Pride

“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Prov 6:16-19).

Introduction

This is the Biblical list of the seven deadly sins. In this, it differs from the seven deadly sins as commonly used, which are anger, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. Of the two sets, pride (“a proud look”) is the only common factor. In the gospels we find a longer list: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23). But again, here pride is prominent among the evil things that defile a man. This was reflected in the old belief that pride was the ultimate sin, which was true for many centuries after the death of Christ. But what of today?

• Pride is considered one of the most important elements to instill into our youth by the educational system.
• The society around us considers one’s school, sports team, achievements in work or school, or the achievements of your children all to be something we can be proud of, and discuss freely with our friends and neighbors.
• Pride in your country seems to be part of the culture in most countries, and the teaching of patriotism is again part of our school system.
• There seems no concept that to be proud is any sort of sin, or is anything to be discouraged.

In this, society today seems to be going back to the mindset of the Greeks, who in the centuries before Christ regarded pride as a cardinal virtue, not a sin. This is directly opposed to the consistent treatment of pride in the Bible. Even the dic­tionary confirms this: of the eleven relevant definitions in on-line Webster’s, most can be considered virtues, with the primary being “A feeling of self-respect and personal worth.” It is indeed this idea of self-respect that is so strongly promoted in our society: it is being inculcated in our youth, and this attitude is taking a hold throughout society.

Pride in the Old Testament

Although not described as such, pride was at the root of the sin of Adam and Eve, for they desired to be as gods (Gen 3:5). And this pattern continued, with the tower of Babel erected by those who desired to make a name for themselves (Gen 11:4). Many different Hebrew words are used for pride and its cognate proud, but all are almost universally condemned. Even David was accused of pride by his brother (1Sam 17:28), and Proverbs is replete with such warnings. One interesting example is Nebuchadnezzar:

“The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwell­ing shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Dan 4:30-32).

Despite being forewarned by Daniel, the King boasted of his achievements — and was mad for seven years. As so was penned one of the most amazing paeans of praise to the one True God, as written by Nebuchadnezzar in that chapter.

In the New Testament

We have already seen that in the list of the human sins given by Jesus, pride has a prominent place (Mark 7:21-22). In addition, in a statement reminiscent of the fate of Nebuchadnezzar, Mary said before the birth of her son:

“He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree” (Luke 1:51-52).

The concept that self-conceit, being proud, is alien to the pursuit of the ways of Jesus is made clear by the apostle John:

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1John 2:16).

The universal counsel of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is that self-righteousness, self-pride, is the major stumbling block on the path to salvation. The Jews essentially were convinced that the path to the kingdom was paved by their works: that adherence to the letter of the law, and boasting of it, was all that was required. But Jesus proclaimed “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matt 23:12).

In the “Commandments of Christ” clause 40 echoes this thought: “ ‘Be clothed with humility: be patient toward all’ (Col 3:12; Rom 12:12).”

Conclusion

But why is this? Why are we so strongly advised against being excited by what we have done, and quite naturally want to share this with others? Why is a “feeling of personal worth” so bad? It seems to be simply this: if we regard any great personal achievement as ours alone, we have neglected to include God in the equation. We sing “all good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above” (Hymn 426), and are happy to apply it to the abundance of nature. However, this is true of our “natural” talents as well as material gifts. Most are all too well aware that, despite the egalitarian trend in our educational system, individuals are highly unequal in their innate abilities, both physical and intellectual. The fact that we, as an individual, excel is primarily because of the gifts God has given to us. So self-pride ignores the primary source of whatever talents and gifts we have.

Pride is indeed a very serious failing. Nothing lends itself more readily to disguise, and the deceitful heart seems to have excelled itself in devising coverings and new dresses for human pride. We will not here discuss whether the word can ever be applied to a quality that is legitimate and desirable. However, one must agree that all too often it serves as the proper description of a quality which is utterly evil. It causes wars and violence, it prevents men from taking the course which they know is right, and it often leads to great cruelty. If sometimes it may chance to have an opposite effect, making men accept duties which they would otherwise shirk, the little good it does is a poor set-off against the evil that it commonly causes. It is easy to recognize how abhorrent human pride must be in the sight of God. Who can strip pride of its deceptive covering? It can be disguised as duty, as piety, as humility, as zeal, or as indifference. It can take the form of overwhelming confidence in self, of foolish vanity, or of self-righteous complacency. It is found everywhere, and among sorts of people. Even the “inferiority complex” has its root in pride. We can think of those, indeed, who take pride in their humility!

So the final message: we should not truly take pride in our own accomplishments, or those of any other person (or team!). Rather, we should acknowledge that “all good gifts come from above.”

Postscript

On a final note: well after the above was written, I chanced upon a letter written complaining about a sign on a Christadelphian hall. To quote:

“… my sister and myself both gasped at the same moment, when we read the sign in front of what I believe is the Christadelphian Church. It read “I Hate Pride” along with a book of the Bible where I assume it was taken from. As you are probably aware “Gay Pride” was well underway in ….. I cannot believe a person or persons would have displayed such a horrible, hatred-inspired message.”

Thus is the elasticity and plasticity of the English language. The word “pride” has taken on meaning quite alien to those who translate the Bible. Clearly the Bible teaches against homosexuality — but I rather suspect that whoever put up the sign had no such intention.