Morning Roundup 04/10/13: Crushing Narcissism; Acceptable Pride; Pride & Prejudice; New Testament Evangelist
I thought this was a powerful statement from Pete Wilson, one that convicted me as well.
Crushing Narcissism -- Pete Wilson
Criticism is nothing new in my life. I've been in ministry since I was 18 years old and it's kind of always been around.
Over the years people have publicly applauded how I've handled it, but to be honest it's all been a fraud. While externally I learned to finesse my way around it, internally I would obsess about my critics.
Why? Because I can be narcissistic at times. I can be obsessed with myself.
Why do I focus on the one negative comment?
Why do I work so hard to formulate a response proving I'm right?
Why do I go to great lengths to gain the critics approval?
Because I'm soft-hearted? Because I care about others so much?
Probably not.
It's more likely because I'm Narcissistic.
Craig Groeschel talk about pride and drawing attention to ourselves. Honestly, I struggle with when to share, "Take a look at my article here" since people who follow you on Twitter generally want to read your writings. It's not an easy balance, but this helped me think more on it.
Acceptable Pride? -- Craig Groeschel
We know God opposes the proud. But some forms of social media seem to have redefined what pride is and what it's not.
For example: Imagine if I stood before our church and told everyone, "Joe Smith said, 'Craig you are the best preacher ever! Your sermons changed my life.' And Jill Denny said, 'I loved your book. Everyone should read it. You are the best author I've ever read!' Not only that, but Mike Mitchell said, 'Craig, Life Church is the best church in the world! No church is as good as Life Church.'"
Chances are good most people would look at me funny and think I'm a little full of myself for saying such things.
But if I simply retweeted those exact same statements, my retweets would seem totally acceptable to most. Honestly, I'm wondering if that is acceptable to God, or if it's just pride in disguise.
I believe we need to walk a very careful line in ministry (I am certain I have crossed this line at times). Sure we want to celebrate what God is doing in our churches. Of course we want to get the word out about a new series or a book we've written. Unquestionably we want to share more reasons to give praise to our God.
But at the same time, we need to be careful that we're not drawing attention to ourselves.
Joey Bonifacio of Victory Manilla shares a powerful word about prejudice.
Pride & Prejudice Remains a Classic...Among Sins -- Joey Bonifacio
Prejudice is about drawing back and separating oneself from people who may not belong to our group or clique. This tendency is generally rooted in fear and insecurity. It eventually morphs into pride that says, "These people don't belong to our group."
Whether it's racial prejudice, social cliques, the message is "You don't deserve us." But the worst case is religious prejudice that declares, "You are too dirty, too far gone and we're too holy and pure for you."
We alienate if not isolate sinners because of our religious prejudices. This is a vicious sin that prevents people from receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What empowers prejudice is hypocrisy. The claim of having a higher standard of being, belief or behavior. Basically a pretense and a deceptive view of one's race, relations, religion, or recognition. The danger with hypocrisy is it leads others astray and causes division rather than promoting love and unity.
In today's clip from The Exchange, Rice Broocks discusses the traits of a New Testament evangelist. Don't forget to join me every Tuesday at 3:00 PM Eastern for The Exchange.
The Exchange with Rice Broocks
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