Properly Defining Arrogance

It is utterly erroneous, on the Christian worldview, to think that one has more metaphysical value because of gender, race, nationality, social class, physical beauty, or material prosperity.  Anyone who thinks he or she is superior to another person on these grounds is wholly mistaken, and is guilty of a heinous arrogance.  Arrogance is thinking more highly of oneself than one should, or thinking oneself valuable for incorrect reasons.

This means that it is not arrogant, therefore, to think oneself superior to others for the right reasons, since it can only be arrogant to overestimate one's value or attribute it to false bases.  Is there something that can legitimately make one person superior to another?  Yes.  This truth is controversial, but all aspects of reality are controversial with some people.  The veracity of something does not hinge on it being accepted or welcomed.

It is objectively true that if values exist--if there is a standard of right and wrong--then the people who strive to be morally righteous are superior to those who do not, since people who choose not to pursue righteousness choose to live for lesser things, becoming lesser in the process.  No person's actions can remove God's image from himself or herself (Genesis 1:26-27).  This does not change the fact, though, that people are not morally equal [1].

In short, arrogance is falsely misjudging yourself to be more valuable than you actually are, not recognizing that you are morally superior to others if that is indeed the case.  Some Christians would be very uncomfortable with this--but their insecurity or irrationality cannot alter the nature of reality.  It follows necessarily from people choosing morally differing actions that they cannot be morally equal, and moral inferiors legitimately cannot have the same value as moral superiors.  Perhaps some may object that perceiving others to be morally inferior prevent us from rightly loving them as Scripture commands, but this is an asinine, bullshit belief that is logically unsound.

Of course it is possible for a person to both see that someone is a moral inferior while also realizing that the moral inferior is still a person who cannot deserve to be mistreated.  Caring for the ultimate wellbeing of someone and having strong personal affections for someone do not exclude recognizing their moral inferiority.  False definitions (of love, for instance), arbitrary claims, and eisegesis of the Bible are all factors that might lead to confusion about this fact.

Identifying moral inferiority in another person, and even acknowledging it aloud, is certainly not arrogant.  It is honest.

[1].  https://thechristianrationalist/blogspot.com/2018/03/people-are-not-morally-equal.html