A Proud Look

Proverbs 6:17 tells us that one of the things that God hates is "a proud look." The Hebrew word for "proud" refers to a person who exalts himself, or who lifts himself up. In other words, it is a person who is holding a position that is higher than what God appointed him to.

In one Christian school that I taught at, an ambitious church secretary decided that she should teach the senior English class. She planned to use it as a launch pad to become a school administrator. She launched an active smear campaign on the teacher, got the class, and failed miserably.

The ministries of Nicolaitans are usually marked by failure, because they gain their positions without God's authority. They are rarely involved in leadership of successful, growing churches, unless the church is growing by stealing people from other churches. They attribute their failures to other causes, and sometimes are attracted to Calvinism, which blames God for their failures.

When I come across Christians who have been hurt by churches, I often find that the church was led by Nicolaitans; the rest of the time, it was usually the fault of the person who got hurt.