There are certain books which are so insightful that reading them is an eye-opening experience. Pride is one of these books: Matthew Roberts revealingly analyses the nature of our society from a Biblical viewpoint and reveals the root cause of the brokenness and confusion that we see around us. The Pride movement, the devaluing of marriage, the subversion of the creation order of male and female, and the idea that we are defined by our feelings are all a result of a society that has turned away from God to worship the Self.

But this is not Roberts’ starting point. Rather, in Part 1 he begins with what the Bible says about human nature: that we are sinful and inclined to idolatry, with a deep-seated need and desire to worship. Sin has perverted the desire to worship God so that we worship things of our own invention, whether idols of silver and gold or our desires and ambitions, and inevitably become enslaved by them. With this Biblical understanding of human nature and how it has been marred by sin, he turns to analyse our society. We worship ourselves and our desires and become defined and enslaved by them: we were originally intended to glorify God and bear His image in this world, but modern culture sees our identity and purpose as being found in the fulfilment of our lusts. Hence, for followers of the Pride movement (and, as he argues, even many Christians), our identity becomes defined by our sexual desires, whether gay or straight, and any opposition to this is seen as a fundamental attack on who we are.

Yet we are not left without hope: Christianity holds a liberating message for those enslaved by sin and desire. Through Christ we are redeemed from our sins, delivered from the shame of them and liberated by the power of the Spirit from being enslaved to our lusts. In Christ our original, higher, purpose as the bearers of God’s image in the world is restored. With pastoral sensitivity he addresses our need to repent from our disordered desires and that when we do this we are given grace to resist and overcome them, though until glory this process will never be complete. This message is one with a profound evangelistic power: as Christians we have the privilege of holding out this liberating message to an enslaved and broken world (ch. 6).

Throughout the book, Roberts explores a series of difficult topics, many of which are rarely discussed, especially in conservative Christian circles. One question that many people raise is whether our natural, disordered desires are actually sinful. Roberts shows that we must repent of our disordered desires by which we have been enslaved, and seek grace to overcome them (ch. 4). This is not just a message for those experiencing same-sex attraction: all Christians must repent of their sinful sexual desires, tendencies to pride, greed, vanity and more. Interacting with the work of some in the ‘Gay Christian’ movement, he shows how it is incongruous for a Christian to define themselves by their sinful desires when they have a new identity and new desires in Christ (ch. 7). Elsewhere he talks about the importance of our male and female identities, the purpose of marriage as symbolising the love of Christ for his bride, the Church, and the role of sex as part of this within marriage (ch. 5). A major theme which he constantly refers to is the role and importance of worship (esp. ch. 8). I found particularly helpful his discussion of the importance of the worship of God as a gathered church as the place where we lay down the Self and discover our true identity: ‘There is no display of true humanity greater than a church at worship on the Lord’s day’. By worshipping God in our lives, on the Lord’s Day (p. 169), and in our marriages, we ‘fulfil what it means to be who we are’ (p. 165).

Despite the difficult subject matter, Roberts’ writes in an easily understandable fashion, building his argument step by step and often stopping to recap what he has just explained. The use of subtitles greatly assists this. I highly recommend this book to any Christian who wishes to think more about the nature of our society and how we can understand it with a Biblical framework.

Matthew Roe
Pride – Identity and the Worship of Self by Matthew P W Roberts, published by Christian Focus Publications