America Doesn’t Need a Pride Month–We Need a Humility Month

June is Pride Month. What is Pride Month? I’ll let the Library of Congress define it:

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. In the United States the last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as “Gay Pride Day,” but the actual day was flexible. In major cities across the nation the “day” soon grew to encompass a month-long series of events. Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts, and LGBTQ Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. 

About LGBTQ Pride Month — Library of Congress

That the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision (which expanded the meaning of the Constitution to codify same-sex marriage into law) came down in June (June 26, 2015, to be exact) has only enhanced Pride Month’s prominence.

These days, pastors and everyday Christians are apt to either wave the Bible in angry denunciations of Pride Month or wave the Rainbow flag in compromise and celebration.

As I’ve mentioned time and again, I believe “love your neighbor” extends to everyone, and I strive to do that. Therefore, I don’t want to be that screaming preacher (you know the type) whose face turns purple, saliva flying out of his mouth, as he pounds the pulpit about “those people.” Apart from the grace of God, we are all sinners who fall short of God’s glory and who desperately need His grace. I want to be known as an ambassador for God’s love and grace. Not another toxic voice spreading anger, fear, or hate.

Love, however, doesn’t always mean agreement or approval. If it did, Jesus wouldn’t have had to die for our sins. So, while God loves everyone, that doesn’t mean He agrees with everyone.

But I don’t want to climb into the controversies surrounding LGBTQ+ issues and concerns with this article. Instead, I wish to focus on the word that underscores this month: Pride.

Not that I’m dodging the LGBTQ+ issues. If you want to know my understanding of the Bible’s teachings on gender and sexuality, read these articles…

• “What Does the Bible Say About Identity, Sex, Marriage, and Family?”
• “Sacred Sexuality: 10 Bible Passages That Teach Sexual Morality”
• The United Methodist Church Affirms LGBTQ+ Church Members. I Have Questions.

For now, let’s focus on that word that defines the theme of this month: Pride.

The Book of Proverbs is full of warnings against pride.

• “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” – Proverbs 8:13, KJV
• “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.” – Proverbs 11:2, KJV
• “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.” –Proverbs 16:5, KJV
• “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” – Proverbs 16:18, KJV
• “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.” – Proverbs 18:12, KJV
• “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” – Proverbs 29:23, KJV

Considering its theme of wisdom, we should take the Book of Proverbs seriously. But it’s not just Proverbs. The entire Bible stands against pride.

• “Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.” –Psalm 40:4, KJV
• “He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.” – Luke 1:51, KJV
• “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.” – 1 John 2:16, KJV
• “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” – James 4:6b, KJV

“Wait! Wait! When we say ‘pride,’ we don’t always mean what the Bible condemns!”

I can already hear people saying that. It’s true that the meaning of the word “pride” has evolved over time in the English language. Historically, “pride” generally had a negative connotation, associated with excessive self-esteem, arrogance, and an inflated sense of one’s own importance. This aligns with the traditional biblical view of pride as one of the seven deadly sins (see Proverbs 6:16-19).

Over time, however, the word has taken on positive connotations in public culture. Today, when many people speak of “pride,” they are referring to what they see as a healthy sense of self-respect, dignity, and self-worth.

This has even seeped into Christian circles. I remember watching a children’s video years ago when I was substituting for a Sunday school class. This was before I became a pastor. The theme of the video was taking pride in a job well done. It was the kind of video that most parents would applaud as wholesome and positive, and yet…

That word “pride” was like a rock in my shoe. Or a fly in my ball cap. Or a… you get the idea!

It got me thinking, though, about things I can sometimes take “pride” in. For example…Patriotism.

I love the United States of America. And don’t Americans, including Christians in America, sometimes take pride in their country? In some respects, hasn’t the Fourth of July been “American Pride Day” for pretty much all of our history?

On a more personal level, I’m proud of my wife. She’s awesome. I think of my kids. I now have three. 🙂 When I think of my son, daughter, and son-in-law, I’m proud of them. Is that wrong?

