Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 1
The speaker opens by publicly confessing his post-basketball bragging to Justin Wadle and says it stayed on his conscience for years—what does that kind of confession assume about God’s seriousness regarding “small” pride, and how does it challenge the way Christians often treat boasting as harmless?
Another way to ask: What does the speaker’s public confession of “small” bragging say about how seriously God takes pride? How does that challenge the idea that boasting is harmless?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s confession, “small” boasting isn’t small to God because it reveals a proud, self-centered spirit that is “anti-God.” His long-held conscience shows that bragging is not harmless talk but something needing repentance and making things right.
- He admits he approached a losing player and bragged: “Look how well I played… I have imitated Tim Duncan.”
- He contrasts what he should have said (“we played a good game…we all had a lot of fun”) with what he did—showing he sees boasting as morally wrong, not just awkward.
- He says it stayed on his conscience “for eight years” and publicly apologizes, implying God takes this seriously.
- He defines pride as “haughty, self-centered… cherishing a high opinion of our value,” matching his basketball moment.
- He quotes C.S. Lewis: pride is “the complete anti-God state of mind,” and says “Pride is anti-God.”
- He later says actions governed by pride are “incapable of being offered to God,” implying even everyday boasting matters.