Pride gets in our way at work. It prevents us from accepting honest feedback, causes us to view others as tools or obstacles, leads us to make excuses, and affects our trustworthiness.
Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_08_26.mp3
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 26, 2018
Welcome to the twenty-second episode of By Your Life. Thank you for joining me. If you haven’t already, please subscribe on the right side of the page so I can send you notifications when each new episode is posted. And please forward to a friend you think would benefit from By Your Life.
My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular, business world. It is my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace and to trust that it is good for business. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.
In this edition, we will reflect on the readings for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Usually, the readings are selected because the Old Testament foreshadows the Gospel and the New Testament then confirms the fulfillment. There is usually a common theme or a central message. This Sunday’s readings follow that path in that the first reading from the Book of Joshua prefigures the choice that we have to make and are again presented within John’s Gospel. The choice is to serve the Lord, to follow Jesus, or return to our former ways.
And then, right in the middle, we are presented with the second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians about husbands and wives. The longer option of the reading includes “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.” The shorter option skips this part. I wonder if it is because they know that if they include it, you’ll almost hear murmuring in the pews, just as the disciples were murmuring at Jesus saying, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” They know that once the lector reads it, everyone will stop listening. So, to avoid that problem, they offer the shorter option.
I have pondered this scripture because it is hard. How can I accept it? Taking this statement literally and out of context with the rest of St. Paul’s letter and out of context of Christ’s teachings as a whole, is a recipe for hard feelings and misunderstandings. I don’t think St. Paul was trying to start the battle of the sexes with this instruction, but if it is the Word of the Lord, we must consider it as Truth.
If we assume that St. Paul is not encouraging dominance of one over another, for they are “one flesh,” we have to seek a deeper meaning. When we do, we can realize the context and see that it is husbands who must love their wives, “even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her.” We all know what Christ did for the Church. He gave up his life. He sacrificed himself, so she might live. So, the husbands have the tougher assignment and when a wife is subordinate to someone who gives up his life for her, you have a mutually giving and loving relationship, one for the other.
In the workplace, bosses and employees (of either gender) should take note of St. Paul’s instruction to the husbands and wives. Great leaders understand that they are there to serve, not to be served. Those in positions of authority who dominate their employees are not as successful as excellent leaders who are more interested in helping their employees succeed. They work hard for the benefit of their team.
Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges, authors of Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Role Model of Leadership of All Time, say that “the most persistent barrier to leading like Jesus is a heart motivated by self-interest.” If we want to develop our leadership skills, let’s start with the recognition that it’s not about us.
“The most persistent barrier to leading like Jesus is a heart motivated by self-interest.” ~ Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges @KenBlanchard @PhilHodges1Stephen Covey, author of The SPEED of TRUST: The One Thing that Changes Everything, says, that only 29% of employees believe that management cares about them developing their skills and only 42% believe that management cares about them at all. What kind of impact is that having on trust in these organizations?
Employees, like bosses, need to recognize it is not about them either. That is, workers who recognize they are there to give the best they have to serve their customers, are the ones who earn trust and therefore are entrusted to do more, are given more opportunities to grow and develop and succeed. It is a two-way, mutually beneficial serving that leads to success in an organization. But when it is missing, when people (bosses and employees alike) act in their own self-interest, trust is eroded. In the SPEED of TRUST, Covey refers to this as “Intent” and it is one of the Four Cores of Credibility. When people believe that you are acting in their best interest, they will be more willing to trust you.
When people believe that you are acting in their best interest, they are more willing to trust you.However, when putting one’s own desires, wants, and whims before the welfare of other people evolve into corrupt selfishness, it is known as hubris or pride. Pride is an irrational belief that one is essentially better, superior, or more important than others. And this brings me to the common theme that I thought was missing from the readings this Sunday, but it is there – right smack dab in the middle of the challenge: pride.
Pride is the underlying issue. It is the main obstacle we face. It is the first sin. Pride is at the center of the dilemma. In the first reading and in the Gospel, the people have a choice. Jesus asks the twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Today, we have that same choice. Do we stay or do we leave? Like Peter, do we acknowledge that Jesus has “the words of eternal life” and is “the Holy One of God,” or do we go back to our former way of life and no longer accompany Him?
The “right” choice is obvious. We should choose to serve the Lord. We should choose Christ. What keeps us from making that choice? Pride!
If you are reading this, it is likely that you, like me, have made the choice to follow Jesus. But, is this a one-time, absolute, uncompromised choice? Or, are we wishy-washy and choose Him sometimes and our own way at other times? When we hear the words of the Letter from St. Paul to the Ephesians that we must be subordinate to our husbands in everything, or give up our lives for our wives, do we reject “that” part of scripture? St. Augustine said, “If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
“If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.” ~ St. Augustine of HippoIf we decide that we get to pick and choose what part of God’s Word is truth, then we are grasping at divinity for ourselves, and that is pride. Or as Bishop Barron said, “Arrogating to oneself the unique prerogative of God is pride.” Pride keeps us from God. It also affects our relationships with others.
Pride, that sense that we are better, more knowledgeable, or more important than others, will get in our way at work. It prevents us from accepting honest feedback. It causes us to view others as tools or obstacles to achieving our goals. It leads us to make excuses instead of accepting responsibility. It limits our ability to cooperate and collaborate with others. It affects our trustworthiness. In the end, it is neither helpful to us nor does benefit our businesses.
The correction to pride is humility. I’ve talked about the value of this virtue in other episodes of By Your Life. (018 The Miracle is You, 004 Good Shepherd, Great Leader). Humility is not self-deprecation, rather it allows us to honestly see our limitations so that we can surround ourselves with people with complementary talents. More importantly, it helps us appreciate others, listen to them, and develop winning relationships. Our success depends on it because as John Maxwell said, “Nothing of significance was ever achieved alone.”
“Nothing of significance was ever achieved alone.” ~ John C. Maxwell @JohnCMaxwellLet us ask the Holy Spirit to give us the grace to reject pride, to serve one another and to boldly declare, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
May God bless you abundantly and may you glorify the Lord by your life. Amen
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Many thanks to Fr. Stan Fortuna for his musical gifts, especially the traditional and contemporary versions of Come Holy Ghost (Come Holy Spirit) that you hear in this podcast. You can find more from Fr. Stan http://www.francescoproductions.com/ or on Facebook.