As with most subjects, there is nuance here. The Book of Proverbs acknowledges the reality of nuance in its opening verses:

To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

Proverbs 1:2-4, KJV

So, how does this nuance apply to our understanding of pride? I believe it comes down to this…

We are not called to withhold praise of others (when it is deserved), nor are we asked to suppress the healthy inner satisfaction that comes with a job well done. For example…

• “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.” —Proverbs 31:28-29, KJV
• “Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?” —Ecclesiastes 3:22, KJV
• “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” —Galatians 6:4, KJV

But… and there is a big “but” here…

• “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” —Romans 12:3, KJV
• “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” –John 15:5, KJV
• “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” –Psalm 127:1, KJV

We aren’t supposed to live apart from God. We aren’t supposed to work outside of His will. And we aren’t supposed to “boast” in ourselves as if we don’t need Him. We need Him for our next breath!

This applies even to those who aren’t necessarily in the household of God. Ask King Nebuchadnezzar — one of the only Gentile authors of Scripture. You can read the account of his humbling by God in Daniel 4. He writes of an episode that began with his pride (before he was fully devoted to God) and ended with him exalting God in a public proclamation to the entire empire. I love the last line:

“Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” (Daniel 4:37, KJV)

Think of how many celebrities, politicians, rich people, philosophers, scientists, and big name (and smaller name) people today could use the same lesson in humility.

And I believe that’s what our entire country needs.

We don’t need a Pride Month. We need a Humility Month.

There is nothing wrong with rejoicing in that which is good and being grateful for the blessings in our lives, but when we stray into self-satisfaction, conceit, and arrogance, and when we think all that we achieve is due to our efforts alone (and that we owe nothing to the Providence of God), we are in dangerous territory. When we start to define what is right and wrong for ourselves, when we think we can disagree with God, we are in Pride territory.

Don’t read this article as my asking you to cause trouble in your workplace or in your child’s school. You have to (as the old saying goes) “pick your battles.” Or, more to the point, we need to “fight the good fight” (as Paul says). That means we need to fight the fight(s) God calls us to fight.

A group of us from our church recently went to see the play Daniel at Sight & Sound in Lancaster. Daniel and his friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) didn’t fight every fight, but they did take a stand when they felt God wanted them to stand.

We can’t right every wrong in the society in which we live. But we can be (as Jesus said) “salt and light.” That means you can (in your job, in school, or at your kids’ school) live your life according to Godly virtues such as love, humility, and wisdom. And you can pray for the people around you and for your leaders — at all levels.

We would do well if our leaders stopped calling for pride and started calling for humility. We need proclamations like these…

• Congressional Call for a Day of Fasting, Prayer, and Humiliation (1776)
• President John Adams’s Proclamation of Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer (1798)
• President Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation for a Day of Humiliation, Prayer, and Fasting (1861)
• President Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation for a Day of Humiliation, Prayer, and Fasting (1863)

None of the above proclamations boasted in American greatness. None of them thumped their chest. None of them celebrated sin. They all called on the American people to confess their sins. They called on the people to humble themselves before God and seek His face and guidance. This was the norm with such proclamations in early American history.

Even President George Washington’s famous Thanksgiving Proclamation (1789) included a plea for “the great Lord and Ruler of Nations” to “pardon our national and other transgressions” and to grant only “such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.”

I’m not saying that every political leader in early American history lived up to the principles enshrined in these proclamations. Do we always live up to the principles we say we believe in?

But…

I think it’s fair to ask…

Where is the humility of these early American proclamations today?

We need humility today from our political leaders. More importantly, we need humility from our church leaders and everyday believers in Christ.

Without humility, our nation will continue to stumble toward calamity and despair. As King Solomon warned three thousand years ago, pride can only lead to destruction.

For more of my writing, check out…

• “5 Books That Will Help You in Your Faith”
• “God Sees You: 7 Scriptures to Remind You You’re Never Alone”