Pride

I’ve been thinking about pride the last few days which is usually the Holy Spirit prodding me to get something out, so bear with me.

“And he called the people to him again and said to them, ‘Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.’ And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, ‘Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’” - Mark 7:14-15, 17-23 ESV

When our Lord calls out pride specifically as something that “defiles” a person, that’s a pretty clear sign of a problem. On top of that, I’ve been in a couple of study groups that have highlighted that pride is worshipping yourself instead of God. It certainly gets in the way of devoting your mind, heart and spirit to worship God if you're patting yourself on the back.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” - Matthew 22:36-40

But I’m going to argue that, like playing the lotto, the act itself isn’t wrong, but where your heart is when you do it.  A couple of examples might illuminate this.

When I was managing people at work, I had a few axioms I tried hard to live by. One was that, when possible, I wanted the person who worked on the modeling to be there and present the results. Obviously, if they were present and a question came up, it was more likely to be answered at the meeting. If the person who did the modeling couldn't be there (meetings with the CEO and/or the board always seemed to be that way), I always tried to credit them for the work. Often, if the work was good and appreciated, my boss, me, or occasionally the CEO, would comment on it, boosting their ego and the pride they felt in their work.

My second example is when I was interviewing for a position inside the company I’d been working at for over a decade. The CEO asked me what I considered the most important accomplishment in my tenure there. I had several modeling and implementation situations I could have chosen from. However, I decided to answer with updating and implementing the new actuarial student program (if you’ve ever had to get HR to change an employee program, you’ll understand how daunting a task this was) that resulted in two employees with their FSA (professional credentials that allow them to sign stuff) designations being developed internally (instead of the expense of hiring someone externally). My point is that I answered by saying I'm most proud of fostering my employees' advancement.

 When I consider both examples of pride, I don’t see sin; I see exhortation.

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” - Romans 12:3-8 ESV

I praise God for giving me the opportunity to develop employees during my career. Any success I had, I did for God's glory (even when I didn’t realize it at the time). To me, that's good pride.

To be open and plain, I’ve also experienced lots of episodes where my pride got in the way of worshipping God. Those were sinful and I’m embarrassed by them. The faith walk continues for me.