“The beginning of pride is the consummation of vainglory; the middle is the humiliation of our neighbor, the shameless parade of our labors, complacency in the heart, hatred of exposure; and the end is denial of God’s help, the extolling of own’s own exertions, fiendish character.” – Saint John Climacus
Pride Points To Me
I cannot think of a time in my life where I’ve seen pride more clearly and fiercely on display in our world. Our world is filled with men and women grasping for some semblance of celebrity and “influence” so as to win clicks, views and ultimately money. The culture of influence is pervasive, ultimately measuring power by the number of people following you. It matters not the character of the person, only their ability to entertain and keep attention. It is as though our world is filled with pied pipers playing their flutes with reckless abandon. Louder and louder they play trying to drown out the rest of the flutes. It’s an attempt to win the never-ending struggle to remain relevant in a world whose attention span is that of a gnat.
We see this reality spew forth from the relentless onslaught of social media posts vying for your attention. “Buy this.” “Follow that.” “Don’t use this.” “Forget that person.” “I’m the expert.” “You can trust me.” “This will change your life.” The constant barrage of messages never stop trying to lure you towards whatever is for sale.
Pride Humiliates
Dripping with pride, the world around us proclaims its importance and ability to fix your every ailment. “I am the pinnacle of mankind, follow me,” so the thought goes. No matter how vapid, the payoff more than makes up for the lie. In order to win, you must destroy your enemy. No one can be as knowledgeable as you. No one can have more resources than you. No one can answer the questions of the world better than you. The pinnacle requires a humiliation of those under you, it is the only way to stay at the top. Humiliation of peers is the only way to maintain power and money.
The problem with this way of engaging the world around us is, the more you succumb to a destructive spirit, the more your heart becomes numb to what it is doing. In the numbness fear begins to develop. It is the fear that you will be exposed. You know you are living a lie, but what if your peers find out? That simply cannot and must not happen. Your mind begins to tell you that you are all alone and the world is against you. Only you can save yourself. No help is coming. God? Who is he? The trade-off becomes ever complete. You can gain the world, its power, its prestige, its influence, but your soul is lost in a sea of denial.
Pride Grasps For Authority
Your mind proclaims, “look at me, look at what I have done. I have worked so hard for this, no one has worked as hard as I have.” The demand to be recognized is nothing more than a sorry attempt at a salve to treat the fear of fraud that pervades one’s soul when given over to pride. If I can get people to really see me how I desire to be seen, then I will feel better. A lie that further drives your soul towards a death marked by wickedness.
When you move ever towards a place where God is not needed nor remembered, your character becomes filled with a cruelty that will stop at nothing to fuel a pride that can never be satiated. A prideful soul grasps with every ounce of their being for authority and power no matter how vapid it actually may be. When pride takes over, one becomes so consumed with oneself they lose touch with all reality. It pushes you to protect yourself, your power, and your authority at all cost. Pride continually beckons you to look over your shoulder at the world around you, painting the world as an enemy unceasingly coming after your treasure. After all, without that power and authority, one might actually be lost.