“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:5)
The temptation to glory in ourselves is subtle. The pride of life can sneak into Christian life and ministry. When we want to attract people to ourselves and our message, viewing our understanding and experience as the model for all to learn and follow, we run the risk of drawing disciples after ourselves.
No one should sit at our feet. No man is the measure of all things. Christ is our one Master. He is the Measure. His life as taught to us by the Holy Spirit is the model we are to be molded into.
It has been true in every era that men have become enamored with their own understanding and experience of Christ. Instead of preaching Him, they have preached themselves. And their disciples have gloried in them, fought for them, called themselves by their names. But isn’t this what they secretly wanted all along?
If you think this cannot happen to you – you are in the greatest danger of it happening. If God had to keep the Apostle Paul humble with a thorn in the flesh, what will you need to keep you from being “exalted above measure?”