HRO: (12) Misplaced Confidence

In the way, way back of Biblical human history, we find Adam and Eve living in perfect harmony with God and His creation.  They walked and talked with their Creator.  Until Satan appeared in the form of a snake and asked Eve this simple question “Did God really say…?”  The question was directed at the appropriateness of eating specific fruit; the answer should have been clear in Eve and in Adam’s minds.  Instead, scripture tells us that Eve listened to the snake, looked at the beautiful fruit, and made a decision to disobey God’s clear instructions about said fruit; Adam quickly followed suit, apparently relying on his wife’s decision rather than God’s guidance.  The rest, as they say, is history:  the beautiful relationship between God and His creation was shattered, and reconciling that relationship required the suffering and death of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  The Fall resulted from reliance on human wisdom, from using human senses and human insight—“…the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom….” (Genesis 3: 6).  “The fruit was healthful!  The fruit was pretty!  The fruit would impart wisdom!  Why trust in God and His command when it was so obvious that His guidance didn’t make any sense in light of actual observations?”  This misplaced confidence in human wisdom resulted in the greatest tragedy in the world.

According to Chassin and Loeb, it is “misplaced confidence” that “blunts alertness” and results in complacency, which then leads to horrible events such as surgery on the wrong body part.  “Misplaced confidence” is part of the human condition.  You can call it hubris, pride, self-reliance, lack of the fear of God, and many other things.  In the Garden of Eden, it resulted in Adam and Eve believing they knew better than God, that the pretty fruit that would make them healthy and wise and was better than trusting in God.  The Bible is full of similar stories:  the worship of the golden calf by the Israelites in the desert; the demand of the Israelites for an earthly, human king; David’s adultery with Bathsheba; even the Pharisees’ rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.  In each of these examples, people put their human wisdom on a higher level than Godly wisdom, they made an idol of something other than God and His will.  Misplaced confidence is a result of our fallen nature; it is no wonder it shows up in the workplace as well.

The book of Proverbs is a call to reject human wisdom, this misplaced confidence, and to instead rely solely upon the wisdom of God—a wisdom which God gives and sustains; a wisdom which leads to life and salvation.  God’s wisdom exemplified in Christ resulted in the reconciliation of the world.  Godly wisdom lived out via daily decisions results in a created world that is more in harmony with God’s initial plan; when we follow the instruction Book written by the Divine Engineer of the Universe, things go better. Proverbs 3: 5 – 8 tells us “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”  

Earlier, we discussed “preoccupation with failure” as an essential characteristic of an HRO.  Chassin and Loeb identify “misplaced confidence” and complacency as the opposite of preoccupation with failure.   We spent time in Psalm 37 when we discussed preoccupation with failure, meditating on directions like “trust…delight…commit…be still…wait patiently…”.   Psalm 37 directs us to God; we are to trust and delight in Him and His will.  This is the opposite of “misplaced confidence.”  Verses 5 and 6 tell us “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this:  He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”  In order to be both preoccupied by failure and on guard against misplaced confidence or complacency, we commit our ways to the Lord and trust in Him.  If we know that preoccupation with failure means we are constantly on guard against the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh, then we should already be on guard against misplaced confidence—the foolish choice to listen to Satan and rely on our own wisdom, as Adam and Eve did.

But we still live in our sinful flesh, we still are prone to rely on our own skill and insight.  It is a frustrating condition to live in, knowing that we will constantly fail to do what God wants, knowing that we will “daily sin much and indeed deserve nothing but punishment.”  Paul discusses the influence of what is sometimes called “the old Adam” in Romans 5 and 6.  In Romans 5: 16b-, he describes the impact of the sin of Adam and Eve, and the righteousness given in Christ “…judgement followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification…death reigned through that one man (Adam)…[but we] receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness…through the one man, Jesus Christ.”  In Romans 6: 1 – 5, we are reminded that we have been united with Christ and given His righteousness in our baptisms; we have new life in Him and will be resurrected into eternal life. In verse 11, Paul tells us to “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  We are dead to sin, we have the righteousness of Christ, but we are still prone to sin while stuck here on earth.  It is knowing this fact that helps us resist “misplaced confidence”—we know our true nature on earth.  It is knowing our salvation rests with Christ that keeps us hopeful, able to persevere and to forgive ourselves and others.  

1)      How have you seen “misplaced confidence” impact the behaviors or decisions of others?  How has “misplaced confidence” impacted your actions or choices?  What was the outcome—was it reflective of high reliability principles?

2)      How could “misplaced confidence” lead someone to personally make a mistake out of the best-placed intentions (that is, not out of selfish motivations)?  How might an understanding of our innately sinful nature help guard against these errors, as well as errors that derive from more obviously sinful motivations (pride, selfishness, etc)?

3)      Could a fear of “misplaced confidence” and an understanding of our sinful nature potentially paralyze someone, prevent them from being decisive or ever taking actions with risk?  How does the assurance of forgiveness, righteousness and salvation we have in Christ counterbalance this potential timidity?  

4)      How does the forgiveness you have in Christ influence how you behave toward yourself and toward others when mistakes are made?