PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL

In the mid to late 80s, many considered Mike Tyson to be the baddest boxer on the planet.  He burst on the scene as a teenager and caught the eye of sports fans around the world by knocking out most of his opponents in the first few rounds.  In 1986, Tyson became a household name when he became the youngest heavy weight champion in the history of boxing at the age of 20. 

By 1989, Tyson reigned supreme in the boxing world.  At that time, he held an impressive, professional record of 37-0.  After 10 title defenses, many felt as if Tyson was unbeatable. 

World famous boxing analyst Larry Merchant once said of Tyson, “Nobody believes that anybody can beat Tyson,” and at the time it was true.  Most everyone believed him to be unbeatable, especially Tyson.  Shortly after becoming champion, he said in an interview, “No one will ever take my title away from me,” and for several years he was right. 

That all changed, however, on February 10, 1990.  On that day, a man by the name of James “Buster” Douglas stepped into the ring with Tyson and shocked the world.  In this fight, he was a 42-1 underdog, though his own trainer said it was more like 1,000,0000-1.  At that time, no one thought Douglas had a chance to win except for Douglas.  But on that day, everyone with the exception of Douglas was wrong.  He fought the perfect fight and defeated the champion knocking Him out in the 10^th round. 

Many still consider that fight to be the biggest upset in boxing history.  There are some who also believe it to be one of the top 25 biggest upsets in the history of sports.  Now, that fight has been reviewed thousands of times since, and there have been many reasons given for Tysons defeat, but the most common explanation people come back to time and time again is that on that night, Tyson made a common mistake often made by champions:  He underestimated His opponent.  He came in overconfident and thought he had in the bag and that overconfidence led to his defeat. 

This incredible upset reminds us of the timeless truth we see time and time again in sports and in life:  “Pride goes before a fall.”  Now many in our world today are familiar with that saying and have even used it on occasion, but few realize that this comes straight from the Word of God.  Solomon says in Proverbs 16:18,

¹⁸   Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

In the passage we looked at yesterday from 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Paul warns the Christians at Corinth about the dangers of overconfidence, and his main point in this passage is found in v. 12.  Paul says,

“¹² Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Many of the Corinthians had gotten to the place in their spiritual life where they were so confident in their spiritual strength and maturity, that they were pushing their liberties to its limits.  Seeing the dangers of this mentality, Paul warns them of the risks of “living on the edge” spiritually. 

To listen to this sermon click HERE and scroll down to “PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL.”