The trouble of thinking we know better than God …

Four people — a pilot, a professor, a pastor, and a hiker — were flying in a small plane when the engines died. The pilot said, “There are only three parachutes. Since this is my plane, I’m taking one of them.” He put it on and jumped out. The professor said, “I’m brilliant and the world needs me, so I’m taking a parachute,” and he jumped out. Then the pastor told the hiker, “I don’t want to be selfish, so you take the last parachute.” The hiker replied, “There are still two parachutes left, so we can each have one. The professor jumped out with my backpack instead of the parachute!” Though the professor thought he would land safely, his assurance was based on faulty, arrogant thinking.

The professor was so focused on his self-importance that he failed to notice he was clutching a backpack instead of a parachute. His misplaced confidence led him to ignore the actual reality of his situation. This story illustrates a specific kind of pride that is often found within the church. It appears when someone who professes to follow Christ encounters a direct command in scripture but chooses to push back against it. They decide that their own way of handling a situation is better than what God has written, believing that literal obedience would only cause more problems.

This “God complex” is clearly seen in how some believers handle personal offenses. While many life issues are not directly addressed with specific instructions in the Bible, the procedure for dealing with a Christian who sins against you is explicitly stated. Matthew 18:15-17 records the clear, direct teaching of Jesus:

“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.”

Despite the clarity of these verses, many Christians choose to ignore them. Ken Sande, founder of Peacemaker Ministries, has documented real-world cases where this failure leads to disaster. In one instance, a church member was offended by a deacon’s business practices. Instead of going to the deacon privately as Jesus commanded, the man began sharing his “concerns” with other members of the congregation under the guise of seeking prayer. This created a rift that eventually split the church, as members took sides based on half-truths. By the time the deacon found out about the grievance, the damage was irreversible. The man’s decision to follow his own strategy for exposing the issue rather than Christ’s method for reconciliation destroyed the peace he claimed to be protecting.

Another example involves a woman who was hurt by a comment made by her small group leader. She refused to go to the leader privately because she was certain it would lead to a messy argument that would ruin the group. Instead, she chose to distance herself, stopped attending the group, and told several other members why she was leaving. Because she chose her own plan for avoiding conflict over the direct command of Jesus, the leader was never given the chance to apologize or repent, and the small group eventually disbanded due to the underlying tension. Her desire to avoid a difficult conversation was a choice to be “smarter” than the scripture, and it resulted in a festering wound that never healed.

When we decide that we know a better way than the one Christ personally laid out, we are elevating our own wisdom above His. This attitude suggests that the biblical instructions for reconciliation are either outdated or too simplistic for our lives. However, avoiding the first step of going privately to the offender only fosters the likelihood that bitterness will take root. By rejecting the method Jesus provided, we prioritize our own comfort over the spiritual restoration of a brother or sister.

Following the instructions in Matthew 18 requires the humility to accept that God’s way is the best way. It means admitting that our own ideas about keeping the peace through avoidance can actually be harmful. If we claim to follow Jesus, we must be willing to obey His specific directions, even when they require us to face a difficult conversation directly.

True biblical restoration cannot happen as long as we are trying to be smarter than the scripture. To ignore the clear teaching of Jesus in favor of our own strategy is to jump into a crisis with a backpack while calling it a parachute. Only by submitting to the teaching of Christ can we hope to see sin resolved and relationships truly healed.

Scotty