Thoughts on Vainglory

"There is a glory that comes from God, Who says: Those who glorify Me, I will glorify (I Kings 2:30). And then there is the glory that follows us diabolically, as it is written, Woe, when all men shall speak well of you (Luke 6:26). You will know the second kind of glory when you do something, no matter how small, hoping that others are watching." (St. John Climacus, The Ladder).

I don't think I'd ever heard of the passion called vainglory until I read a small booklet called "The Teachings of the Holy Fathers On the Passions". I have to admit, when I first read this section of the book, I didn't feel that it was a passion I struggled with. But I have since been drawn back to it and have started to realize just how subtle a passion this can be, and how virtually every Christian must struggle with this on some level. How often do we walk away after having done some act of service, feeling as though we had not been adequately thanked or appreciated for what we had done? How often do we volunteer to do tasks that get no notice or special attention from others? How much do we crave the praise of men?

St. John Chrysostom says this of vainglory: "This passion is a sort of deep intoxication from which it is hard to recover. It detaches the souls of its captives from heaven, nails them to the earth, and does not allow them to look up to the true light. It persuades them to ever wallow in the mire." And Christ says, "How can ye believe, which receive honor of men, and seek not the honor which cometh from God?" (John 5:44).

At the heart of vainglory is pride. It is the desire to please others (which brings honor to yourself) rather than the desire to please God. How often do we concern ourselves more with the approval of others than with the approval of God? This is a worthy question to contemplate.

/E.