: 13 Feeling proud?

 

 Gen 37:23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

 Pride takes many forms. However much we think we can avoid it, there is always something we feel pride in, whether it is an achievement of ours, or our children or a sports team, or music group we follow. I have seen "pride comes before a fall" quoted often. This saying is based on Proverbs 16:18, and like so may other quotations, slightly misquoted. The actual wording in the NIV is  "Pride goes before destruction,  a haughty spirit before a fall"

Yet can we truly live without some sense of pride? Even a monk in a monastry might have some pride at the work they complete, or their dedication to ritual. I would imagine Jesus as a young carpenter felt at least some pride in his workmanship.

The real issue to me is where pride takes over and we feel somewhat aloof to others around us. We feel we are the only person who can carry out our jobs in a certain way. That our children's success is down to solely how we raised them. Our football teams success is somehow a validation of our lives. 

I have worked in the care sector for over 20 years. I kind of fell into it when I lost a previous job. I have worked with prisoners, homeless, alcohol and drug addicts, people with learning disabilities, mental and physical disabilities. I have no reason to feel pride in my own situation. I see in other peoples struggles the basic humanity of us all, our frailties and sorrows. I have also shared in others joy and happiness. And yet event then I can be open to pride. I hear often how important it must be to work with people with their difficulties, or how it takes a special person to work in this sector. I have to draw back and remember it is often a privilege and sometimes a job. I am not doing this free of charge like so many people who care for family and friends. I am not always doing this work because I feel a special calling, in fact there is nothing really special about me at all. 

And yet I can take pride in my work, I can make sure I do a good job, that I study the illnesses people have, or the case management. That I prepare myself and those in the team I work with to do the best job they can. That I can look at my family and feel some pride that I have done a good job, despite the many things I got wrong.  This type of pride can never be wrong, rather pride which sets us apart and makes us somehow feel superior to others like Joseph in the Genesis account. The very fact Joseph chose to wear his best tunic to check on his brother is a possible indication he was proud to feel special, that whether it was intentional or not, he was showing his brothers he was special. It was not right that his brothers sold him into slavery, yet it was a consequence of Joseph's inability to understand his brothers feelings in the matter.

I accept there will be bible teachers who disagree on this and say that Joseph was well entitled to wear what he pleased. Perhaps it was his only coat? Besides all that it had to happen because God was unfolding his plan. This meant that Joseph had to be heated and was somehow the unwitting victim in this set up. Perhaps. But we later see that Joseph was imprisoned, not for any wrongdoing, but for trying to do right. Yet it could be argued Joseph again felt a little too much of his own importance in Potiphar's house and God humbled him. 

Whatever the truth one of the teachings I take from this is not to be consumed by my own importance. Not to feel I know it all or that somehow I deserve the best seat at a table, or the right to constantly complain about the service I receive or my lot in life. But to walk according to the belief I have that we are all made in God's image and to respect and show love to each other and be thankful for the position God has entrusted me with.