Is that \u201cselfish\u201d in the pejorative sense? No \u2013 especially if we identify it as Jesus\u2019s point of view. Is it selfish, grabbing glory for ourselves? Heaven forbid. In fact when we truly consider who we are, it is, instead, very humbling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of all the things increasingly in short supply in the world today, I say that Humility is the most threatened of resources. Being humble. And the opposite of Humility is Pride. Ah, Pride \u2013 which I consider the deadliest of the Deadly Sins, and which to me is the wellspring of all other sins. From back in the Garden, down to every hour of every day in our own spheres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pride preceded rebellion against God: \u201cWe know better than Him.\u201d Pride: \u201cI can ignore God\u2019s commandments; I\u2019ll bet He spares me<\/em> the punishment.\u201d Pride: \u201cIf God is good, how can He keep me from Heaven?\u201d Pride: \u201cI am not as bad as a lot of horrible people around the world.\u201d Pride: \u201cI give to charities; I care about the poor people. Isn\u2019t that enough?\u201d Pride: \u201cWhy should I bother God with my<\/em> problems?\u201d Pride: \u201cThank God I am not like other people\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be filed under \u201cUnconscious Irony,\u201d Pride Month<\/em> has just ended. By proclamations and the movement\u2019s very flag, this Pride is not about academic achievement or conquered diseases or even material advances, but the celebration of sin. It is as if a month, or special holidays, were devoted to cheating on one\u2019s taxes or betraying marriage vows or abusing children. Yes, my seat belt is fastened; these are incendiary remarks these days. But this new, branded Pride also encompasses choosing to ignore or overrule or endorse things that the Bible condemns, over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Humankind\u2019s Pride assumes many forms, many of which are not so obviously toxic; but sin is sin. I remember debates some short years ago when computers played chess matches against humans, and sometimes won. \u201cIs this the end of humans\u2019 dominance in the world?\u201d people asked, with some prescience. My reaction was that if computers won such competitions\u2026 computers had been created and programmed by humans<\/em>, so didn\u2019t \u201cwe\u201d win after all? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The same \u201clong view\u201d is needed in the current discussions about Artificial Intelligence. This bundle of Brave New World technologies (and projected consequences) has dominated a lot of research and development; is actually fueling some stock-market booms; and animates a lot of hopeful dreaming. But it is prompting apocalyptic fears, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is my opinion that if \u201cmachines\u201d become able to fool us, influence our decisions, steal our independence, and lull us into deadly slumbers\u2026 this will not be a perversion of liberty, but the natural consequence of unbridled liberty. The history of humankind \u2013 our natural tendencies; \u201chuman nature\u201d \u2013 has been a chronicle of fooling each other, influencing unsuspecting people, and stealing goods and ideas. In the 21st<\/sup> century we merely have better tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n With the Bible as our road map, so to speak, throughout history, we can know the way forward. History\u2019s second best-seller, The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>, is a brilliant if thinly veiled metaphor of life \u2013 its pitfalls, detours, dangers, and its ultimate joy-filled destination. Some people \u201cget it\u201d; that is, wisely choosing between Pride and Truth. But even John Bunyan himself learned it after mistakes, failings, and persecution \u2013 he wrote The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em> from a dank jail. John Newton only was able to write Amazing Grace<\/em> after almost suicidal remorse for being a slave-trader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those experiences qualify as major ingredients in Humility, as discussed above. It might seem unfortunate, but nevertheless true that Wisdom usually follows stupid decisions. Liberation cannot come except from bondage. Salvation is from sin. Joy is measured against misery. Are these paradigms in fact unfortunate? No, it is a way that Life works. Let us learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And let us pay attention to words, the way we express our understanding. Artificial Intelligence<\/em>: we should be a little skeptical \u2013 humble \u2013 about what constitutes Intelligence. And we need to respect the qualifier, Artificial. Some things we don\u2019t understand; some things we never will understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is God\u2019s way. There<\/em> is \u201cIntelligent Design\u201d \u2013 I think God planned Life so that for all the manifold things we cannot understand, we seek Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly <\/em>(Proverbs 2: 6,7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n + + +<\/p>\n\n\n\n A precious example of someone who has had a right to ask \u201cWhy?\u201d and want to understand things in life is Joni Eareckson Tada, the talented singer, artist, speaker, and paraplegic. I interviewed her at Billy Graham\u2019s retreat center The Cove a few years ago. Here, with Joni and her mom; and Cliff Barrows and George Beverly Shea of the Billy Graham Association. Please click on Joni\u2019s brief testimony and song:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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