Proud to be a what?

Here is a joke for you. 

What do you call someone who speaks 3 languages? 

Trilingual. 

What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages? 

Bilingual. 

What do you call someone who speaks 1 language?

American. 

I'm an American, so I can tell that joke. While it is meant to simply be funny, there is a bit of truth to it. The vast majority of people I have met in the various countries I have visited thus far, with the exception of Americans, speak at least two languages. I personally still only speak English despite taking two years of Spanish in school and spending two years living in a foreign country, so I am definitely guilty as charged. I travel the world and expect other people to understand my English no matter where I am. That seems a bit stuck up and proud when you stop and think about it. Oh but that's right, I am proud to be an American, so it's all good.

The Internet (or at least my Facebook newsfeed) has recently been exploding with news and opinions and arguments over Confederate flags, racism, gay marriage, the Supreme Court, and other such topics. There are as many opinions floating around out there as there are people engaged in the discussion, and that's a lot. My opinion of it all? Well my opinion actually doesn't matter. But I will tell you my thoughts if you're really that interested. 

I've read several "I am no longer proud to be an American" type statements since the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, and I have to wonder, was it ever a good idea to be proud to be an American? There are supposedly some good kinds of pride, like taking pride in your work or being proud of your heritage, but isn't the correct attitude for even those things actually gratitude? You could take pride in the work of your hands if you actually had anything to do with the fact that you have hands at all or that those hands have certain talents or abilities. But hands are a gift. Talent is a gift. So are heritage and family and background. Instead of being proud of our nationality, let's be grateful for the many blessings and freedoms we have as Americans. The United States is very blessed in everything from natural resources to freedom of speech, but that has led us to a sense of entitlement that considers having a smartphone and getting purified water when you turn on the tap to be rights instead of blessings. So, I am not proud to be an American. But I definitely am grateful to have been born in a country where I don't have to worry about my family being kidnapped by terrorists or drug lords at any moment, where I can connect with friends on social media because the government hasn't blocked it and only allowed us access to their own propaganda material, and where I can dial three buttons on my phone to get almost instant high quality medical care or police help in an emergency. I want to humbly thank God for blessings like that instead of proudly expecting them. 

Anyone who is surprised by the direction our country is going must not have associated it yet with what the Bible says about pride. I'm pretty sure that pride leads to destruction, not an increase in greatness or morality. 

Humility is the opposite of pride, but grace is what I consider to be the key here. An accurate grasp of the grace of God helps me with my own personal struggle with pride. It opens my eyes to how little control we as humans actually have over things, which in turn reminds me to be thankful for the good things that I have but absolutely do not deserve. Death is what I deserve, not freedom. By God's grace I instead have life and true freedom. Am I proud of that? Nope. But I am extremely grateful. 

So when we mourn over the moral decline of our country, let's remember that it is only a country. What I pray God helps me truly mourn over is the individual lives that are being lost because they did not know Jesus. Instead of being proud of my Christianity, I want to be grateful for His grace that is sufficient for me and for every other person in the world. Instead of being disgusted by my country of birth, I want to be busy recruiting for His country of everlasting life. Instead of being angry at the courts or the government, I want to be angry at my sins and my failures. 

And those are my thoughts. 

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"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." -Proverbs 16:18

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18