Colleen Orchanian

A Confidence Game is a way to deceive or trick so you can steal something. Con games work because people are gullible and believe, in their pride, that they are smarter than the con artist. They are usually wrong.

Who is the greatest con artist? That would be Satan. And who is the gullible rube? That would be us.

This confidence game is successful because, in our pride, we tend to think too highly of ourselves. Here are eight forms of pride that may be spiritual attacks.

1. Overconfidence. Simon Peter was absolutely certain that he would not deny Jesus three times. He even vowed to die with Him. Yet hours later, he did the very thing he thought impossible. Maybe they didn't think they needed prayer. Overconfidence is the temptation to put all our hope in our own strength. Satan, like the conman, knows our weaknesses better than we do.

2. Accusations. During the Last Supper, Jesus prophesied that he would be betrayed. The disciples argued over who would do that. Surely not I, but that guy over there. I've always wondered about him. We can think the worst of others and the best of ourselves.

3. Self-Promotion. After the apostles debated who would betray Jesus, they argued about who was the greatest. I would never betray Jesus. I'm the strongest one here. I'm his favorite. We don't just accuse others, we also prop ourselves up. We compare ourselves to others, and we come out on top.

4. Vainglory. This is when we take credit for God's work in us. Jesus chided the Pharisees, who loved their long tassels and places of honor. We fall into this trap when we seek praise for our work, as if we are self-made men and women. That's not to say we should downplay the good work we do, we just need to shift the credit to God. We should be honored to be His instrument.

5. Intellectual Arrogance. I am right. Satan can not fool me. The Pharisees were hard-hearted, and even though they saw miracles and all signs pointed to Jesus as Messiah, they refused to believe. They were the smart ones, and the crowds were uneducated. We see this in politics. The other side is a bunch of dumb sheep following mindlessly their evil or mistaken leader. But we are too smart for that. Conmen love it when we think we can't be wrong.

6. Charismatic Overreach. Some people have gifts of the Holy Spirit that allow them to hear God's voice more clearly than others. When given a word to share with someone, they go beyond giving the word and try to get the other person to take a particular action. If you don't listen, they get offended. How could you not believe what I am saying? I have a direct word from God, and you don't. That's overreach.

7. Spiritual Pride. This is when we look down on others who don't believe or believe differently from us or are less saintly than we are. This reveals self-righteousness that is not from God. Jesus was criticized for eating with prostitutes and tax collectors. Often, people with spiritual pride can dismiss their own failures while condemning those of others, and they lack the virtue of charity. That person is a hypocrite because they are living in sin. We might well ask ourselves, in what way am I a hypocrite?

8. Presumption. This is the belief that I can do whatever I want, and God has to take me. I have a ticket to heaven, and my behavior doesn't matter. I go to church on Sunday. That's enough. But that's a lie—and a really big one. Jesus said that how we end our lives is what matters, not where we begin. If I am a great sinner who repents and allows God to transform my life, I will be welcomed into heaven. But if I start good and then turn away from God, living a sinful life, I'm going the other way. (Check out these Scripture verses: Ezekiel 18:25, Matthew 7:21, Matthew 24:13.) The devil wants us to take God's grace for granted. If we love God, we should not be that way. We should not fall for that trap.

At the core of all these attacks is the confidence we have in ourselves-in our mind, in our behavior, in our work, in our relationship with God-as if each of these is our own doing. Should we have confidence? Yes. Absolutely! But my confidence is in God, not in myself. My confidence is in God's Word, God's Holy Spirit, God's mercy, God's love, God's gifts, God's power, and God's providence.

I fall for the con when I put my trust in others rather than in God. The Israelites did this when they made alliances with their enemies rather than trusting in God. I might have confidence in the money in my bank account, in certain people in my life, in the government. That's when we have fallen for the con that we can't trust in God. We're on our own.

I fall for the con when I get sucked into comparing myself to others. In my insecurity, I need to find those who are worse off than I am so my delicate ego is not harmed. Maybe I am masking that insecurity by accusing others or excusing my faults. Until I can look at myself in all my ugliness, in all my brokenness, I don't really know myself, and I can't resist the lies of Satan that lead me to vainglory, self-promotion, and intellectual pride. I have to heal my brokenness so that I can accept my imperfections and still know that I am deeply loved by God. Not because I'm so good, but because God is so good. It's not about me. It's about God.

Pride is all about me. I did this. I know this. I would never do that. I have something special you don't have. I have earned this recognition or admiration or praise. Look at me. Watch me. Listen to me. As if it's ME that matters, when it's not.

The remedy to this is humility. Humility is believing it when God says, It's not you. It's Me. Can I admit that I am nothing except what God has done in me? Can I take delight in how God has used me to further His kingdom? Can I acknowledge that I don't know nearly as much as I think I know? The great St. Thomas Aquinas, when he was shown Heaven, claimed that all he had written was rubbish. His work is brilliant, but it is incomplete because we can't grasp it all. Our human capacity is too small. What we can understand is a gift from God, not because we're smart. Even our intelligence is a gift from God.

Jesus humbled himself, taking the form of a slav. He washed the feet of the apostles. He told them to take the lowest place rather than the place of honor at a dinner. He preached and lived humility. Maybe that's why the devil loves to attack us in our pride. Humility helps us resemble Jesus. Pride makes us resemble the devil.

Don't fall for the con. You can lose so much!

Questions for Prayer:

1. Which type of con game are you most likely to fall for? Why?

2. What help do you need to grow in humility and resist the con?