“Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you’re making.” ~ C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
This isn’t completely true.
There are all sorts ways it is true involving human vices and human frailties. Vanity, neediness, etc are all at work. But people who do not care what other people think of them are not necessarily virtuous. They can be anti-social fools.
Caring about how one “comes across” to other human beings is, if considered rightly, a foundation stone of civilized behavior. It can even mean love.
With this in mind, let’s think of the accusation made against the Biblical God (inaccurately) and some Calvinistic preachers portrayal of God (sometimes too accurately) that he only cares about His own glory.
“God only cares about making us praise him.”
OK, but what about the other accusation we can construct from the Bible? All the nations are but a drop in the bucket right? People are but dust next to God.
And yet this Almighty, Eternal Being cares what we think? If we allow the possibility that God thinks he has earned our praise, then the fact that he wants it might be seen as a sign of humility rather than pride.
God says, in the meantime, that he is willing to praise us, no matter how “insignificant” we imagine we should be to him (Romans 2.29).
God wants man’s approval and still man is proud.
Or, as Aurelius Augustine put it, God has humbled himself and still man is proud.
