Most of us have heard more than one sermon about pride, this star among the Seven Deadly Sins. So I was a little surprised to receive such a positive reaction when I preached about pride last Sunday. More than one emailed or texted to say, “I really need to hear this.”

Maybe that’s because sooner or later, pride will be an issue for all of us. Maybe it’s because, as one preacher told me, “Pride is the soil in which all other sin grows.” Maybe some responded because my need to hear this sermon myself was under the surface when I preached it to others.

In any case, I can’t stop thinking about pride, and I want to think some more about it with you as we share this post.

We’ve heard quite a bit in the last decade about the church’s waning influence in our culture. Many writers want to talk about generational differences, sociological trends, or cultural changes to explain why fewer and fewer Americans attend or care about church.

But I want to propose something more basic. I thought about this as I reflected on the sermon I preached last Sunday.  It was about spiritual warfare and the reality of Satan’s work in our world. Early in the sermon I quoted John MacArthur’s words in a sentence that seemed to resonate with many who heard it: