D.A. Carson’s comment from christianityonline.com (“Is Tithing Biblical?”) struck me—if we give God extra and are inebriated with our generosity, we have pride.
What a thought, to do God’s work and be prideful about something that, in and of itself, is not prideful. This is religious pride. Carson’s statement described me. This followed my hearing Biblical Concepts Counseling’s John Regier speak of hidden versus overt pride.
I had believed pride was wrong—but this subtle pride was something I was just now seeing… but I needed to grasp what I was touching on the edges. Grabbing a legal pad, I began writing to get my thoughts on paper (my professor, Dr. Elmer Towns said we do not own a thought until we write it down). I recalled a similar experience a famous pastor had.
Dr. Harry Ironside was once convicted about his lack of humility. A friend recommended as a remedy, that he march through the streets of Chicago wearing a sandwich board, shouting the scripture verses on the board for all to hear. Dr. Ironside agreed to this venture and when he returned to his study and removed the board, he said "I'll bet there's not another man in town who would do that." (Donald Campbell, Daniel, Decoder of Dreams, p. 22.)
Seeing the problem, I spoke to a retired pastor about this matter and he gave me the illustration of a person who got a ribbon for humility--and wore it. Pride to make yourself look good to others is one thing, but religious pride can take a different form. I realize now it is possible to be prideful about any virtue, including love (1 Cor. 13:3 even says we can sacrifice without love). A person can have mercy, kindness, gentleness and patience, and be proud about possessing them. What a thought.
Two aspects of the solution I found were 1- facing the issue, with honesty (vital) and being grateful for what God has done, and 2- doing for God out of that gratitude, rather than being pleased with what we do for God.
-Michael Haines, Men’s Ministry
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