Am I Proud?

"I'm proud of you!"

"I'm so proud to be a part of this great organization."

"Pride goeth before a fall..."

Depending on the context, pride, it seems, can be a good thing or a bad thing. So if it can be good sometimes, why is pride considered the chief of the deadly sins, the sin from which all other sins spring?

Pride, as I shared in my sermon this morning, can be defined as an excessive confidence in our own ability—to the point where we don't need anyone else, especially God! So think about the other deadly sins: greed, lust, sloth, gluttony, wrath, and envy. Those can all come about because we believe so much in ourselves that we isolate, reject any help, run away from God. That's pride, in its barest essence. Pride does "go before destruction," as Proverbs (16:18) says, because pride sets us up to believe we invulnerable. We need no one. We can do it all by ourselves.

Just watch the news. How many politicians, entertainers, sports figures, news anchors, pastors and other leaders have recently "fallen" because they believed themselves to be above the law? How many stories do we hear per week that a CEO took advantage of tax laws and loopholes in the law in order to get rich while the employees of the company live on very little? Pride can lead us to high places, just before we fall over the edge.

But the question is not, "Are other people proud?" It's far too easy to point fingers at those who are, in our estimation, "way too proud." And we (at least secretly) rejoice when they fall. The question for today, though, is personal: "Am I proud?" I know that I am. I know that I have those moments when I think I don't need anyone else, when I think it would be easier to just "do it myself." But there are two things that have tempered that in my character. One is my family, who need me to be there for them just as I need them. I am not complete without them. The other is the church, the community of Christ, for they remind me that I am loved even when I mess up. And there are times when I have messed up, when my pride has overtaken me, as there have been times like that in your life as well. None of us are beyond the reach of pride. But the church, at its best, loves me back to seeing reality. I need them, they need me, and we all need Jesus.

Am I proud? Yes, but I'm working on it, and you are helping me.