Who's Values 2

In order to not belabor the point I'm going to pretty much skip over the second item I mentioned in the first post--alcohol consumption. All I will say about that area is that I think there may be a connection between the years of prohibition laws and the evangelical church seeing alcohol consumption as a sin for many years (even if this wasn't stated people lived as though it were true). This seems to be changing but that may only be because we are far enough away from that time.

Now I want to turn my attention to a couple values the evangelical church has adopted from our nation that are not biblical. In this post I want to deal with pride (I'll deal with wealth in the next one because it will take its own post!). Below is a sample of what the Bible has to say about pride.

Pride leads us away from God. 2 Kings 19:21-23; 2 Chron. 26:16; Jer. 13:17
It is associated with the wicked. Job 20:5-7; Psalm 10:4; 31:18;
It is evil. Prov. 8:13
In whatever sense pride is positive it is pride in a proper relationship to God and the opposite of the things the world takes pride in. Gal. 6:4; Jas. 1:9-10

Despite a strong biblical stand against arrogant pride, it is an area of sin that is seldom addressed in the church and at best is given some lip service. Most people are socially conscious enough not to be vocal about their pride, but it abounds in actions and false humility. Many of us take pride in our status, job, income, abilities, achievements, and other things we believe come from ourselves.

I believe the reason pride is given relatively free reign in our churches is that our nation has taught us that pride is positive. This starts with national pride. We see ourselves as the greatest nation in the world. It is true that we have more freedom, security, wealth, and power than most if not all the nations of the world, but instead of seeing ourselves in a place of responsibility to serve the world we tend to view ourselves atop the pile of humanity. Though we would never say it, we view the people of the world as beneath us. We take pride in our high position.

This American value of pride extends to both self-esteem and the pursuit of the "American dream." We have been taught that pride in ourselves is essential to functioning properly as human beings. It is what gives us a positive self image. It is often pride that drives us to pursue the things that will bring us status in the eyes of others. As Americans we virtually worship the rich and famous and in so doing reinforce the idea that pride is positive.

Pride is an American value the Church has adopted as its own. A trend that is far-reaching...