One day I was speaking with a Christian friend at work. He mentioned his impression of the personality quirks of a co-worker, so I asked him what his impression of me was. He said, “Ernie’s got to be right” and then left the area. I began to ponder what he might have meant by that statement. I thought to myself “Of course I’m right! I know my Bible, and I’m logical. What’s not to be right?” I didn’t see my friend again for about two weeks, but continually tried to gain insight into why he might have made such a statement about me. At last the Lord opened my eyes to what he was saying. I discovered that my problem was that I had an attitude of superiority. It wasn’t that my doctrine was incorrect, but the way in which I presented myself to others was often self-serving. I now realize that much of the sharing of biblical truths that I did with both believers and unbelievers was done in the flesh. I feel as though my friend has done me a great favor by alerting me to this truth about myself, and I decided to put together a little study so that I would have a way to remember what I’ve learned. Hopefully others can profit from it as well. These principles apply equally to soul winning, teaching a class, and preaching.

Pride is at the center of all teaching that is “in the flesh.” The Holy Spirit will step out of the way, and let us do the teaching instead of Him, if that’s what we want. The goal of teaching in the flesh is self-fulfillment.

Although we are most often concerned with what to say, an equal problem is knowing what not to say. It is better to give no advice than bad advice, but we feel better when we’ve given advice because it puts us in the position of authority, and increases our self image.

We are teaching “in the flesh” when:

1. We become agitated that the person “isn’t getting it.” When we are teaching “in the Spirit,” we have confidence in the message that God has given us to share. Agitation is a sign of fleshly motives.
2. We’re “trying hard” to get our message across. The work of the Spirit is easy, and the words flow like cool waters on a thirsty soul. His burden is easy; let God lead in the work.
3. The conversation’s volume begins to increase. We aren’t getting the attention we demand, and so we begin to talk louder. Others will notice this before we do. We have begun arguing and usually don’t recognize it.
4. We think of the person we’re trying to talk to as “ignorant,” or we have some other derogatory sentiment toward them. Our mindset has gone from being a help to being superior.
5. We use attacks rather than reason and the Scriptures to prove our point. For instance, if we call the other person’s view “immature,” we denigrate not only their position, but them as well.
6. We use terms like “you people,” thereby setting that person in a class of rejects.
7. We consider opposition a rejection of our person, rather than a rejection of Biblical truth. This happens most often within families. Opposition brings out our insecurities when we are in the flesh.
8. We want the other person to see our point “right now.” We are unwilling to let God work in His own time.
9. We go to great lengths to explain our position, even though the other person is bored with the conversation. We are fulfilling our need to talk (to edify ourselves), while not considering the other person’s needs.
10. We’re unwilling to break off the conversation even though we know the other person doesn’t want to continue it. We’re using force to get our words out, and closing the door to future opportunities to win them.
11. We “shoot the other person down” with “proof text verses” or “superior intellect” or “superior training.” Persons untrained in the Bible make easy targets for knowledgeable Christians, but we are really just abusing them.
12. We feel good because we got the last word in. But do they feel good about it?
13. When we say, “Well, he didn’t want to hear it, but I let him have it anyway!” we are speaking of things we’ve said in the flesh.