International travel is not new to Peggy and me. Over the past decade, we have traveled to and from China and Thailand several times a year. In addition to “joyfully” enduring the 12-15 hour flights into or out of either Beijing, Hong Kong, or Chiang Mai, we have had to deal with jet lag on both sides of each trip. But God has been gracious, and we have managed, knowing that each of our trips are filled with purpose and meaning. Furthermore, we have been able to meet with our amazing teachers as well as friends and former students in China.  

But that’s not what I want to share with you in this blog. It has to do with something that God taught me on our return flight from Thailand last week, and it has to do with pride. Let me share this story with you. 

I’ve always taken “pride” in the fact that I make every effort to be considerate of others. When flying, it is about consideration of the person sitting in the seat behind me by not reclining my seat more that “one notch,” just enough to take away the rigid “straight back” position that we all must endure during takeoff and landings. On this past trip, once the plane reached our cruising altitude, the person sitting in the seat in front of me decided to recline his seat as far as it could go, to the point that the back of his seat was sitting in my lap (I’m exaggerating a bit, but it’s pretty close!). Knowing that except for moments during meal service that I would have to endure this situation for the next 12 hours, I leaned over to Peggy sitting next to me and spoke softly saying, “Honey, check this out! Can you believe how inconsiderate this guy is?” 

And so, the internal grumbling began and lasted for several hours. My thought process went like this: “I am so considerate of others that I would never even think of doing this to the person sitting behind me, so how can this guy be so inconsiderate of me?” And so, I began to judge him for being so “inconsiderate of me,” and wondering why he couldn’t be like me, the paragon of consideration!

It was at this point that God gave me a “nudge” as He directed my thoughts to reflect upon the hidden danger of being “good,” yes, even as “good” as I thought I was. I began to realize that the better I think that I am, the more I become impressed with myself. And then, I began to realize that the better I think I am, the more impressed God must be with me! But that’s not all. I realized that the better I think I am, the more distance I create with those whom I view as being morally “below me,” just like the Pharisees did in Jesus’ day. And finally, I realized that this “goodness” that I felt actually created a distance with the One whom I always want to please. Suddenly it hit me — I had an attitude problem that needed to be corrected.  

And then, after a few hours of such grumbling, followed by reflection, I began to realize that I was consumed with my own comfort and convenience rather than being concerned about the guy in the seat in front of me. Of course, reclining the seat to its maximum provides the most comfortable position for the flight, and I got to thinking that maybe he needed to get more sleep than I did, which I’m certain he got plenty of. I began to realize that my thoughts of “goodness” were actually prideful thoughts of “self-importance,” and such thoughts were keeping me from honoring God so that I could also bless the guy in front of me by not grumbling about his reclining seat and allowing him to enjoy sleeping with his seat reclined.  

During the flight, I never spoke to the guy sitting in front of me, not did I ever check to see what he looked like. However, at the end of the flight as we were retrieving our belongings from the overhead compartments, I had a chance to smile at him without a spoken word. Little did he know the internal “conversation” I had with myself and with God for much of the flight. Little did he know that he initiated a conversation I needed to have with God. I came to realize that although being “good” is not bad, taking pride in our “goodness” is. 

The Apostle Paul put it his way, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; and do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4). In the future, when I sit behind someone who does not recline their seat into my lap, I will give thanks for a little extra comfort I will experience during the flight. But, if I once again face the “reclining seat” issue, I am determined to also give thanks because it is allowing the person in front of me to travel in some added comfort.