Isaiah 13:11 ESV I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

Repeatedly the Bible connects arrogance, haughtiness, and pride with the wicked. Evil has as its father the devil who is the god of narcissism –

Isaiah 14:13-14 ESV You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; (14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’

There is in fallen humanity this bent to believe the devil when he promises, “you shall be like God.” And it is rooted in arrogance. Man exalts himself and insists he knows better and can be better than his Creator.

Arrogance, and this is the point of this post, produces allies of evil. For example, a pastor who has had no training or experience with domestic abusers or sociopaths or narcissists, fearlessly launches into “biblical counseling” in such situations confident that he and his Bible can deal with anything. What is going to happen? We know the answer. He will believe the wicked and reject the oppressed. And then he will be quite proud of himself – what a good boy am I.

We are all threatened with the temptation to arrogance. One common way it crops up in us is when we just easily and naturally assume that we know. For instance, a victim of abuse could be telling us about what is going on behind closed doors and our pride can jump right in and make us speak and behave toward her as if we knew more about it than she does even though SHE is the one who is there and WE are not. “Were you there?” No. “Then maybe you had better just stop talking and listen.”

Or someone tells us, “I feel guilty for being so suspicious but I just keep having this feeling that my husband is…….”. And Mr. or Mrs. Pride begins to expound. Inevitably they will become the ally of evil. “Oh, I’m sure it’s just your imagination. He is such a fine Christian. Don’t worry about it.” Suspicions quashed. Evil one exonerated.

If we are going to avoid being duped by evil and if we are going to be able to help the victims of evil then we must be humble. No one is going to be able to learn if they are not teachable, and that requires humility.