The Curse of the Self-Made

The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? (Daniel 4:30)

I want to look at the people who call themselves self-made and see some resulting judgment of a few in the scriptures.

I will not look at Nebuchadnezzar though his statement is the ultimate in that attitude.

And this because those of us who know their Bibles know what happened to him. In fact, even those with the barest acquaintance know his story well.

Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? (1Samuel 25:11)

Let us look at this character Nabal.

That he was successful is not in doubt; unless three thousand sheep and a thousand goats is a pittance in your eyes.

Even if we valued them very moderately, that flock was worth a half million dollars, which in many currencies would make him a millionaire, and that on those two items alone.

Yet we know he also had pasturelands and buildings to make that going concern a success. He also had slaves as well as servants.

We can therefore call him a farming and real estate magnate if we used our vocabulary.

We can’t dispute the fact that he worked hard, and had worked hard to get to that point.

He also treated his servants well from the statement.

What then was his problem?

He believed that he was the sole determinant of his success. And that is what in our days is called a self-made man.

He thought that it was his money that had offered security to his shepherds when they were in the wilderness.

It is like many politicians who boast that they bought their positions just because they used their money (most of it wrongly got) to campaign for their positions. Or those who think their success in politics is due to their shrewdness in the political game.

But sooner or later God’s judgment is released to them.

You see, at the base of the self-made doctrine is a huge dosage of pride.

Look at the New Testament to see the same thing.

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12: 16 – 21)

This situation is identical to what we saw with Nebuchadnezzar.

It is popularly called the ‘I’ syndrome.

Someone is so full of self that there is no breathing space for anything or anyone else.

Since I have made it (on my own of course), I deserve the best of the result.

Like the rich man we looked at recently, even a poor neighbour does not deserve anything from me because he is not part of my success. I owe nothing to nobody for my success.

But is that the reality?

Nabal’s servants confessed to the need they had and the cover David had been to them.

But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. (1Samuel 25: 15, 16)

But Nabal’s independent spirit had no place for such stupidity.

He probably thought that they were just idlers surrounding his flock for what they could get. He probably thought that they were just desperate and looking for the company his shepherds provided. Or he probably thought they just wanted to be simply associated with the big shot who was Nabal.

Do we think like that some times?

How many times have you seen people laughing at commitment from young people on spiritual things? How many have seen people making fun of people giving sacrificially to ministry? How many have refused to create time when a minister or seeker is looking for a friend?

What does that say?

I am complete on my own. I do not allow people to invade my privacy. I do not want to be stressed by people who are claiming to be serving God.

I am a self-made man.

And that is abominable to God.

Herod refused to stop people who were associating with God and was eaten by worms, alive.

How self-made are you?