by Mark Hisle


The Dandelion of the Soul


Dying to pride is not a once-and-for-all victory.


W


HEN WE THINK of pride only as unjustified boasting, it is a sin that few of us ever commit,


or one we never admit. However, when considered in its more subtle forms, pride becomes more recognizable.


I can recognize pride more readily in myself when I see it as the desire to be more important than others, the auto- matic assumption that I know more about a matter than everyone else, the desire to be more attractive than others, my failure to acknowledge the good works of others, or an excessive love of self.


This sin is difficult to extricate. David Rhodes said, “Pride is the dandelion of the soul.” If you do lawn work, you know dandelions are nearly impossible to get rid of. The seed always seems to find a crack somewhere from which to sprout. That should help us to understand why even something as seemingly insignificant as a “proud look” is judged as a sin that God hates (Prov. 6:16-17).


In my own life, pride has sometimes sprouted without my being aware of it. In some ways, it is like driving a car. There are blind spots that can pose great danger. The adage “What you don’t know can’t hurt you” is fatally flawed. It has only been through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and close relationships with others (especially my wife) who cared enough to speak the truth into my life that I was able to deal with pride. Without that, I fear I would have fallen a long time ago. Recently, someone asked me what I thought about a ministry colleague who had sadly fallen into sin. My response was, “If God had given me what I wanted, the same thing would have happened to me.”


10 EVANGEL | October 2010


When I was very young, God gave me a dream for my life and ministry. I don’t doubt that it was from Him, and I spent years pursuing it. The problem was that my motive for realizing the vision became selfish, driven by pride. It was not easy to admit that too much of my plan centered on images of personal glory. I had to learn that God’s greatest dream for my life is not as much about my doing something as it is about my being something. I was chasing so hard after where I was going that I was not enjoying where I was. It took years and a great


deal of pain to come to the end of myself. At that point, I had to focus on doing the basics of ministry well and leave the results to God. Since that time, while I have not made national headlines, God has given me more fruit than before.


Deadly Sins


Perhaps more important to Him, I have been happier and more at ease. It took a long road for me to learn not to focus on the outward trappings of suc- cess. It is not my responsibility to build the Church—God does that (Matt. 16:18). It is a matter of building people, which takes place one life at a time. That may or may not garner much attention here on earth; but if I am living and serving from a pure heart, is that not the goal anyway? A pure heart has nothing to prove, no one to impress, and only God to please.


Dying to pride is not a once-and-for-all victory. Just about the time I think I have taken care of business, a dandelion pops up again. It will probably be an ongoing process until I reach eternity. When I think I have dealt with my pride for the last time, God engineers circumstances that expose another weed to be plucked out. My dad served in full-time ministry for 35 years, during which he served on distinguished boards and committees. One year after he retired, our church was making plans to hold a fundraiser at the annual World Chicken Festival, which is held in our small town (near the birth- place of Kentucky Fried Chicken). That year, Dad was fighting cancer and would only be with us a few more months. But when we asked for a volunteer to wear a chicken costume to drum up business for our booth, I nearly cried as I watched Dad raise his bony arm.


We didn’t let him wear the costume, of course, but the man had definitely gotten over himself. That day, he helped the rest of us deal with our pride.


Mark Hisle pastors the Parkway Praise Center Church of God in London, Kentucky.


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