The Danger of Conceit

Standing upon God's Word in an age of postmodern mush

“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.” (1 Timothy 6:3–4)

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We live in an age that could aptly be described as an age of postmodern mush. If our times were a dish at the family potluck, we’d be the gurgling pot of “soup” composed of various odds and sods haunting the back of the refrigerator. We have, in other words, no boundaries, no definitions, and no structure holding us all together. Consequently, we are a culture of incoherence — and we look and act the part. 

One of the consequences of living in this kind of world is that we have also become instinctively suspicious of anyone who claims to know what they’re talking about. If the prophet Elijah, for instance, were to come to us with a “Thus saith the LORD” kind of message, we would almost certainly dismiss him as soon as we were able. “That’s just your perspective” would be our smug reply. And this because, doubting the nature of truth as an objective category altogether, we have resigned ourselves to a murky world of shadow and ambiguity. Since we don’t actually believe anyone can see or know the truth, we conclude that anyone claiming the contrary must therefore be a liar or a fool. After all, in our world there’s “your truth” and “my truth.” But nothing more. 

The apostle Paul, however, did not share our aversion to epistemic confidence. His words were bold, incisive, and forthright. As our text demonstrates, when he found certain folks resisting the truth and not agreeing with the “sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ” and “the teaching that accords with godliness,” he simply called it like it was. The root of their resistance, he said, was not that they lacked information, nor that they lacked the knowledge necessary for understanding. Rather, the reason these people had an aversion to good doctrine was plain old conceit: “...he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing” (v. 4).

Notice that Paul does not name temperament, lack of learning, or failure of inclination as the reason these men “do not agree” with sound doctrine. He does not resort to the kind of muddled excuse-making we often do, viewing each person’s perspective as good as another. No, he takes aim at the surface level issue (resistance to sound doctrine), but also identifies the root of the controversy, namely, a puffed up and conceited spirit.

So the fundamental problem with these individuals was not their intellect but their character; not their head but their heart. They resisted the truth because they thought they knew better. They resisted correction because they lacked humility. 

This is important for us to see because it reminds us that resistance to healthy teaching can frequently be a symptom of pride rather than ignorance. The temptation is always to lay the blame elsewhere — temperament, lack of interest, personal inclination, etc. — but Paul is plain that one of the sins that can keep us from embracing the truth is conceit. There is a very real danger that we can become so self-content, so puffed up, that we adopt an air of haughty indifference toward the nourishing words of God. And if this happens, ironically, we lose even what we think we have and “understand nothing.” 

So we ought to examine ourselves. What is our attitude toward the Word of God? Are we desperate for His Word? Hungry? Longing? Are we eager to gather with the Lord’s people each week to receive instruction from the Scriptures?

Or do our hearts drift toward other priorities? Do we find ourselves growing tired of the more dominant themes of Scripture and instead wish for more “interesting” or “exciting” topics to tickle our fancy? If the latter is the case, we may be falling into just the kind of conceit Paul is warning about. 

The good news, however, is that God has supplied us in Christ with all the resources necessary for daily course correction — repentance, in other words. If we find ourselves in the kind of circumstances Paul here describes, we need only go to God in faith, confess our sin, and He will forgive us and renew in us fresh desires for His Word. The prayer of the psalmist is a good place to begin: “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways” (Ps. 119:36–37).