“Better is a poor and wise young man than an old and foolish king, who will never be rebuked again” (Ecclesiastes 4:13).
Just as there are special challenges for young people in the faith, there are also some challenges for older people. One of these is the pride that comes from comparing ourselves spiritually with those who are our inferiors. “Lord help us to avoid such thoughts: but I have been here the longest. I have worked hard. Someone else is being favored” (Teresa of Ávila).
Pride is especially dangerous because of its subtlety. This can take many different forms, some of which are extremely difficult to see when we are the ones to blame. If we only think of blatant arrogance and ego, we may consider ourselves free from vanity, but we need to think twice. It may be that some of the attitudes we classify as “spiritual maturity” are actually forms of pride, well-disguised as qualities of power and wisdom.
For example, it is difficult for experienced Christians to avoid falling into the mire of satisfaction with their experience. Self-satisfaction. Perhaps we would never say it, and perhaps we are clever enough to keep others from knowing that we think this way, but when we think of how little others have suffered, inwardly we may feel a warm, condescending glow of extremely subtle superiority. “When they’ve been with us as long as we have, they’ll see things differently,” we sigh, congratulating ourselves on growing up.
If you think you’re not bothered by this particular disease, ask yourself this question: How prone am I to it? modified By someone with much less experience than me? The patronizing, “mature” smile with which you listen to criticism from your juniors is probably a sign of pride, and you may need to listen to Solomon: “Better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will never be rebuked again.” Hasn’t pride closed the ears of many old men?
Whether we are young or old in the faith, it is a good idea to reduce the time we spend comparing. It doesn’t really matter whether we are ahead or behind someone in life experience. We would not have been in heaven even for five seconds before we realized how foolish such comparisons were while we lived in this world.
“Beware of thinking about your seniority” (Teresa of Ávila).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com AreYouaChristian.com
