But first we must be clear about the problem theologically. The Scriptures use several words for "pride." At their heart, they all mean "to be lifted up." Pride is good when it lifts up God, when we glorify him and tell him that we are proud to be his children. Pride is good when it lifts up others, when we tell our children that we are proud of them.

Pride is sin when it lifts us up, when we exalt ourselves over God and others. When we put our personal agendas ahead of loving God and our neighbor; when we live to impress people with ourselves more than with God; when we define success by popularity and possessions more than by obedience to God and service to others, we build our own Tower today. If I am teaching this message to impress you with myself, I'm laying bricks for my own Babel.

Why is such self-exaltation and self-promotion such a sin?

It supplants God: "Pharaoh said, 'Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go" (Exodus 5:2).

It causes us to hurt others, to make them a means to our end: "In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises" (Psalm 10:2); "Pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence" (Ps. 73:6). When we come first, everyone else comes second and is a means to our end.

It hurts us: "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom" (Proverbs 11:2); "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" (Pr. 16:18). Self-reliance always leads to failure, for we are failed human beings.

And so it leads to the judgment of God, at Babel and in Dallas: "Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!" (Pr. 21:4).

Why do we put ourselves before God and others?

The "will to power" is the basic drive in human nature. We all want to be God, to be "president of the universe" (Claypool).

Pride and power are the expectations of our culture. How does our society define success? Performance, achievement, drive, initiative. The "self-made man." When last was a truly humble person elevated as a role model for our youth? We are to be driven, perfectionistic, prideful, or we are not a success.

Most of all, pride covers our perceived inadequacies. We know our failures and weaknesses. Rather than admit them, we compensate for them. We act in prideful ways, to convince others that we are what we pretend to be.

Who is susceptible?

: "The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector'" (Luke 18:11).

: Job is described at the beginning of the story as "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1). Yet he later claimed, "I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt" (Job 33:9). If it happened to Job, it can happen to us.

: Paul chastised the Corinthian Christians, "Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you" (1 Corinthians 4:18).

: "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked" (Revelation 3:17).

Anyone who believes that he or she is not.