have them jolted awake by a 'great' sin. The mundanely sinful are in just as much need of Christ as anyone else. Their salvation is as much a work of Christ and the Holy Spirit as any.

I don't think the Lord needs anyone to 'punch-up' their story.
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Agreed, I use to live in a 'house ministry' where the guys had some pretty gory testimonies and it would often end up with 'who had the most depraved past?'. There, sin is glorified rather than the Savior from sin.
 
crossnote said:
Wonder how the Reformed would pigeon-hole Jesus?
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crossnote said:
When you say 'Reformed friends,' do you mean any Christian group that is non Lutheran?
I found that to be pretty much the case when I was in WELS/LCMS.
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kdm1984 said:
Lol, no, but I know WELS tends to do that. Last year I overheard some church members referring to non WELS as Reformed when they weren't Reformed. I mean actual Calvinists. Some were Presbyterian, some Baptist. They listened to the likes of Vision Forum (before it crumbled), Doug Wilson, Voddie Baucham, and John MacArthur.
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Hello crossnote and kdm1984;

Please elaborate "reformed" "pigeon-hole Jesus" "non-Lutheran" as opposite to whom?
 
bobinfaith said:
Hello crossnote and kdm1984;

Please elaborate "reformed" "pigeon-hole Jesus" "non-Lutheran" as opposite to whom?
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Hi Bob,

There is a tendency among Lutherans to refer to all other Protestants as "Reformed," even if they aren't Calvinistic. I'm not sure why there is that tendency. Perhaps it comes from the Reformed being among the first Protestants after Luther to organize; Calvin, after all, came right after Luther, historically, and was heavily influenced by Luther, theologically. But it's very imprecise for Lutherans to categorize all other Protestants that way, because many other Protestant denominations (for example, the Methodists) are hardly "Reformed" or Calvinistic in a number of theological aspects.

This was a fairly new phenomenon for me to witness, as I've only been in WELS as an adult since 2020. My family raised me in it as a very small girl, but they left the denomination when I was about 8 years old. Thus I actually have only recently learned what a number of Lutheran tendencies are.
 
bobinfaith said:
Hello brothers and sisters;

I intentionally posted this thread in the Doctrinal Discussions forum, about a conduct we must be conscious of in our lives and ministry.

One of the most important areas in our daily walk with Christ is our witness. From my personal study throughout the book of Acts I learned how Jesus' servants were led by the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel. I believe the servants also shared their personal story that led them to Christ.

But in my prayer time I noticed that as I share my story I wonder if behind what I say or write whether I'm humble bragging without knowing it? I may start off as sounding like a suffering servant who has worked hard, had setbacks in my discipleship; how God turned it all around and blessed me with achievement, success, material needs met, academics and good health, etc..

My prayer time and Bible reading brought me to the point of doing a self check and conviction. Is my story taking away God's glory while crediting my perseverance and resilience?

In Jeremiah 9:23-24, 23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” - ESV

We are to share the Gospel to whom the Lord leads us to and this is very important in the internet forums and chat rooms. But whether we're face to face, on our electronics or the internet; it's important to express our "Praise God Moments" as an inspiration to share our testimony in a positive light but always through God's proper direction.

What is everyone's thoughts? Are we aware about the humble brag?

God bless you all and your families.
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My previous post (#27) was (and is) something that has gritted against my thoughts for a long time. I guess I got that off my chest...

But, to address bobinfaith with his wondering about his, or our, witness, there is a big difference between someone who is shining the light on scriptural teaching and those that having spent a considerable of time in study feeling that they are the light into TRUTH, or that it is their ministry to convict the world.

I have never thought bobinfaith to be the latter.

I take note of his posts and look forward to reading his views and insight. There are others that seem to feel that their ministry is to convict the world of its sinful nature, when it is the work of the Holy Spirit. I have never felt that bobinfaith was trying to perform that role.

In the world around us, persons are either missionaries or mission field. It is difficult to share the love of Jesus to those you feel are unworthy. Bob has always been respectful of persons he addresses, even is at times he must challenge them.
 
We do shine our light but that is a reflection of Gods glory not our own, if that make sense.

In terms of christian who are in it (church) for their own gain, there is a name for them - rice Christians.
 
Lanolin said:
No the Bible is inspired by God but the writers are all human ---!
You seem to be misunderstanding what the Bible is.
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There is not universal agreement regarding such things as human writers of what inspired is.

Does inspired mean that the Spirit took control over the process, actually choosing each word? Or, does it mean guided their thoughts which they then described, etc.

We take inspiration as part and parcel with infallibility, but is a description of the writers direct experiences different than a prophetic foretelling even if the context for understanding the prophecy hasn't occurred yet?

Is that answer the same for each verse, or is some of it different?

Whatever we choose in these cases brings up further areas of application.
 
It means the first
We have our thoughts, and God has His thoughts. He also gave us Jesus who is the Word made flesh, and his sayings are recorded in scripture.
A lot of Bibles have the words of Christ in red, to highlight the difference.

The OT prophets foretold things, though the last prophet is Jesus who fufills everything God wanted. If that makes sense.

The gospel writers were eye-witnesses and wrote all those things down. They weren't prophets as such but they shared Jesus prophecies.
 
Siloam said:
There is not universal agreement regarding such things as human writers of what inspired is.

Does inspired mean that the Spirit took control over the process, actually choosing each word? Or, does it mean guided their thoughts which they then described, etc.

We take inspiration as part and parcel with infallibility, but is a description of the writers direct experiences different than a prophetic foretelling even if the context for understanding the prophecy hasn't occurred yet?

Is that answer the same for each verse, or is some of it different?

Whatever we choose in these cases brings up further areas of application.
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You make excellent points.

I believe inspiration is experiential. A person first experiences something divine and subsequently attempts to explain it with words. One's place in life and experience with words will directly impact what one writes. Two men can experience the same thing and explain it in two ways. This does not mean one or the other is lying. It simply means the two are different in their expression.

One must keep in mind the society that wrote scripture. They varied in type from stone age to relatively modern (e.g. Romans). They all were inspired. It was their form of expression that varied.
 
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