Humble Canada?
(By: Christopher Powell) Right now, my home country is hosting the Winter Olympics. This is a source of pride for our nation and I am happy to see people expressing thankfulness for the blessings we enjoy as a country. American broadcaster Tom Brokaw did a good short overview introducing Canada to Americans and highlighting our unique relationship. If you missed it, it is worth viewing to learn some basic facts about the country (HT: Challies):
Brokaw’s piece is, of course, well done and very positive and I don’t know a Canadian that would have much objection to it. But that doesn’t make it entirely accurate. For one thing, as Brokaw noted, Canadians are known by reputation for their “humility.” One of the very unusual results of hosting the Olympics this year is that there have been spontaneous outpourings of Canadian patriotism during the games. Naturally, this is mostly going on in Vancouver (with reports of people spontaneously breaking into our national anthem on local transit buses) but rallies have been held around the nation, including 2,000 miles away here in Toronto. But “humility” is not the way that I would generally characterize our nation’s spirit today or in the past. The Bible describes humility in Philippians 2:3 this way: “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” The Bible’s concern is not so much what a person does on the outside, it is discerning what is going on in a person’s heart. The biblical definition of humility is what one pastor has memorably called “blessed self-forgetfulness.” The Biblical definition does not describe my country’s approach to humility.
It is true that Canadians rarely outwardly demonstrate a superior attitude. And, when we do, it usually ends badly like the recently controversial “Own the Podium” program we instituted in 2005 with officials brashly claiming that we would “win the Olympics” with the highest medal count in 2010 if we just pumped enough money into the program and pushed every advantage we might have as a home nation sponsor. However, some in the foreign press have openly speculated about the disastrous results of limiting foreign nation access to our Olympic sites as a contributing factor in the death of the young Georgian athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili, at the beginning of the games.
The fact is, even with our much celebrated reputation for “humility”, Canadians are just as prone to sinful arrogance as the next country. In our hearts, we are not “self-forgetful” – in fact we are, more often than not, upset that we are forgotten by the world. Perhaps in response to this feeling of inferiority, part of our national identity has always been a feeling of superiority to Americans. We know more about them than they know about us and as a nation we often stereotype them as backwards, brash and arrogant. In short, we sometimes act like snobs. Our national arrogance is ultimately just as bad as other countries, it’s just more acceptable (or that’s what we tell ourselves) because it’s better hidden. Back several years ago, one of the more popular segments on a Canadian comedy show was called “Talking to Americans.” On the show, Canadian comedians would pose as media reporters and come up with the most outlandishly false statements about Canada to see if they could catch American ignorance of Canadian or world affairs. One of the most famous ones involved an interchange with then Governor George W. Bush telling him that Canadian Prime Minister Jean “Poutine” had endorsed his campaign. The joke was Poutine is not the Prime Minister’s name – it is a Canadian national fast food dish consisting of gravy-smothered french fries with melting cheese curds.
It pains me to say this, but, this negative nationalistic attitude towards Americans was part of my own attitude before I went to the USA to study. Did I meet Americans who filled the typical negative stereotypes about Americans? Yes. But I also met many men and women who put me and many Canadians I know to shame in their Christian love, service and attitude. By spending time, living, working and worshipping with them, God graciously showed me the sinful and arrogant attitudes in my heart and, I’m thankful to say, by God’s grace, I have repented of them. In God’s providence it has also helped inform the way that I pastor our own congregation which has a majority of members who were not born Canadians. We focus on shared identity in the body of Christ. This does wonders to help us overcome cultural attitudes and language barriers in the church.
So what’s the point of all this? Well, I believe that as proud as we may be of our nationalities, as Christians we first must recognize the dangers of any pride, even the pride of nationalism and sports. Our hope is not in kingdoms or princes (Psalm 146:3) or in man’s work in general. Why? Because it is hopelessly tainted by sinful hearts – Jeremiah 17:9 applies to all of us: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” So what do we do then? How do we approach the Olympics? Well, in general, I believe that it is fine to enjoy healthy competition married with good sportsmanship. But it is important to keep these things in biblical perspective – while bodily training is of some use it is the spiritual training that is to be most valued (1 Timothy 4:7-8). So competition in sports is fine and good, but the ultimate expression of competition for the Christian is to outdo one another in showing honor to the other (Romans 12:8-10). That is why the Olympic stories that I enjoy the most are those that show grace and humility in victory or defeat. As we watch these Olympics and celebrate the achievements and hard work of our nation’s athletes, I hope what we will most appreciate are these same qualities. And, as each of us engage in “running the race” (2 Timothy 4:7) here in our own daily lives may we bring our heavenly Father the glory as we demonstrate humility and grace to one another ourselves.
