Pride.

Is pride ever really OK? I wonder. I read this statement at Wall Watchers regarding a certain organization: "If it is theologically justifiable for a donor to ever feel proud for the type of organization that they give to, this is it." Can it ever be theologically justifiable? I just finished coordinating a large scale evangelistic event in my community, with dozens of churches, several hundred volunteers and budget of $125k. Most events like this generate about 10% from churches and the rest of the business community. In our case we generated 42% from churches. That's an unheard of number. Is it OK for us to feel proud of that? I wonder. Now certainly, on one level it is not. The only reason that this parachurch organization that our community partnered with to do this event, or any parachurch organization for that matter, even exists is because of the failure of the church. So, "No." we shouldn't really feel proud in that respect. What about the unity of the church? There was a lot of love going on across denominational lines. Many pastors and church members made new friends in other churches. They were genuinely excited about working together. The unity we had here in the church community was truly at a magnificent level. Should we feel proud about that? On the one hand we accomplished something very extraordinary, but on the other had the extraordinary is supposed to be the norm. But its not. Should we, could we feel proud about this? I wonder.