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3 Temptations of Leadership: Pride

Watch out for the many faces of this destructive sin

In an op-ed column in the New York Times, Frank Bruni had these admiring words to say about Pope Francis on the heels of the pontiff's interview with Fr. Anthony Spadaro, S.J.: "It was the sweetness in his timbre, the meekness of his posture. It was the revelation that a man can wear the loftiest of miters without having his head swell to fit it, and can hold an office to which the term "infallible" is often attached without forgetting his failings…Instead of commanding people to follow him, he invited them to join him. And did so gently, in what felt like a whisper. What a surprising portrait of modesty in a church that had lost touch with it. And what a refreshing example of humility in a world with too little of it."

Bruni speaks well of Pope Francis even though he opposes the Holy Father and Roman Catholic Church on several key issues. It's the pope's kindness and humility that have drawn Bruni, and so many others, to him. Those who were previously unwilling to listen to what the Roman Catholic Church had to say find themselves waiting in anticipation for whatever proceeds out of Pope Francis's mouth. It would behoove more protestant leaders to take the pope's humble posture instead of vainglorious and prideful ones.

"Vainglory" is an old word, old-fashioned—seldom used these days. Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung notes that vainglory is "the excessive and disordered desire of recognition and approval from others." According to Father Luke Dysinger, the sins of vainglory and pride tend to overlap.

The Holman Bible Dictionary provides these synonyms for pride: "arrogance, presumption, conceit, self-satisfaction, boasting, and high-mindedness." Pride eschews humility. It's the opposite of humility.

How do these sins manifest themselves within Christian leaders? Here are a few ways:

We think there are very few people around us who can teach us anything new. Oh of course, we'd never dream of saying that. We wouldn't say, "Who are you, to teach me about the ways of God and of the church?" We wouldn't say, "Who are you to teach me about politics?" But we can often find these sentiments dwelling within us.

Perhaps we assume that because we have more theological education than most, or are more experienced than most, that we are indeed wiser. If we are honest with ourselves, we might discover that within us lies an air of superiority.

On the flip side there's a different kind of pride.

We're glad that we haven't been corrupted by a "cemetery" education. I mean, a seminary education. We presume that seminary educated leaders, or those leaders who are better educated than we are, are book smart but not street smart. We presume that we are full of the Spirit and that they are not. After all, they're the frozen chosen.

Forget education. What about the size of our ministries?

We've got million-dollar buildings, satellite campuses, and thousands flocking to our churches. Publishers are tripping over themselves to offer us book deals. Consequently, people listen to what we have to say. They treat us as if everything that comes out of our mouths is gospel truth. And to tell the truth, we like it. We've grown used to people making much of us. We feed on praise and adulation (vainglory). We've started to look down on others with smaller churches and ministries—considering them inferior.

Something sinister has happened to us: ministry has become a form of self-aggrandizement. We've begun peddling Jesus for ourselves—for the fame and recognition he brings to us. That's vainglory.

And then there's theological and political hubris.

Some of us consider anyone a hair's breadth to the left of us liberal and thus apostate. "Pssst," we whisper. "You see that church down the street? We're not like them. We believe the Bible is the Word of God!" We blame more liberal believers for the demise of our world, country, and churches. We find it near impossible to entertain the notion that they could be right about any of their theological or political views. For fear that their ideas will rub off on us or on those associated with us, we refuse to fellowship with the likes of them.

Then there are those of us who roll our eyes at the fundamentalists, conservative evangelicals, and Roman Catholics. We deem them "small-minded, anti-intellectual, unthinking legalists" and can barely stand to admit that they're our brothers and sisters. We'll do whatever is in our power to make sure others know we aren't associated with them. They embarrass us.

A Christian leader full of vainglory, pride, and prejudice may prove to be more destructive than a believer who does not hold an official leadership position. That's because the amount of influence a Christian leader has allows him or her to further scatter abroad, or broadcast, death and destruction in the world. No wonder the Apostle James admonished, "Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly" (James 3:1).

What can be done to cure us of vainglory and of the pride that comes with prejudice? Father Luke Dysinger offers this advice: "Thus virtues and concepts particularly important for the cure of these vices include: community (koinonia), where gifts can be experienced as the expression and result of our interactions with one another; and humility…understood especially as truthful, honest acknowledgement of our indebtedness to one another and above all to the grace (charis) of God."

Confessing these sins to mature others in our community and rubbing shoulders with one another in community will remind us that we are all indebted to one another and to God. We must be ruthless in putting to death any pride or vainglory within. Mortifying the sinful flesh within us will allow us to flourish and those around us to flourish. Like Pope Francis, we'll win the respect of those outside the faith and our purview—and insiders, too!

Marlena Graves is a regular contributor to Gifted for Leadership and Her.meneutics. Her writing has appeared in Christianity Today, Relevant, the Clergy Journal, and other venues. Her book, A Beautiful Disaster: Finding Hope in the Midst of Brokenness is forthcoming from Brazos Press.

January13, 2014 at 8:00 AM

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