When I was growing up, my parents would say, “no one likes a showoff.” The phrase, bragging rights, was not exclaimed before or after a competition as it was considered bad manners to brag. Winners usually said kind words of praise and encouragement to the losing side. If someone danced or triumphantly paraded around the field after a great play or score, the coach would pull the person aside and chastise the individual. Winning was important but how you won or lost was just as important.
I enjoyed watching the recent Paris Olympics. My favorite Olympic sport is track and field, especially after attending the June US Olympic Track and Field Trials. I watched the top American athletes compete for a place on the Olympic team which made the TV viewing of these athletes competing for Olympic medals special. One of my favorite runners is Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone who won the Olympic gold medal in the 400M hurdles at both the 2021 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. I have twice witnessed her running a world record in her signature event at the University of Oregon. She is a faithful Christian who married Andre Levrone, a former NFL wide receiver enrolled at The Master’s Seminary (affiliated with Grace Community Church in Los Angeles).
Besides being one of the most talented athletes of her generation, Sydney exhibited humility before and after her competitions. She does not grant many interviews, but when she speaks publicly, she quietly answers questions and praises God for her gifts. After each race, she hugs her competitors and calmly recovers on the sidelines. When she won the gold medal in Paris, she walked over and hugged her family. I heard her tell her mother that she loved her. She told a reporter that her husband was her mentoring pastor. People know that she is the greatest female 400M hurdler, but these accolades do not come from her. Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), French mathematician and philosopher, said: “If you want people to think well of you, do not speak well of yourself.”
Times are changing, though. It seems that humility has its risks in our post-modern world. There are dangers in not bragging: false modesty. People who avoid arrogant remarks can receive negative reactions. In a paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Annabelle R. Roberts et al, May 2021), the researchers evaluated how individuals receive positive news. A close friend or partner wanted to receive positive news directly from the individual rather than through the media or another individual. Indirect positive information created insulting feelings. People want good news to be directly shared. This behavior is termed the humility penalty.
Another new term is humblebragging, the cloaking of bragging with false humility. It comes across as insincere. Ovül Sezer, Assistant Professor at Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business, has studied this behavior. Her research showed that it is better to state the fact (“I am a graduate of Harvard University”) than downplay the accomplishment (“I went to school in Boston.”) Obscuring the accomplishment created an artificial feeling. Recent research showed that bragging arouses fewer negative reactions than false humility.
Bragging can still be offensive if it demeans others to the benefit of the bragger. According to the hubris hypothesis (Vera Hoorens et al, Journal of Personality, 80:5, October 2012), if an individual is too harsh on others to prop themselves up, others think less highly of the bragger. Trash talking is still a no-no. It is more acceptable to brag that you won a race than to say that you smoked your competition. It is even better if the bragger highlights challenges overcome during the journey towards success. This is considered effective bragging.
For almost two thousand years, Christians have been influenced by the Apostle Paul’s letters. In 2 Corinthians, he strangely boasts of his weakness: “Three times I appealed to the Lord about this [the thorn in his flesh], that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:8–10)
Earlier in Paul’s letter, he defends his missionary services to the Corinthian Christians. He opens his arguments with humility. “I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you.” (10:1) He does “not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labors of others.” (10:15) “’Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.” (10:17–18)
Times have greatly changed since the first century Greek writings of Paul, but humility is an eternal characteristic that Jesus Christ exhibited during his earthly life. We strive to win when we compete; it is our humility that points to something far greater than our mortal self.
