Guarding Against Pride Through Christian Community

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of meeting a 101 year old WW2 veteran. A friend of mine owns a 1942 Stearman Biplane and he had this gentleman out for a ride in the plane. After spending some time with him, helping him in and out of the plane and talking to him, I couldn’t help be feel a huge sense of gratitude to this man and his entire generation. What a wonderful experience. So, the whole experience brought me back to some things I had been reading and some things I have written when I came across an article I wrote about a couple of years ago. I was prompted as I spent some time at the Georgia National Cemetery visiting my dad and the other fallen heroes. The headstones were still decorated with American Flags...I was beautiful. Anyhow, one particular article was titled, “The ungrateful American”. The article was triggered by the outwardly vocal and seemingly ungrateful few soccer players on the US women’s team. While I’m not going to give anymore life to their attitudes, the article made some points about OUR, as Americans, declining integrity and growing pride. The kind of pride that can take down a person or a country as a whole. Most of us have heard at various times people say, “what this country needs is some more Jesus!” I 100% agree. But how do we get there?Well, when we become isolated from Christ and rely on our own pride and begin to take credit for our own successes, we are poised to fall. When we allow our foundation to weaken we are headed for failure. If you ignore erosion of your integrity, you will fall. If your competence and gifting outpace your integrity, you will fall. If the weight of your responsibilities and burdens is greater than your character, you will fall.But we can avoid all of this by surrounding ourselves with Christ and people of Christ. We must guard against this vulnerability. This is one of the many reasons the Bible tells us to stay connected to God’s people, to a local church. “Don’t neglect gathering together.” Are you guarding against that vulnerability, or are you at risk of falling? Are you living in a community that will encourage love and good works, or are you on the road to ruining your life?“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”Hebrews 10:24-25 Be Nice. Grace wins