SPIRITUAL PRIDE
Evidence of pride is always found in boasting. Boasting is generally discouraged in most cultures, but in religion, it is normative behavior because it is built into the fabric of religion. People who would not otherwise consider drawing attention to themselves for any reason will boast about their religiosity because their religious culture encourages them to do so and provides opportunities for religious showmanship through routine practice of accepted religious traditions in public settings. In fact, religious cultures reward their members who boast of their religious activity and do not condemn them for it.

Religionists may not boast verbally, but in God’s view, mere participation in religious activity constitutes boasting. Religious activity contains a message about a religionists relationship to God, and all religious people want to appear to have a strong relationship with God. This is a matter of spiritual pride: Appearing to have a good relationship with God. The more the activity is practiced, the more it says about the religionist’s relationship to God. And, as the thinking goes, those who appear to be closer to God appear to be more Godly through their religious behaviors. This desire to appear to be more Godly is the ultimate goal of spiritual pride. However, none of it means anything to God because he looks at the heart and not at outward appearances.

There is another aspect of spiritual pride that is critical to the life of all religious organizations: Pride in being a member in good standing of a church, synagogue, temple, mosque or whatever. All religionists develop an identity that is based on their membership. If they do all of the things that members of their chosen religious community do, they are accepted as a member of the community. This acceptance is very important to the emotional and psychological well-being of the religionist. The community is like a family that, in some cases, has ties greater than blood.

We see this pride at work when people identify themselves as members of a local church or other religious community or of a larger  community such as a denomination. Thus they will typically say “I am a Lutheran” or ” I go to such and such a church.” People who are religious feel awkward and disconnected if  they are not able to self-identify with some larger religious organization that has a reputation larger than their own personal reputation. Thus they try to elevate their own status by identifying with the larger organization. This only works for them because they are proud to be a member of the larger organization that has greater status in the community than they do. This is spiritual pride.

Spiritual pride is also at work at the organizational level. It is important for many, but not all, religionists to report that they are involved in a particular ministry within the organization. Thus people will willingly say that they teach Sunday School, or on the prayer team, or that they are elders or ushers or whatever. Having a unique function within the organization yields extra status to the active religionists. They are not pastors or rabbis, but they are not just attenders either. This is another measure of spiritual pride.