John 8:12-20

12Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 13Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” 14Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15You judge by human standards; I judge no one. 16Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. 18I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” 19Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

The most interesting verse here is 20… but no one arrested him. Because Jesus has just claimed to be from God, and co equal with God. The implication is he is equal to God. This confronts those who say that Jesus is merely a great teacher. He claimed to be more than that. The Unitarians are in error. The liberals (who deny the Godhead of Jesus and the incarnation) are in grievous error. And the Muslims (who see him as a prophet) clearly have not read a word he wrote. The Jewish council, however,  knew what he was saying. Which is why the killed him as a blasphemer.

Now, taking on the church… which in the end belongs to Jesus and not to a bunch of politicians in Washington, Peking, or Brussels… is hubristic. People tend to over estimate their influence.

Romans 12:3-8

3For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

We are not to worship the gospel of self-esteem. That is to see ourselves too highly. Nor are we to (falsely) claim no talent or skills. We all have some skills. Instead we are to use the skills we have for good.  Leadership is but one role.

The implication is that false humility is also an error. We are to have a sober estimation of our talents and abilities… and then not care overmuch for it. Instead of worshiping self-esteem, we should concentrate on what Jesus wants us to do: hold fast to the truth and do good.