Dealing with pride!

By Pastor Doug Cox

Part of the duty of a Christ follower is to take God’s word to heart. Jesus said to “watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24:42) And then there is the question, “…when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

Having faith means you will stand for something and in some cases being willing to die for it. In the world around us faith is subjective, you can believe what you want. Biblical faith however is not as lenient. It requires believing what God’s word says and there’s the rub, it can’t be both ways. So now here we are in a world where expressing Biblical faith is starting to be oppressed.

As a Christian my faith is in what Jesus did for me on the cross. I’m not a Christian because I’m good or perfect. I want to be but I’m a sinner who desperately needs a Savior. Thankfully, God became flesh to become that for me, (along with anyone else who will receive Him). As a Christian I celebrate one day a year that tells me God loves me. Easter! Easter is the day on which Jesus rose triumphant from the grave, having conquered death on the cross for my (our) sin. The whole purpose of my faith is to turn from sin and the world’s ways and live for Jesus and find my identity in Him. I’m to identify with Jesus and die to self and carnal desires. The cross is to be a daily reminder that I am to live to glorify Him and not myself.

Now here we are in a world that every year is celebrating pride for a whole month. They are raising rainbow colored pride flags that promote the total opposite of what I believe. It’s a celebration of faith in self. It is a symbol that says create your own identity. It says create yourself in your own image and is subtly saying God makes mistakes. The problem is pride is being raised above the rights of others.

Recently we had to endure a trans woman fondling his/her naked breasts on the White House lawn during their pride month celebration along with the rainbow flag hoisted to the same height as the American flag, an obvious violation of American flag flying protocol. Both infractions were overlooked.

There was no arrest for indecent public exposure, yet a couple of days earlier a man was handcuffed and arrested in Dearborn, Michigan for quoting one scripture at a pride event there. They too raised the rainbow flag to the same height as the American flag. It seems Christians are now being classified and treated as second class citizens with no freedom of expression.

What do we do? We must boldly hold to the word of God and clothe ourselves with humility. The pride crowd blankets themselves with the rainbow flag. We must speak the truth in love and blanket ourselves in humility. The apostle Peter says, “…be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:5-6)

So yes, it can be hard to see what we consider to be sinful things flaunted in our faces, but the Apostle Paul tells us to be patient in hope, walk by faith and not by sight. Above all put on love. And remember they might get their month, but through Jesus Christ we get a whole eternity of experiencing the glory of God.