Pride is a funny thing. Even those of us who pride, did I just say that?, ourselves on being fairly mature in our Christian journey can fall prey at any moment to this insidious vice. I have seen it in my own life and I have seen it work its way into the life of the church on many occasions. It usually presents itself in moments when people are talking about a certain plan, and one exerts his/her opinion over the other. Sometimes this can be done in healthy ways, especially when one person is better qualified and has reasoned out their thoughts in a more structured way.
We had some meetings here this weekend that were really important. One had to do with a big event we are planning and one had to do with the Celebrate Recovery programs that the two churches in significant partnership are starting...Penn Ave and OKC First. We had some of the regular Penn Ave folks who are always here plugging away at things and we had some folks from OKC First there as well. All in all, it went pretty well. We had some good discussion about different ideas and eventually came to a place where we had to make a decision, determining that one idea better fit our DNA than another. During the course of the conversation, I found myself wanting to be right, wanting to promote my thoughts over the others, wanting to in some ways just be a jerk. Because I was right. Wasn't I? I mean, my ideas were in line with Scripture and the concept of Jubilee and I didn't want to be something we weren't. I went home that day thankful for the collaboration that occurred (maybe this is more important than whatever the outcome is) but I found that I was aware of my "voice" at the table. I pride :) myself on being quiet and a good listener and a good decision maker. I pride myself on being sensitive to the thoughts and concerns of others. I also pride myself on being right. At the end of the day, I do feel like I handled things OK. I was passionate about it. I wanted to do it a certain way because I felt like the way we chose would best represent the King we serve. Can I be prideful and confident in serving him? Would love to hear your thoughts on this tough dilemma.
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Prideful - having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy (not so Godlly); joyful and proud because of truimph or success, (sounds Godly to me).
Confident - full of conviction, (sounds Godly to me too); having or showing assurance and self-reliance (self-reliance to a point I suppose).
Only you and God can be the judge of how you were actually feeling in and after that meeting. I love your blogging. Great questions.
Miss your wife terribly and you too.
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