C.S. Lewis famously warned us of the dangers of chronological snobbery, and he is right on. My own snobbery begins in my mind with this sentence, “I used to…” I try to stop it from coming out of my mouth, but don’t always succeed. Of course I want it stopped in my heart, and don’t want to be satisfied with merely not saying the wrong thing (contrary to our cultural dogma, social skills do not cause sinlessness).
There is of course a sense in which a believer being sanctified by the Holy Spirit will be changing and so “I used to…” will not be an uncommon thought. But we must guard against the encroachment of self-righteousness. We must believe the actual Gospel, not Christ-languaged Moralism.
We all strain against the fact that we have nothing to offer God but empty hands and a cry for help. The surrender is the victory.
This is a pitfall for which artists seem to have a particular proclivity.
Snobbery should be something we despise, not an avenue by which we despise others.