Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 3 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
Romans Commentary Chapters 9-16  /  Romans 12:3-8 a Variety of Gifts in One Body  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 3
The lesson explains “think soberly” (sophonio) as a “healthy state of mind,” implying arrogance is a kind of mental sickness; what parts of Christian culture (platform-building, celebrity leaders, spiritual one-upmanship) start to look like symptoms of illness under that definition?
Another way to ask: If “thinking soberly” means having a healthy mind, and pride is like a sickness, what parts of Christian culture look unhealthy (like celebrity leaders or trying to out-spiritual others)?

Direct Answer Using Bercot’s definition, anything in Christian culture that promotes self-exaltation or gift-based pride begins to look like “sickness of the mind,” because it violates Paul’s call to sober, moderate thinking. The clearest symptom is treating God-given gifts as personal achievements rather than stewardship for the body.

Support from Transcript:

  • “But to think soberly” (sophonio) is explained as “a healthy state of mind.”
  • Bercot explicitly draws the implication: “arrogance is sickness of the mind.”
  • The early Latin rendering is “with moderation,” suggesting restraint rather than self-promotion.
  • “We should not become arrogant because of God’s gifts…They did not originate with us.”
  • “God gives us gifts so that we can bless others, not so we can exalt ourselves.”
  • Each member should focus on his or her gifts “yet not in a way that fails to appreciate and support the gifts and ministries of others.”
Discussion Follow-ups What signals in a church (how leaders are praised, how testimonies are framed) reveal whether gifts are being used to bless others or to “exalt ourselves”?

Jumpstarter 3 of 10
Back Questions Next