I'm an acronym guy

 

I’m an acronym guy.  By that I mean that I love it when an ordinary, everyday word can be parsed into the name of a group (such as NOW [National Organization for Women] or FOCUS [Fellowship of Catholic University Students]), or as a means to remember important information.  I first became interested in acronyms during 4^th grade geography when our teacher told us one that would help us remember the names of the five Great Lakes: HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior).

While reflecting on what I call the “Woe to you!” chapter in the Gospel of Luke (Chapter 11), I was reminded of another acronym I was taught by one of my supervisors at work years ago when he was chastising me for being arrogant and condescending to my subordinate co-workers, which was affecting the completion of some key projects.  He pointed out to me that it was my lack of PRIDE that was holding me back.  That stung!  When I objected to his attack on what I considered my best attribute, he calmly and rationally explained that I needed to step back a bit and take the word PRIDE apart.  In the context of a relationship with others PRIDE means taking Personal Responsibility in Daily Efforts.  He had, in his supervisorial role, watched my interactions with my teammates and noticed I spent more time correcting their missteps than in recognizing my own! 

It’s a lot like when Jesus was severely chastising the Pharisees and one of the ‘scholars of the law’ tried to correct Jesus for being offensive.  Jesus didn’t back down or apologize for offending him; rather, He turned His severe rebuke to the scholars of the law. 

“Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”  (Luke 11:44-46)

That must have surprised him!   What I found interesting is that the scholar of the law pointed out that Jesus was “insulting” them.  And he pointed it out as if Jesus were committing a sin and in need of a rebuke.  So was Jesus insulting the Pharisees and scholar of the law?  Yes, He probably was.  Was that a sin on Jesus’ part?  Obviously not.  Jesus doesn’t sin.

The reason it’s not a sin is that sometimes the truth is “insulting,” so to speak.   It’s insulting to a person’s pride.  What’s most interesting is that when someone is insulted, they need to first realize that they are insulted because of their pride, not because of what the other person said or did.  Even if someone was overly harsh, feeling insulted is a result of pride.  If one were truly humble, then a rebuke would actually be welcomed as a helpful form of correction.  Sadly, the scholar of the law appeared to lack the necessary humility to let Jesus’ rebuke sink in and free him from his sin.

I thank God for using my former boss in teaching me this redefinition of PRIDE; and for helping me realize that although pride is the deadliest of the seven sins its acronym teaches us humility, the greatest of the virtues.  Under my boss’s guidance I was able to use my newfound enlightenment to pull my team together to become one of the most successful in the organization.  Over the years I developed quite a few great personal relationships, as well as business relationships, by remembering to take personal responsibility in my daily efforts, avoiding (for the most part—I’m human, after all) the sin of arrogant pride, and developing more humility instead.