I want to talk a minute about what I call the Big Fish in the Small Pond syndrome. I am sure that most of our listeners have heard of this. Sometimes it can be a cute thing. Do you notice that babies, no matter how small or young they may be, always want to mother a child smaller or younger than themselves? I guess it is a natural thing for anyone to want to be the dominant one. The one in charge. The one in control.
Sometimes this can be less cute. When my oldest son was a junior, their basketball team (a team that was not very good, by the way), entered a holiday tournament filled mainly with teams from small private schools. Early in the tournament our team, which had only won a couple of games all year, played a team that consisted mainly of beginners. Some of these kids could barely even dribble. As the game progressed, and our kids got out to a large lead, some of them started to talk trash, and ridicule the other team. They were acting like they were the best team to ever step on a basketball court, even though a week earlier they were the ones that were being demolished on the court.
A big fish in a small pond. A kid may be on a team that hasn’t won a game all year, but if he is a starter on that team, he is a stud… at least in his high school.
Of course, we are talking here about pride! And, pride and arrogance are not only obnoxious to those who have to put up with them, they are abhorrent to God! “A haughty look, a proud heart, And the plowing of the wicked are sin” (Proverbs 21:4).
The attitude, when seen in adults, is often destructive. It is what fueled Saddam Hussein, and just about all of the other tyrants in history. It makes tyrants out of employers; church bosses like Diotrophes; and abusive husbands.
Perhaps you have heard the story about the man who had been belittled by his boss at work? He went home and yelled at his wife, who in turn screamed at the kids, who kicked the dog, who chased the cat, who ate the mouse. Poor little mouse, eaten up because of a bad day at work!
What is the cure for the big fish in a small pond syndrome? A little bit of humility. Consider Jesus in this. Paul did, and revealed in Philippians 2 that although Jesus was in the exalted position of God’s right hand, he made himself of “no reputation”, and humbled himself… even to the point of dying on the cross as a substitute for us. Good thing that Jesus did not have the Big fish in a small pond syndrome!
It is a difficult lesson to learn. I have seen kids (even after an 0-10 season), still acting as if they are the best players on God’s green earth just because they are better than someone else on their team or in their school. It is sad, really, and indicates an extreme degree of immaturity.
Of course, God has promised he will exalt the humble and bring down the proud, in His time. If I may say so without being flippant or irreverent, ultimately the prideful will be humbled before the Biggest Fish in the Biggest Pond. God Himself.
To paraphrase the oil filter commercial. You can be humbled now… Or you can be humbled later!
Posted under Digest Subjects, Pride, Stan's Rants
This post was written by Stan on November 23, 2008
